It was a rainy night in November. I had just finished doing a protest action in time for the Finance in Common Summit. A lot of Filipinos were still reeling from the devastation brought about by the strongest typhoon on the planet this year which crashed into the Philippines barely a week before. “Have we posted our infographics about the Finance in Common Summit and the Asia Climate Rally? How about our calls for donations?” I asked my friend as we were huddled under an umbrella when my phone suddenly rang. It was my mom – she told me how the river in our city was starting to rise, how...

Recently, a typhoon devastated some parts of the Philippines that caused severe floods, damage to infrastructures, and deaths. Many people suffered a lot during and after the typhoon. Cagayan was tremendously affected by the typhoon. Communities submerged by destructive flash floods, and the residents faced with concerns because of the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis. As a concerned citizen, we should do something. It's never too late for an action. We should take care of our environment, and be responsible. We can start by planting trees, recycling, disposing wastes properly, and reducing the...

As I laid down to fall asleep the last thing I heard was the static noise from the television and felt the early afternoon warmth. “The sun must be glad this afternoon.” I wondered if the sun would greet me with that same enthusiasm when I got up in the late afternoon that same day. I opened my eyes and instead I was met with the raging sun and a figure I couldn’t fully make out. It stared at me as I stared at it. I took a step forward, so did the figure before me. We were standing on shallow water. The atmosphere hissed but the figure did not flinch. The figure turned its back and began to...

It’s April. School’s almost over and it’s summer when everyone goes to beaches and creates sandcastles. However, this year’s an exception. Aside from the pandemic happening, there are a lot of reasons why I and my family can’t seem to go and have fun on the beach. It’s because of the typhoon happening. I remember back when I was 8 years old, my family and I went to a lot of beaches and climbed mountains since it was summer break. The sun sparkled. It was the most beautiful sparkle I have ever seen. The sun hitting my skin didn't hurt a lot. It only hurt once I spent 5 straight hours straight...

For every resource that we enjoy also comes responsibility. It is our moral responsibility to preserve, share, and care for our common home to obey the words of Christ. In the book of Genesis, God specifically commanded humankind to take care of both the living and the non-living creation. This command is not just a form of worship and reverence for Him but this responsibility is for our common good and humankind’s survival. Human pressure on nature has soared since the 1970s. The selfish desires of the capitalist industry and the greed for possession destroy our environment is taking its toll...

One of the most critical problems that our world is facing each day is pollution. For the past decades, pollution has always been seen as a destruction that is destroying the planet where we live, little by little. Some people have noticed it, some people did not, and some just don’t really care. We all know that natural sources like volcanic eruptions, wildfires, or dust storms are also some of the causes of pollution, but we cannot blame them because we humans have no control over them. What we should be mindful of is our activities that we do everyday, because those activities are...

25-year-old Joanna Sustento is from the city of Tacloban, Philippines. She is a Typhoon Haiyan survivor and is trying to make sense of the tragedy after she and her eldest brother lost their whole family to the storm. Joanna sought comfort and found a tool to heal through writing. It is through her stories that she aims to empower her community and hopefully the whole world, to resist and work for a future that will no longer fear or be threatened by the adverse impacts of climate change. This important message was directed to world leaders at the Bonn Climate Change Conference 2017 to take...

With the rise of a globally aware generation constantly interconnected through social media, people are starting to become more vocal about issues that they are deeply passionate about. Several of these issues revolve around the environment and the rapid deterioration of it. The buildup of plastic waste in Cocos Island, the bleached corals of the Great Barrier Reef, the endangerment of beloved species worldwide such as the Sumatran rhino and the reported cases of beached whales with stomachs full of plastic, has created quite the stir across social media. Individuals often feel inclined to...

Oh ‘Wise’ Man. Oh wise man, that is who you are right? The wise men, the conquerors of land, ocean, air and space. The wise men, the inventors of the wheel, the light bulb, the telephone. Oh the wise men, the reasons behind the world war and the constant conflicts. The wise men, the cause of animal extinction and climate change. The wise men, the dominators of all life on Earth. Hear me, oh wise man, oh almighty wise man. Did you forget about me? Are you heedless of my cries, or just oblivious? Why is the water dirty? Why is the air dirty? Where are all the trees? Where are all the animals...