24/08/2026
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐โ๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐?
The winds calm down and the skies dry up, yet the damage is not yet done, nor is it gone. Even now, it cannot be said that life is back to normal.
For some, the weather brings only a stoppage to our regular work week. Though not entirely their fault, it becomes easy to forget what the typhoons mean to people living different lives. It means more, much more. Almost every aspect of our lives will be affected by these yearly calamities. Livelihoods, the movement of our societyโs systems will be put on pause.
People lose much more than time at work. While some are fine and dry in their homes, others are not so lucky. The planning of our municipalities has put some homes in areas where their interiors, personal belongings, and vehicles are flooded and damaged. Furthermore, some must be evacuated, with their homes currently too dangerous to be resided in.
Our farms, which we rely on to supply the food that we need every day have incurred almost Php700 million in damage. Not only does this strain our food-security, it punishes the people who act as the sole providers of societyโs most basic biological needs.
And even as the skies clear, work still cannot resume, with our modes of transportation also on halt, as roads are blocked by landslides, debris, and floodwater that somehow finds no way to leave. Other such damages have been estimated to have reached the billions in cost.
And in time and through our effort, the things that we have lost, be it our crops or our streets will soon recover. However, there are some things that we can never get back. Real lives, family members, and friends. Across the country, over 20 people have lost their lives to landslides, drowning, and electrocution, with some still missing.
And when weather like these hits the country at least once every year, why is it that changes are not being made, and measures are not being put up to mitigate this damage? Instead, the people are made to take the full force of the weather and those on top try to blind us of our sorrows by showering us with praises of our resilience, in lieu of making actions that could prevent tragedy from an event that is becoming increasingly frequent with our changing climate.
As time moves these events into history, may it be that our collective memory will become lessons for what to change in our society, so that risks like these do not become disasters.
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐:
1.) https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2284157/da-agri-damage-from-storms-habagat-rains-nears-p700m
2.)
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2026/08/14/2549170/over-37-milllion-people-affected-monsoon-luis-maymay-ocd
3.)
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2026/08/13/2549039/21-dead-over-3-million-affected-due-luis-maymay-habagat-ndrrmc
4.) https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2283734/over-3-7-million-people-affected-by-habagat-luis-maymay-ndrrmc
5.) https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2283794/pnp-revises-death-toll-due-to-habagat-maymay-luis-to-25-after-validation
Article by Yohan Cruz (12 Resilience)
Graphics by Trisha Mhaye Roxas (12 Justice)
