Greenpeace Philippines, together with youth groups in Bulacan Province, called on the government to ensure that disaster recovery plans — and the country’s long-term economic recovery strategy — is powered by Renewable Energy.
The call came following the installation of solar panels and solar-rechargeable lamps at Baranagys Kalawakan, Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan, pending power restoration in the wake of Super Typhoon Karding (Noru), to support the community’s recovery from an extreme weather event made worse by climate change.
Doña Remedios Trinidad was one of the areas where Signal No. 5 was raised, as Karding moved closer to Luzon.
The solar panel has a 300W capacity that can charge up lamps and mobile phones for the small Dumagat community in Barangay Kalawakan. This will not only provide the community’s need for electricity but also restore communication channels that would aid in coordinating relief efforts.
With the help of the Bulacan Youth for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (BYDRRM), Greenpeace volunteers demonstrated how the small-scale but powerful system can be effectively operated by locals themselves.
“As volunteers for disaster response in our area, we’ve seen the extent of the damages caused by typhoons not just in the short-term, but also in the long run affecting our community’s way of life,” said Lester Andrei Lomboy, BYDRRM president.
“This is why we are eager to learn new ways to improve our disaster recovery and make it easier for our fellow Bulakeños to build their lives back up,” he said.
Earlier this year, Greenpeace and its partners provided solar panels to Supertyphoon Odette (Rai) stricken areas in Bohol, to demonstrate how renewable energy (RE) can also be a practical solution in post-typhoon scenarios, besides being the answer to climate change mitigation.
In the aftermath of Karding’s wrath, Greenpeace reiterates its call for the Philippine government to address the climate crisis with concrete action, by providing urgent, long-term, and systemic solutions that need to go beyond business as usual.
“Karding is yet another wake-up call for world governments to take urgent real action, speed up the transition to renewable energy, and do away with fake solutions to the climate and energy crises,” said Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director Yeb Saño.
“They must heed the loud clamor of vulnerable countries, hold carbon major companies and countries accountable, and drop all fossil fuel expansion to keep the climate impacts from getting even worse,” he added. (Press Release)
