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Marinel Ubaldo, a survivor of Super Typhoon Haiyan (local: Yolanda), narrated:
I went back to our house even though the winds were still strong,
as I wanted to see if we still have a home to go back to. Though it
was still dangerous for me to go back, I also wanted to save a box
that has a sentimental value to me. That box was very special to me
because it was filled with my personal things, my literary works,
the medals and certificates I earned in school. For me, that box
symbolizes who I am. My achievements, my self-worth. Nothing
was left of our home and losing that box also felt like losing my
identity, my dreams, my significance as a person.137
The aftermath of extreme weather events attributed to climate change dehumanizes
the human person. The combination of loss of lives, deprivation of basic needs,
material loss, emotional trauma and hopelessness that these survivors experience
strip them of their dignities.
2. Adverse Impacts of Climate Change in the Philippines
Long-term data over a 20-year period places the Philippines as the fifth most climate
change-affected country in the Global Climate Risk Index.138 Yet, the country only
accounts for 0.3 percent of global emissions.139 It is evident that the burden of
climate change falls disproportionately on the Filipino people.
Culled from the testimonies of resource persons presented during the Inquiry
hearings, fact-finding missions, community dialogues, KIIs, and FGDs, this section
illustrates how the brunt of climate change has prevented many Filipinos from
living their lives with dignity.
137
T.S.N. of the Fourth Inquiry Hearing dated 27-28 September 2018, at 7.
139
World Bank, Getting a Grip on Climate Change in the Philippines: Executive Report,
available at https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/16525 [hereinafter World Bank,
Getting a Grip].
138
David Eckstein, Marie-Lena Hutfils & Maik Winges, Global Climate Risk Index 2019: Who Suffers
Most From Extreme Weather Events? Weather-related Loss Events in 2017 and 1998 to 2017
(Briefing Paper Published by Germanwatch e.V. (2018), available at https://germanwatch.org/sites/
germanwatch.org/files/Global%20Climate%20Risk%20Index%202019_2.pdf.
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