NOW: DENR Secretary Raphael Lotilla and other environment officials join the media in a year-end media lunch to give updates, highlights on DENR programs.

Photos from Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development

HAPPENING NOW: Claimants from the Odette Case hold a press conference ahead of the official filing of their case in the United Kingdom court today.

The Odette Case is a civil case filed by climate-impacted communities in Cebu, Bohol and nearby provinces against Shell for its significant contribution to the harm caused by typhoon Odette. The claimants consist of 103 residents who were heavily impacted by the typhoon and are seeking compensation, justice and accountability for the deaths, personal injuries, and property damages incurred in their communities during Odette.

No community representative will be present in the filing of the case in the UK later today.

Trixy Elle, a survivor of typhoon Odette and community representative of Tubigon, Bohol, recounts her experience in December 2021 when the super typhoon devastated their fisherfolk community.

She states that being part of a fisherfolk community with her husband all her life, enduring the waves no matter the weather for their family to survive, having to bear the weight of the effects of the climate crisis after the typhoon was an unjust and high price to pay: “Lumalaban kami ng patas para mabuhay at mapakain ang pamilya namin, pero anong nangyari? Kami ang nagdusa. We paid the highest price of this climate crisis. Para sa akin, hindi naman namin deserve ito.”

From her experience, Elle emphasizes that the hardest part of the climate crisis is having no choice but to survive it—not having to the dignity to go back to their normal lives after the typhoon. She remembers her family not having clean clothes or underwear for days after the typhoon.

“Nandito kami handang mag-hintay, handang lumaban.”

She states that she joined the case to show that even ordinary citizens, simple people from fisherfolk communities, can do something if they all come togather for their communities.

Regena Torrejas, also a claimant and a community representative from Bohol, recalls how typhoon Odette destroyed the livelihood of their fisherfolk community, wrecking their boats and fishing nets. She counts the devastation she felt upon realizing the effects of the typhoon in their community: "Pagkatapos ng bagyo na iyon, ano yung kabuhayan namin? Para bang wala na kaming pag-asa mabuhay. Ano bang gagamitin namin sa mga pang araw-araw namin? Ano bang kakainin namin?"

She calls on the Filipino people to unite with them in their fight for climate justice. She ends her statement by calling out the Shell corporation asking them to take accountability for their significant contribution to the climate crisis that severely harmed their communities: "Parang gusto niyo kayo lang ang mabuhay, tapos yung mahihirap lalong naghihirap."

The other petitioners, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), and Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC), along with other advocates from Uplift, Parabukas, and CBCP Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace, and Caritas Philippines all shared messages of support to the case during the press conference.