Declare day of mourning for the ‘Sendong’ flood victims

We, from Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), call on the government to declare a day of mourning in memory of the more than 1,200 dead, as well as the 98 persons who went missing in the wake of Tropical Storm “Sendong” in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities.

The whole nation commiserated with President Aquino’s family when his mother, former President Cory Aquino, died in 2009. It is just proper to show our compassion and sympathy to the thousands upon thousands of victims of man-made and natural disasters.

We cannot allow ourselves to be desensitized by calamities similar to the flash floods caused by Sendong. The resultant deaths could have been prevented had massive deforestation, logging and mining in Mindanao been checked and curbed by government and its concerned agencies. These are deaths that could have been avoided had appropriate warning signals been raised, and appropriate government actions taken to ensure that everyone was brought to safe evacuation centers equipped with the basic facilities.

While we continue to assist the victims, we believe that the declaration of a day of mourning is the only way we can raise the issue of government neglect and ineptitude that have led to the deaths and destruction in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities. It will also ensure that we will always remember the evils of logging, deforestation and mining.

We say no more logging, no more mining, no more greed, and no more utter disregard of people’s lives.

—SONNY MELENCIO, chair, Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), partidolakasngmasa@gmail.com