Philippines vulnerable to climate change, consul general says

The consul general for the Philippines in Toronto says her country's economy, devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, has long been held back bythe many tropical storms that come ashore every year.

Analysts describe the Philippineeconomy as newly industrialized, as it transitions from one based on agriculture to one based more on services and manufacturing.

But in a CBC interview with Mary Wiens for Metro Morning, Consul General Junever Mahilum-West said it's still a developing country and vulnerable to extreme weather because of geography and climate change.

"No one has accounted for the total destruction or loss of life we've experienced through typhoons," she said. "Without these natural disasters, we would be an industrial economy by now; we are an outward-looking economy, but what I'm saying is that we are in a very vulnerable part of the world, and one of the most vulnerable to climate change. "

The typhoon that struck on Nov. 8 was "extraordinary" even for Filipinos, who are used to these storms, she said. "We had plans, but they were swept away."

Close to 20 tropical cyclones or strong storms pound the Philippines in a typical year, with up to half of these making landfall.

The United Nations estimates Haiyan has affected about 11 million people in 41 provinces. It was one of the most powerful recorded typhoons to hit land, killing about 4,000 people and leaving four million homeless.

A Philippineofficial launched a hunger strike last week to pressure a UN climate change conference to come up withconcrete steps to fight global warming.

Naderev Sano, a member of the PhilippineClimate Change Commission, told the Washington Times he was fasting "in solidarity with my countrymen who are now struggling for food back home" including his own brother, whom Sano said "has been gathering bodies of the dead with his own two hands."

Junever Mahilum-West, responding to criticism that the Philippine national government has been slow to react to the disaster, said it has been difficult to get aid to victims and that first responders were themselves victims.

"We have to treat this as a new normal and look at quickness of response and who will respond in case first responders are victimized."

• Video: Junever Mahilum-West talks about how Filipinos have contributed to Canadian society

She said you also have to consider that some people are living on spillways, the areas where water tends to go. Those are hazardous areas, but because Filipinos are exposed to so many disasters, they won't leave, she said.