Storms, science and survival: Strengthening

Storms, science and survival: Strengthening | Daily Tribune

Torrential rains once again submerged many parts of the country, damaging homes and properties, displacing families, and reminding us of our vulnerability in this era of climate crisis.

Tropical storm “Crising” left communities across Luzon and Visayas underwater. The toll is severe with 12 confirmed deaths from drowning and structural collapse, over 1.9 million Filipinos displaced, and in Cagayan Province alone, P36.6 million in agricultural losses.

Yet as Crising’s survivors struggle to rebuild, two more tropical storms — “Dante” and “Emong” — brought heavier southwest monsoon rains. In Zambales and Bataan, red rainfall warnings were issued. In Bulacan and Rizal, residents navigated chest-deep floods in boats. Magat Dam released water through its spillway to manage rising levels.

This is no ordinary monsoon season. Distant storms intensify habagat rains, dumping a month’s downpour in mere hours. “Crising,” despite never reaching typhoon status, still brought more than 200mm of rain.

When “Crising” developed into a tropical depression last 16 July inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility, our Climate Change Commission team was in Antique for climate resilience discussions with the local government officials. The lessons of our meeting would be tested by nature’s fury so soon. What started as technical sessions on strengthening local resilience was immediately brought to life by real-time impacts. But the timing underscored the importance of data-driven governance as one of our most potent weapons against climate threats.

During our visit, we emphasized that data and science should not be considered makahadlok (intimidating). Instead, they must empower LGUs (local government units) as duty-bearers of resilience. This has been the basis of our collaboration with the Antique LGUs to update their Local Climate Change Action Plans (LCCAPs).

Why does this matter?

Data helps pinpoint high-risk zones such as flood-prone barangays, areas vulnerable to landslides, and communities at risk from storm surges. It turns uncertain risks into analytics. When hazard maps and climate projections are presented to mayors and councils, they transform abstract threats into clear, actionable policy.

Through the CCC’s ACT Local Program, we help LGUs conduct Climate and Disaster Risk Assessments (CDRA), embedding science into evacuation routes, land use, and early-warning systems. These enhanced LCCAPs can unlock funding from mechanisms like the People’s Survival Fund.

Aligning these enhanced LCCAPs with the National Adaptation Plan ensures projects deliver measurable impact. With data, resilience is no longer an abstract ideal. It becomes integrated in budget allocations, infrastructure standards, and protected zones.

This is why our partnerships with local governments are crucial. Climate resilience does not mean surrendering to the forces of nature. It means using every scientific and policy tool available to anticipate, adapt and act before the next disaster arrives.

As we roll out our ACT Local Program, the CCC reaffirms its pledge to bridge science and governance, in collaboration with institutions such as the UP Resilience Institute. Mayors who see flood projections overlaid on school locations or farmers who receive weather information specific to their watershed are better equipped to act. At critical times like these, data is no longer intimidating. It becomes a practical tool for survival.

Climate change is historic, systemic and global. It did not begin with us, but it now demands action from all of us. Under the leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., our approach is rooted in science-based and data-driven solutions. We are entering a new, more complex and complicated era, where nature is fiercer and science is, more than ever, the needed objective and instrument of policy for transformative change. Business as usual will not cut it, as science and data have proven. And we will need a systemic and integrated approach in every step of governance from planning and systems design to implementation, maintenance and innovation. A new culture of science and discipline where every decision and action is grounded on science and data.

Our experiences with Crising, Dante, and Emong remind us that climate impacts are irreversible. Lives cannot be brought back. Farmlands may remain unproductive. Entire livelihoods can be lost. But with data-driven LCCAPs as our blueprint, and the political will to carry them out, we can shield what remains.

Every evidenced-based policy, every risk-informed budget proves that in the battle against climate change, data is not just a set of numbers. It is our moral compass to protect what is most valuable and what cannot be replaced.