Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday tied recent deadly storms to alleged corruption in flood control and climate infrastructure, as she renewed calls for grassroots environmental action during her Philippine Earth Day message.

In a video message, Duterte cited a string of recent calamities that left nearly 300 people dead and displaced more than one million residents.

“These are the consequences when we fail to respect the environment we depend on,” she said, pointing to the devastation brought by recent typhoons.

“When funds for flood control are stolen or wasted, we are not only failing the environment — we are betraying our own people,” she added, stating that corruption in climate infrastructure poses “a direct threat to national security.”

Without naming specific projects or officials, Duterte alleged that misuse of billions of pesos intended for flood control has worsened the country’s vulnerability to disasters.

Lawmakers and watchdog groups found “ghost projects”—infrastructure projects that are paid for but are either incomplete, poorly executed, or difficult to verify on-site.

Meanwhile, the vice president also highlighted the Office of the Vice President’s “PagbaBAGo: A Million Trees Campaign,” which she said reached its target of planting one million trees over three years. 

Duterte said tree planting as an accessible form of climate action, urging Filipinos to participate despite limited resources.

“Planting a tree is the simplest climate action anyone can take,” she said. 

“We do not need massive budgets — only seedlings and the resolve to protect the future of our children.”