Cardinal David: Nepal floods a wake-up call
(May 27 2026) Human rights advocates, religious leaders, and members of civil society, led by Carlos Conde, Dr. Al Fuertes, forensics pathologist Dr. Raquel Barros del Rosario-Fortun, Cardinal Pablo "Ambo" David, former ICC Judge Raul Pangalangan, Fr. Daniel Franklin E. Pilario, Fr. Flaviano “Flavie” Villanueva, light the candles, during the launching of the EJK Truth Commission at Villa San Miguel on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. The independent, civilian-led, and truth-seeking body aims to establish a credible public record of extrajudicial killings and related abuses in the Philippines, nearly a decade after drug war-related killings escalated nationwide in 2016. The Commission is guided by Pablo Virgilio David as adviser to help safeguard its integrity, independence, and mission in pursuing truth, justice, and healing. Photo/Analy Labor
ANALY LABOR
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David said the flash flood in Nepal should be a wake-up call for the people to better protect the planet.
“Let us pray for Nepal. Let us pray also that tragedies like this finally awaken us to a frightening truth: what we do to our common home, we ultimately do to ourselves,” he said in a social media post.
Following the flash floods that occurred on Aug. 26, David said Nepalese authorities report at least 165 bodies recovered, with hundreds of people—including many foreign tourists and pilgrims—still unaccounted for.”
The Cardinal said the images of the aftermath may be frightening, however, he pointed out that “even more frightening is what they are telling us.”
“Climate change is no longer something we can speak about merely in the future tense,” declared the prelate.
According to scientists investigating what happened, David said the flash floods may have been triggered by a gigantic part of the glacier in the Himalayas that broke off and crashed into the river system.
Though investigation remains and no conclusions have been made, David said “they warn that rapid warming and glacial retreat are making these high-mountain environments increasingly dangerous.”
“The great glaciers of the Himalayas are melting and becoming increasingly unstable as the planet warms,” the prelate lamented.
“Nepal’s glaciers have reportedly been melting 65 percent faster in the last decade than in the previous one,” he added.