The Solar Guerilla Autonomous Response Team of the Mobile Anarchist School is launching a third mission to the typhoon hit region of Leyte in the Philippines and is calling for any donations to help them out in this task. They have been distributing food, providing health care wherever they can, childcare and have set up solar powered generators to help people recharge mobile phones and torches, all completely free of charge. The Brisbane Solidarity Network have produced a pamphlet covering the first two missions with details on how to support this campaign.It can be downloaded here.
See also Leyte Mission One and Leyte Mission Two.
Background
More than a month after super typhoon Yolanda, also known as Haiyan, pummelled the Visayas, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported on Thursday morning that the death toll has slightly increased to 5,982 from 5,959 reported Wednesday. The number of people injured and missing remained at 27,022 and 1,779, respectively.
Affected cities: 57; affected provinces: 44. Number of people/families affected: 12.191 million people/ 2.582 million families number of people displaced: 3.98 million people/ 869,742 families
In evacuation centres: 21,669 families/ 93,814 people.
The number of damaged houses decreased to 1.192 million, nearly half of which were totally destroyed. To date, power outage is still being experienced in some provinces and municipalities of Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas.
Based on the latest inspection of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), a total of 1,959 transmission facilities have been damaged.
Solar Power
The aftermath of different calamities, not only this Typhoon Haiyan, is always the loss of electrical power and communication for our love ones. This kind of problem always needs to be addressed. Our plan is to travel and set up a booth firstly in Tacloban City area and put up a 120watts solar panel with batteries, solar charger and inverter that will cost of 17,500 pesos (roughly A$450). So if our international friends and comrades can raise funds for this equipment, we can be in solidarity with the victims of this Typhoon Haiyan. The Philippines are always directly affected by different natural calamities. Solar power equipment can always be used after there is a calamity.
At this moment, based on the information that we got, the electricity in the affected area will be back after 6 months. That’s why we think that the more solar power equipment that’s used, the more people will be directly benefited. Just let us know if you are interested with this kind of solidarity direct action, we are now working on it.
Ways forward
The incompetence and corruption in the government proved to be more devastating than the super typhoon itself, we call on the people, collectives, private sectors and autonomous network to act directly. Avoid government process because goods and supplies will just end up in storage facilities accessible only to authorities. There are plenty of reports with regard to anomalies, we actually witnessed how the authority control the basic goods for their own purposes. Thousands of sacks of rice and goods are being kept by the authorities and distributing only very limited supplies to the families who could not access basic commodities.
In our part, we would like to expand our set-up of solar power unit equip with 300 watts solar panel, 30 ampere solar control charger, 2500 inverter and two units of 3SM maintenance and deep cycle batteries to accommodate more units of mobile phones and flashlights. We will organize a Solar Guerrilla Autonomous Response Team that will immediately react in every calamity and power black-out situation.
In the first week of December we are planning to organize a camp that will provide relief, medical missions and stress debriefing activities, the extent of operations will depend on the support and participation from immediate and extended Network.