A day after the day of national mourning for the victims of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda – the most powerful storm that hit the Philippines 11 years ago – urged the government to enforce stronger climate accountability policies for corporations.

Community representatives, including farmers, fishermen, homemakers, youth, senior citizens, and other residents of the Municipality of Salcedo in Eastern Samar, hand-delivered a letter to the main offices of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), compelling the regulatory body to implement mandatory Sustainability Reporting and Climate-Related Financial Disclosures for publicly listed companies.

“Even after 11 years, the people of Salcedo have not fully recovered from Super Typhoon Yolanda. Many are still displaced, could not return to their homes, many are still buried in debt. They are paying, but none of this was their fault,” said Virgina Benosa-Llorin, Greenpeace Campaigner, who accompanied the delegation of community members to MakatiCity. 

“To this day, many communities are suffering because of extreme weather. It has only been days since Severe Tropical Storm Kristine and Super Typhoon Leon wrought destruction in 17 provinces and killed hundreds,” she said. “The government must concretize the responsibility of businesses in the context of the climate crisis. They must discourage anthropogenic contributions to climate change and set up mechanisms for compensating victims–making sustainability reporting guidelines mandatory is a crucial step towards this.”

Current guidelines on sustainability reporting and climate disclosures operate under a "comply or explain" approach, which limits accountability regarding corporate greenhouse gas emissions. If a company does not comply with the guidelines or fails to meet disclosure requirements, they can provide an explanation “for items where they still have no available data on.”

This lack of comprehensive transparency, the residents argue, undermines the principle of disclosure, which is an essential component of holding companies accountable if their operations or activities contribute to the worsening of the climate crisis.[1]

"The SEC is mandated to establish a socially conscious free market, and as such should ensure businesses are accountable not only to their shareholders but to the broader public as well,” explained Atty. Ryan Roset, Senior Legal Fellow of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC), which is providing legal support for Salcedo residents. “In the context of the climate crisis, this duty includes ensuring that corporations, most especially those in environmentally critical or carbon intensive industries such as energy, oil, gas, and mining, comply with stringent requirements on climate related financial disclosures.” 

The letter, addressed to Chairperson Emilio Benito Aquino, raised the urgent concern of the Salcedo residents over the impacts of climate change on their livelihoods and communities. Their province, frequently ravaged by some of the strongest typhoons in the world, is no stranger to devastation, particularly following the catastrophic Yolanda, which claimed 29 lives and injured over 846 people in the municipality of Salcedo alone. 

According to Lorena Ivy Ogania, a member of the Salcedo community who joined the delegation to Makati, the action is their way of fighting for future generations: 

“Bilang isang magulang nakikilahok po ako sa kampanyang itodahil hangad ko na matigil na ang patuloy na paglala ng klimaat ng hindi na danasin ng aking anak ang problema ng climate change,” she said. “Gusto ko rin na mapanagot ang mgakorporasyon sa kanilang kontribusyon sa climate crisis. Lumalaban po ako sa sistema hindi para sa sarili ko kundi para sa aking anak at sa mga susunod na henerasyon.”

("As a parent, I am participating in this campaign because I want the ongoing deterioration of the climate to stop and for my child to no longer experience the problems caused by climate change. I also want to hold corporations accountable for their contributions to the climate crisis. I am fighting against the system not for myself, but for my child and future generations.")

In commemoration of the 11 years since Yolanda destroyed their community, the Salcedo delegation brought with them 11 objects of memory–cherished items that had been spoiled or destroyed in the deluge. Among the items were fragments from furniture, a ruined fishing net, a damaged crucifix, and tearingsfrom a mosquito net and comforter, which a then-pregnant Lorena used as a makeshift shelter at the height of the storm.

Eastern Samar, located along the Pacific typhoon path, is just one of the provinces most severely impacted by the super typhoon. Yolanda made landfall on November 8, 2013, and claimed an estimated 10,000 lives and left roughly 11 million people affected, highlighting the extreme vulnerability of the Philippines. It also made a global impact by changing how institutions view the climate crisis, and it was crucial to establishloss and damage as pillars of climate action. 

SEC established Sustainability Reporting Guidelines for publicly listed companies in 2019, temporarily adopting "comply or explain.” This was only for three years, after which the SEC would revise its guidelines. On October 5, 2023, the SEC announced revising the guidelines. As of October 2024, however, the final version of the amended SR Guidelines has not yet been issued.