2020 Annual Report on the Human Rights Situation in the Philippines 31 ancestral domains, the Lumad could not exercise their right to culture in community with those who remained there. Human Rights, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Reduction During the COVID-19 Pandemic 90 There is an increase in the number of COVID-19 positive evacuees who were displaced by recent typhoons. The affected evacuees have been placed in community care facilities as the LGU monitors the situation in the evacuation centers. 91 All this is happening in the face of the climate crisis. The country faced a series of natural disasters and other calamities in 2020. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reported that “climate change is one of the greatest threats to human rights of our generation, posing a serious risk to the fundamental rights to life, health, food, and adequate standard of living of individuals and communities across the world.” CHR CAR grounds this assertion when it wrote that “manifestations of climate change are now felt by the majority, most especially by upland farmers whose agricultural production is vulnerable to the increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.” Climate change and environmental protection are also “hot-button issues in view of the presence of mining and logging companies within cultural communities especially between the Lumads and private corporations.” 135 136 137 92 Extreme weather conditions (extreme heat and extreme rain) over the years devastated Filipinos, preventing them from having a stable way of living.138 Climate change is a crucial factor in intensifying droughts and typhoons as it increases global surface temperatures.139 The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already dismal situation of disaster preparedness and response.140 93 On 28 June 2020, flash floods hit Digos City. The heavy rain due to the southwest monsoon caused the Digos River to overflow. As such, low-lying areas of the city were inundated. According to the initial assessment of the Digos City Social Welfare and Development Office (SWDO), a total of 1,272 families or 4,282 individuals were affected. Of said number, a total of 412 families from eight (8) barangays evacuated to the city gymnasium. They returned home the following day when the flood already subsided. About 16 houses were totally damaged. Digos City SWDO provided food packs to the affected families.141 94 Towards the last quarter of the year, two consecutive typhoons, typhoon Quinta (Molave) and super typhoon Rolly (Goni), devastated parts of the country. These supertyphoons wiped out a total of PHP4.6 billion in agricultural crops.142 95 After typhoons Quinta and Rolly struck the country, typhoon Ulysses devastated various parts of Luzon from 11 to 12 November 2020, with more than three million people 135 UN Environment Programme (2015, December). Climate Change and Human Rights. Retrieved from https://wedocs. unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/9530/-Climate_Change_and_Human_Rightshuman-rights-climate-change. pdf. 136 CHR CAR (2021, Jan 29). Regional Human Rights Situation Report July to December 2020, p. 48. 137 CHR CARAGA (2021, Jan 29). What Kind of Year Has It Been: A Report on the Human Rights Situation in CARAGA Region During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, p. 8. 138 See https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/524569/10-deadliest-natural-disasters-in-the-philippines. 139 See https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-can-climate-change-affect-natural-disasters-1?qt-news_science_products=0#qtnews_science_products. 140 See https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/COVID-19/disasters_severe_weather_and_COVID-19.html. 141 (2020). Regional Human Rights Situation Report January 2020 to June 2020. Davao City: CHR Regional Office 11. 142 See https://www.rappler.com/business/agriculture-damage-quinta-super-typhoon-rolly-november-3-2020.