Filipinos Affected By Typhoon Haiyan Filmed An Open Letter To Pope Francis About Climate Change

Haiyan survivors are worried the Pope won't witness the real impact of 2013’s climate disaster. So they made a video.

People Surge, a grassroots alliance of Typhoon Haiyan victims, addressed Pope Francis in a 14-minute documentary about the unseen aftereffects of the November 2013 superstorm.

People Surge / Via youtube.com

The documentary aims to place a human face to the humanitarian crises developing in communities continuing to rebuild a little over a year after the historic superstorm made landfall in the Philippines.

The short film discusses issues in the eastern Visayas area, such as the underreporting of the death toll.

People Surge / Via youtube.com

"Entire families were killed in the storm surge," says Dakila Yee, a researcher for Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment. "So it raises the possibility that some of these families were no longer included in the official count."

It also talks about the promised aid that never reached impacted communities, as well as the alleged political assassination of two survivors whose organizing highlighted these government failures.

People Surge / Via youtube.com

Those involved in the production of the short film are concerned that those hosting the Pope in the Philippines will fail to bring up these concerns during the papal tour.

Watch the full video here.

youtube.com

Pope Francis spent his first full day in Manila on Jan. 16, where he received a rock star welcome from the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Facebook: FBNewswire