‘I’m afraid for our children’: living with the climate crisis in the Philippines – in pictures

The Philippines is one of the countries most at risk of the climate emergency due to its low-lying island geography. With sea temperatures rising, the country deals with increasingly frequent and intense typhoons, rising sea-levels that threaten coastal communities, and changing rainfall patterns that disrupt agriculture. The country is one of the smallest contributors to climate change but one of the places most affected by its impacts. Gideon Mendel’s visceral portraits from his project Drowning World show people in Bulacan province dealing with the climate emergency in their daily lives

Abel Binoya | San Miguel village, Hagonoy municipality

It’s been flooded for six months in our street, since Typhoon Emong hit Bulacan. It was not like that before, the water would only last about a week, even if it was a big flood. I work as a tricycle driver and you can’t pick up any passengers because it’s flooded everywhere. When it floods, it’s really difficult. The weather has really lost its direction, and that is the effect of climate change. Here in the north we used to have rain in August for half a month, fifteen days of rain, fifteen days of sunshine. Now, that pattern is gonePhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Diana Rose Masangkay | Maisulao village, Calumpit municipality

With the rising water we have to move our things to a higher place every day. The children get sick because of the flooding, and their education is disrupted. We can’t do our jobs well when the wind gets stronger. The government should raise everything so it doesn’t flood, they shouldn’t steal and engage in corrupt practices.They shouldn’t be stealing from people; they should be helping their constituents so that our town won’t be submerged by the floodwatersPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Metrilita Dela Cruz, 80 | San Miguel village, Hagonoy municipality

It’s so hard. I hope our world changes, we’re really struggling. For the past six months, we have been unable to use the bottom floor of our house because the floodwater has not disappeared. When the water comes, sometimes at midnight it’s really strong and we try lifting things up. We didn’t expect it because it wasn’t like that before. Now, it’s just like that, the water is always strong. I hope the leaders, like those corruption cases that were reported, don’t ignore the needs of the peoplePhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Rocky Albania | Bulusan village, Calumpit municipality

I work in a district office as a special operations officer. We are giving some relief operations and goods to the evacuation centres. The cause of the flood is the typhoon, and there’s also the high tide issue we are facing. Our town is considered the catch basin of the province, so we expect this. Due to climate change, the flooding is getting worse. Ten years ago, the roads were dry … we didn’t have to elevate our houses. I am afraid for our children, for everybody … What will happen if we don’t find a solution to this? Photograph: Gideon Mendel

Feli Albania | Bulusan village, Calumpit municipality

I am a widow and a grandmother. I take care of my grandchildren. That is my only job. This frequent flooding is hard. It’s been like this for a few days now. It’s hard when all the stuff is floating. I really had a hard time. Sometimes it goes up and down, then rises again. It looks like it’s growing again. It’s getting harder. The water is rising. Because of the frequent rain and storms, right? We’re behind that river, so all the water from the country passes here on the way to the sea. We’re really used to that water every yearPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Carina Manabat Venenoso | Palapat village, Hagonoy municipality

I work as a garbage collector. It was difficult when the water came. I had to save my kids and move to higher ground to avoid the flooding. I have returned today to pick up my cat Sundo, who I rescued in September. When it rains, the floodwaters really rise. This is deep. In the past, we only had high tides. Then the storm came along, and the dams were released at the same time. That’s why the water got deeper. I hope the flood and high tide won’t occur again so children will be able to play in the street and can have more funPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Maica Salonga | Bulusan village, Calumpit municipality

I work as a seamstress. It’s very difficult. I can’t work properly because of the flood. Our things are getting damaged. This water is from Typhoon Uwan. It feels like the seasons have changed. Before, we used to have a dry season for a month. Now, we experience half a year before it dries up. As the years go by, the flooding is getting worse. I hope a solution can be found so that we will never experience this suffering again. I hope the government budget will be used properly so that something can be done about our situationPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Marvin Torres Gianan, Calizon village, Calumpit municipality

I am a tricycle driver so I have a hard time with the rising water. The combination of the high tide and the flood is terrible. It’s difficult to work. Saving stuff is really hard. The water is rising faster now. In this region we have often had floods, but now with the typhoons so frequent, they are worse and take so much longer to subside. We have had water here since Typhoon Emong in July. We know now what is going on because it’s in the news – many have become corrupt, and the funds for flood control construction have disappearedPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Benjamin Manlapig | Calizon village, Calumpit municipality

I work at the Calizon elementary school as the caretaker. I tried to get to all the classrooms to raise the furniture and teaching materials. At my home, the water was so deep I took my family up to the roof so we could wait for relief and have something to eat. We were left stranded there. Every year now there are at least two typhoons and they are getting more frequent. Our community is near a river and close to the sea so the floodwater from the whole country eventually reaches us, and the high tide makes it much worsePhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Febelyn Drilo | Maisulao village, Calumpit municipality

I am a housewife with three small children. It’s difficult because we have to continue living in our home even when it’s full of floodwater. If the children fall into the water, we just lift them up. We raise our beds to sleep. The water was up to chest-high last week. This area used to be all farmland with plants, but now its gone. I hope we can get help with the problem of rising water, which has been here since Typhoon Emong. The water has been increasing; it’s not disappearing any more. That’s the change I’ve seen herePhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Emily Irabagon | San Miguel village, Calumpit municipality

It’s hard. We’ve been submerged for almost seven months. If the water is high, we can’t get out to stock up on food. You can’t get out unless someone takes you. And the students here barely have school. I’ve grown old here; I’m 65 years old. When it flooded here in the past, it went straight down. But when it floods now, it goes up and down until we’ve reached seven months of mud and water. They shouldn’t cut down the trees on the mountains and block water channels that let the water flow straight outPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Maxima Garcelis | San Miguel village, Hagonoy municipality

I’ve been here in San Miguel since I was born and now I’m 76. I worked as a house helper, but now I just take care of my child since my eyesight has gotten blurry. We don’t have anything high or a second floor, so we have to lift everything up. When we were young, the only thing we worried about was a typhoon. The only time we saw water before was if we went to the river. My message to the world is for this water to stop entering the houses and the streets. We end up with nowhere to sleep, nowhere to move our thingsPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Josie Lopez | San Miguel village, Hagonoy municipality

It’s scary, especially when the water comes at night without you noticing. All of your things get wet. It’s frightening. Before, we didn’t experience flooding like this. Now it just suddenly happens. We really end up submerged. My understanding of climate change is that, in the past, things weren’t like this. Maybe it’s because the climate keeps changing. When it’s supposed to be hot, it rains. When it’s supposed to be rainy, it becomes hot. The changes are quite obvious. I hope we find something within ourselves so this doesn’t continuePhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Cirilo Lopez | San Miguel village, Hagonoy municipality

I’m a tricycle driver, but right now I can’t drive as the water is too deep. I’m left with no choice but to stay at home. It’s extremely difficult … you don’t know what to do first, especially when you have children with you. First of all, climate change is the destruction of the atmosphere. Secondly there is corruption. That won’t be eliminated. Before, there were many trees here. You wouldn’t be affected by high tide. Now, the trees are slowly disappearing. The careless disposal of trash is also a big reasonPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Yolanda Mata Cabral | San Miguel village, Hagonoy municipality

Our situation is difficult because it’s been like this for six months. We are having a hard time going out, buying necessities. So we decided to build a boat, even if it was small. If the flooding is not resolved, this map of San Miguel might disappear. Before, even though we got flooded, when the water disappeared, it was gone. Now, the water really doesn’t leave us. We’ve been like this for six months. If we could just move to a higher place, we would. But there’s no choice, nothingPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Marilou Borlongan | San Miguel village, Hagonoy municipality

I am an unemployed single mother. Since the flood, the house down here has been unusable because the water is up to my chest. So I don’t come down here. The water is reaching the doorknob. Before, the flood didn’t reach this far. It used to dry out at the bottom. Now it seems like it won’t dry out anymore. It seems like the storm is getting stronger and stronger all the time. The wind is strong. The rain is strong. It seems like it doesn’t stop. To all the leaders, you must help us, take action on this floodPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Lolita Paquing | Maysulao village, Calumpit municipality

Before now, we only got flooded once a year. Now, we’ve been flooded for six months. The water is just starting to rise. Before, when it flooded it was one week up, one week down. Now been almost half a year. It’s really been so hard for us. It seems like it’s always been rainy season in our area. Because when it rains in our area, we get flooded. Now it’s not raining, we still get flooded. It seems like there’s no sun anymore, only rainy seasonPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Rev Father Melchor Ignacio | San Juan village, Hagonoy municipality

I’ve been the parish priest here at St John the Baptist church since 2021. This flooding is very painful for the community because they have to evacuate. They don’t want to see this as a normal thing, but it has become a part of their lives. We deserve something better. This current flood is because of the Typhoon Yuan, combined with the high tide. I definitely see this as connected with climate change. The people have not experienced this kind of flood being so frequentPhotograph: Gideon Mendel

Manibien Besa | San Miguel village, Hagonoy municipality

I am a salesman at a hardware store in Apalit, Pampanga. There has been ankle-deep floodwater here since Typhoon Emong six months ago and its now chest-deep due to the high tide and Typhoon Uwan. The weather is changing, the typhoon is faster, water rises faster, and it takes longer to fall. This will take until December. Garbage disposal should be done in a proper manner as it’s blocking the water channels. Cutting down trees also affects the groundThis trip was made possible through a grant from AGOG: The Immersive Media InstitutePhotograph: Gideon Mendel