Environmentalists in the Philippines say deforestation is a major factor in floods

In the Philippines, the death toll from last week’s floods in the southern island of Mindanao has surpassed one thousand, another thousand are missing and health officials are warning of possible outbreaks of disease. Tropical storm Sendong has left hundreds of thousands of residents displaced and a United Nations visit to the region found water systems in the two hardest hit areas, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City, destroyed, leaving most residents with no reliable source of water.   FSRN’s Dorian Merina spoke with Lisa Ito from the Center for Environmental Concerns Philippines in Manila and Francis Morales, Secretary-General of Panalipdan, a Mindanao-based environmental alliance.  Dorian opened by asking Lisa how deforestation has contributed to the devastating floods.