Women’s group Gabriela lashed out at President Marcos for telling Filipinos to adopt a “mindset shift” amid worsening typhoons, calling the remark a blatant form of victim-blaming and a diversion from the government’s failure to deliver real disaster solutions.

During a recent meeting with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), President Marcos said Filipinos should accept the inevitability of stronger typhoons and simply adopt a new mindset.

That comment drew sharp criticism from Gabriel, who said it reflects not resilience but evasion of duty.

“This is victim-blaming disguised as resilience,” Clarice Palce, the secretary-general of Gabriela, said in a statement on Friday, July 25.

“Families who lose homes, livelihoods, and even loved ones to each super-typhoon are now told their suffering is all in the head. Hindi kami kulang sa mindset, kulang ang gobyerno ni Marcos sa pondo para sa serbisyo at patakaran para sa tunay na pagbabago (We are not lacking in mindset. It’s the Marcos government that lacks funding for services and policies that bring real change).”

Palce underscored that women comprise 80 percent of those displaced by climate-related disasters in the country.

Yet, she said, the government continues to roll out inadequate and largely inaccessible services in response.

“Marcos’ ‘mindset’ rhetoric masks the real problem: neoliberal policies that prioritize debt servicing, importation, and military spending over women and children’s lives,” said Palce.

Also, Gabriela criticized the administration for backing large-scale mining, reclamation, quarrying, and mega-dam projects, saying these have intensified disaster risks for vulnerable communities.

“Filipino women refuse to normalize death, destruction and state criminal negligence!” Palce said.

“We demand compensation for climate loss and damage, long-term solutions to disasters, and the immediate halt of destructive large-scale mining, quarrying, reclamation and mega-dam construction projects that only benefit local and foreign corporations,” she added.

The group called on the public to reject what it deems as the Marcos administration’s attempt to pass the burden of disaster resilience onto citizens, instead of addressing root causes and implementing structural solutions.

Gabriela urged Filipinos to hold the government accountable for “gross inaction amid a continuing climate state of emergency.”