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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently called the country's worsening disasters as “the new normal”. True to science, rising global temperatures intensifies calamities such as typhoons, which is prone to the country. However, a nation leader treating such occurrence as an unavoidable fact of life rather than a crisis demanding war-level response, it tells me they've already given up which I refuse to accept. According to the Global Climate Risk Index, the Philippines ranked fourth among countries most affected by climate change from 2000 to 2019. Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013 killed over 6,000 people, and Typhoon Rai (Odette) in 2021 left millions homeless, destroyed infrastructures, and significantly damaged the agriculture industry. Now, history repeats itself once again as we are currently experiencing storms intensifying at alarming rates, which causes more damage in the country than ever. With that being said, the idea of recognizing the current calamities that we are facing as “new normal” does not align to reality, when the Philippines has felt the devastations of these calamities multiple times, with same effects repeating itself just more cataclysmic. However, the real problem as to why the country always experiences the greatest defeats when it comes to events like this lies in the leadership of our nation. I’ve seen how this plays out before. Politicians make solemn speeches after disasters, promise “babangon muli,” and then when the headlines fade—they return to the same sluggish governance. The Philippines has a ₱453 billion climate adaptation budget from 2023, yet it's purpose has never been felt. While other countries are fighting back and why aren’t we? Bangladesh, another climate-vulnerable nation, has built thousands of cyclone shelters, saving countless lives. The Netherlands, a country that should be underwater, has spent decades perfecting flood defenses. Meanwhile, our flood control projects are either delayed like the long-stalled Pasig-Marikina River Basin project or poorly maintained. We keep reacting to disasters instead of preventing them. And Marcos’ “new normal” talk feels like an excuse for that failure. What infuriates me most is how little the Philippines contributes to this crisis, yet how much we suffer. We account for less than 0.4% of global carbon emissions, yet we bear the brunt of storms, rising seas, and killer heat. Instead of just accepting this fate—our government should be demanding climate justice. Calling this ‘the new normal’ is dangerous because it makes catastrophe seem inevitable. It tells people to just get used to losing homes, livelihoods, and loved ones. But we don’t have to accept this kind of fate. We need a government that treats climate change like the emergency it is—one that cracks down on illegal logging, speeds up renewable energy transitions, and forces corporations to stop treating our environment like a dumping ground. Most of all, we need leaders who fight instead of just sighing and saying, “This is how it is now.” I don’t want a president who normalizes disaster. I want one who refuses to let it keep happening. If this really is the “new normal”, then our response should be anything but normal. It should be radical, relentless, and uncompromising. Because if we don’t act now, we won’t just be adapting to climate change—we’ll be surrendering to it. And I, for one, won’t go down without a fight. We, the Filipino people, deserve more than defeatism. We deserve a government that doesn't just name the storm—but fights like hell to weather it.