EDITORIAL - World Earth Day
The Philippine Star

NEARLY three decades after a special day was dedicated to the protection of the Earth, people are more than ever aware of the hazards faced by the planet. Horrific natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, massive flooding and mudslides have been blamed on factors with man-made causes such as global warming and indiscriminate logging.

Irresponsible mining operations have led to some of the worst environmental disasters. Coral reefs are disappearing, aggravating the depletion of the global fish catch because of overfishing and marine pollution.

In urban centers, air pollution has raised the cost of public health care. Natural habitats are disappearing, lengthening the list of endangered or extinct species. Food supplies are threatened as ecosystems are disrupted. Public awareness of environmental hazards has also raised awareness of what can be done to address the threats.

The world knows that it can’t go on with business as usual. Some of the biggest companies are leading the way, investing in environment-friendly technology and promoting the use of green fuel. Balancing corporate and social responsibility with development needs can be a delicate task. The world cannot stop consuming minerals and forest products and will remain dependent on fossil fuels for some time.

Developing countries such as China and India rely on cheap but dirty fuel such as coal to power their economic surge and ease poverty. Even affluent countries where public awareness of environmental hazards is highest are counting the costs and know that turning green is going to be a long, tortuous process.

Governments, private corporations and concerned groups are aiming for sustainable exploitation of natural resources. Nations are increasingly turning to alternative sources of fuel such as natural gas, geothermal, solar and wind power to cut their dependence on crude oil.

Progress has been made in protecting the environment in the past decades, but many threats remain and new hazards keep coming to light. On World Earth Day, the challenges of saving the planet are as daunting as ever.

RP environment in precarious state

BY KATHERINE ADRANEDA

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Angelo Reyes raised the alarm over the "precarious state" of the country’s environment, and called for unity in preserving the ecosystem, which he said has been "lacking attention."

During the Earth Day celebration at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City, Reyes said the country’s air quality, especially in urban areas, "falls short of the appropriate standards for health" while water quality, at least in urban areas, is in "a terrible state."

The DENR chief also said that solid waste "remains a major contributor" to land, air and water pollution, and that extensive logging has resulted in the "tremendous depletion" of forests. He said the country remains among the world’s "biodiversity hotspots" due to habitat loss, over-utilization of resources and poaching.

"The country’s environment is already in a precarious state and still lacking attention," Reyes told reporters. "Let us, therefore, join hands to avert (disaster)." "What I would like to propose is for everyone to work with the government in solid partnership," he said.

"I am sure we all realize that we cannot permit wanton destruction of our irreplaceable environment to go on. This must stop, once and for all." Gawad Kalinga’s (GK) Antonio Meloto, who is regarded as Filipino of the Year, said that one way to get people involved in the task of protecting the environment is to make communities the stewards of the environment.

Meloto has been in partnership with the government in changing the lives of indigent families by providing them homes on land usually donated by the government. The beneficiaries "pay" through "sweat equity" by helping build their own houses.

Integrated into the GK program are land areas located in watershed, mangrove and forest areas. Meloto believes that a cycle exists where the preservation of the environment will help reduce the incidence of poverty in the country and that the reduction of poverty will result in the preservation of the environment.

"Right now the most vulnerable to calamities are the poor, they are the victims," Meloto said. "Also, they are the ones destroying the forest because they’re on a survival mode." "If the DENR would give, for example, 10,000 hectares of forest land and there are 100 squatter families, what we will do is provide five hectares of the land area (where) GK will build a community, but the land will not be given (to the beneficiaries)," he said.

"The community will become the stewards of the area; they will be the ones to protect the area, the environment, while we provide housing for them." "The beneficiaries could engage in organic farming or planting of trees in the area. We could, for example, let each family-beneficiary plant at least one tree," he added.

Similar to the DENR’s socialized integrated forest management agreement or Community-Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA), Meloto said watershed, mangrove and forest areas provided by the government for GK projects will be good for 25 years and renewable for another 25 years.

Meloto said the GK-DENR partnership begun during the tenure of former DENR secretary Elisea Gozun targets the creation of 30 communities nationwide. He said the GK-DENR partnership has already built a community in Sitio Ruby in Quezon City near the La Mesa Dam watershed and intends to build communities in watershed, forest, and mangrove areas in Bayawan, Negros Oriental; Pagatpatan, Butuan; Bamban, Tarlac; Towerville, Bulacan; San Jose, Batangas; 10 sites in Bicol; Marinduque; Camp Abu Bakr in Jolo; Hilongos, Leyte; and Silay, Negros Oriental.

"This is just a beginning of the journey. But our goal is to make the 7,000 communities by 2010," Meloto said. Meanwhile, Gozun, a recipient of this year’s United Nations Environment Program’s Champions of the Earth award, backed Meloto’s stance on the protection of the environment and reduction of poverty.

Speaking before participants of the Earth Day celebration at the QMC, Gozun said the prevailing state of the environment demands urgent, coordinated actions from individuals and that the country cannot have inaction as an option. Getting "different people with different perspectives to work together is really a challenge," she said.

"In a developing country like ours, it is more difficult because... we have to deal with environmental problems as well as poverty." United States Ambassador Kristie Kenney, who also attended the Earth Day celebration at the QMC, praised the country’s "spectacular natural resources," which cannot be found in other places on Earth.

However, she was quick to urge the public to practice the three "Rs" for environment conservation – reduce, recycle, rethink: "Reduce usage of water and energy. Reduce whatever you can. Recycle. Recycle whenever you can. Rethink how you live your life." The US government is among the largest foreign-grant donors for the environment in the Philippines.

It has provided nearly $10 million in grant-funding each year to support initiatives for environment protection in the country. Other personalities at the Earth Day celebration were Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Mother Earth Philippines Foundation’s Odette Alcantara, environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa and retired justice Emilio Gancayco, of the Quezon City Development Foundation Inc. (QCDFI).

Besides the celebration at the QMC, an environmentally-themed Mass officiated by Manila Archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales was also held at the Manila Cathedral yesterday afternoon and a free showing of former US Vice President Al Gore’s climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" took place in eight cinemas of the SM shopping malls in the metropolis. "The classical Greeks referred to (the Earth) as a mother, Gaia," Belmonte said. "Like a mother it saves us, but it has its limitation. We have to see to it that we don’t abuse it by overusing it."

"In Quezon City, and I don’t want to say that Quezon City is the ideal place, but we do try to use some common-sense way of reducing pollution, of helping the environment," Belmonte said. "We have a centralized air quality system. We simply try to implement to reduce, reuse and recycle in the treatment of our garbage."

"We are probably among the first local government units to sign a contract under the job protocol whereby methane and gases in Payatas will be harvested and be turned into electricity," he added.

Data from the DENR showed that key urban centers in the country, especially the cities of Pasay, Makati and Manila, fall short of the appropriate standards for health, while Meycauayan in Bulacan was regarded as the area where air pollution is highest, with a total suspended particulate level over 300 times the acceptable standard for air quality.

The DENR said that health cost due to poor air quality in just four major urban areas is estimated to be more than $400 million. "About 70 percent of this air pollution is caused by the emissions of about five million vehicles nationwide," Reyes said.

"The Philippines has the dubious distinction of having the second-most polluted air, in terms of suspended particulates, among eight ASEAN countries – better only than Indonesia," Reyes said. As for water quality, 16 of the country’s major rivers, five in Metro Manila, are "biologically dead" during the summer months due to pollution.

The DENR said that 48 percent of the country’s water pollution is caused by household waste, which is compounded by the lack of an adequate sewerage system. Now, only seven percent of the Metro Manila population is connected to a sewer system.

World Bank (WB) estimates showed that the Philippines’ economic losses due to water pollution are about $1.3 billion, or P62 billion, each year. The WB study recommended that the Philippines invest P25 billion annually, over 10 years, for sanitation and sewerage infrastructure. The DENR said solid waste remains a major contributor to the country’s land, air, and water pollution.

In Metro Manila alone, 6,169 tons of garbage are generated daily and this amount is expected to double by 2010. "Much of this tonnage would actually be eliminated if we all simply followed the guidelines of Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which requires the proper segregation of garbage into degradables and recyclables, before it is disposed of by households," Reyes said.

"If all our households just practiced segregation, we would drastically reduce the amount of garbage generated. As it is now, 85 percent of the 6,169 tons of solid waste generated daily has to be collected and it is not at all certain whether this collected garbage is even disposed of properly."

The DENR also said the country’s forests have declined from about 19 million hectares to only 7.2 million hectares in 2004 and only six percent of the country’s original forests remain – less than a million hectares of old-growth trees. Although the Philippines managed to increase its forest cover by 700,000 hectares since 1998, the DENR said the country still has the second lowest forest cover in the ASEAN region.– with Gian Carlo Tauro