Echoes From
BY JOHNNY DAYANG

Green Lanterns

In the world of the child, the Green Lantern was an earthling chosen by the Guardians of the Universe to own a power ring and a power lantern that had great control over the physical world.

Transformed into a superhero, what was once a mere mortal could now perform immense feats of strength and power, on one condition: he must possess the willpower and the strength to use the ring and lantern solely for good.

Our country today has its own breed of Green Lanterns who act as guardians of Mother Earth. No, they do not have superhuman powers, but they sure have the will power and the almost heroic determination to right much of what has been wronged in our fragile eco-system.

Last April 25, as the nation celebrated Earth Day, the Fr. Neri Satur Awards for Environmental Heroism were conferred to Albay governor Joey Salceda, broadcaster and Palawan anti-mining advocate Dr. Gerry Ortega (posthumous), noted botanist Dr. Leonard Co (posthumous), chairman of the Save Sierra Madre network Fr. Peter Montalana, PLDT-Smart Foundation head Mon Isberto, Manila Times publisher Dante Ang, the Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, and the John Toppings of the Washington-based Climate Change.

Conferred by a special body under the Office of the President, headed this year by Climate Change Commission chair Heherson Alvarez, the awards have the special guidance of Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, with partner agencies that include Earthsavers, the UNESCO Dream Center, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Salceda, recently named by the United Nations as the "Senior Global Champion for Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)," was cited for his pioneering efforts in the campaign for climate change adaptation.

Fellow Albaynon and DENR chief Ramon Paje said that under Salceda's leadership Albayanos have united "to nurture nature so that future generations of Albayanons will have the resources to sustain decent living standards."

The annual awards is a fitting tribute to the late Fr. Neri Satur, an environmentalist and deputized forest ranger who was killed by illegal loggers in Bukidnon in 1991.

My colleagues in the student movement: former Supreme Court Chief justice Reynato Puno, Climate Change Commission chair Heherson Alvarez and Environment secretary Ramon Paje jointly presided over the conferment rites.