Wanted: Green superheroes

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Intramuros on Tuesday saw environmental activists dressed as superheroes, who are pushing to make green issues central in the May elections.

To stress the point, pop culture heroes were parodied by environmental champions "Boy Bayong" and "Super Walang Aksaya" to promote green practices such as minimizing the use of plastic and managing waste.

"The country's leaders should be green superheroes--not jokers or worse, environmental villains," Greenpeace Southeast Asia spokesperson Francis dela Cruz said.

Greenpeace activists, along with those from local green coalitions such as EcoWaste and Buklod-Tao, also wore green masks to urge politicians to take a stand on environmental issues.

EcoWaste national coordinator Edwin Alejo said the masks are a sign of the groups' "commitment" to watch candidates before and after the elections and check whether they are fulfilling their green promises.

"The candidates may have green pick-up lines which are effective in capturing the attention of the Filipino public, but they should go beyond mere rhetoric and pursue legislation," Alejo said.

The groups also came up with criteria to measure senatorial candidates' environmental agenda.

“Protecting the environment should be a key national policy and a priority election concern both for the candidates as well as the voting public," dela Cruz added.

Senate hopefuls, the groups said, should plan to appropriate budget for the Ecological Solid Waste Management law, ratify the Basel Ban Amendment, enact a pollution information campaign, a plastic bag ban and a energy efficiency policy as well as a law that would eliminate toxic chemicals in consumer goods.

"Environmental protection directly translates to economic benefits for the nation as a whole, for communities and for each individual Filipino," dela Cruz said.