Some battles are necessary

It was only the beginning," so the wires from the United States reported. At the time I was writing this column, the Americans and the British had just attacked Afghanistan, striking Taliban installations with missiles and bombs.

And they said it was only the beginning. By the time you read this, chances are you would already have watched up-to-date reports of further assaults on the Talibans. As US President George W. Bush said in a televised address, "We will not waver, we will not tire."

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In a different but just as resolute tone, George Patton, one of the greatest military strategists that ever lived, declared, "May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won’t."

Today, George W. Bush and the American people are at war. It is a war different from the ones the great Patton fought in the first half of the 20th century. The weapons they now use are much more powerful, their capabilities mind- boggling as one reads of bombers that could "bring firepower to bear, in a short time, anywhere on the globe through previously impenetrable defenses" or of cruise missiles "designed to fly at extremely low altitudes and high subsonic speeds."

The American people, for their part, have given their leaders a hundred percent vote of confidence, convinced that triumph will ultimately be theirs, even if it takes long to achieve it.

But they are not alone. All over the world, there has been a resounding outcry for retaliation on the terrorists responsible for the World Trade Center tragedy. Palpable anger expressed by mankind is definitely helping the United States build support for this undertaking that requires massive military force, with their opening salvo already unleashed. More is definitely yet to come. The times are not only interesting. They are also defining a new generation of humanity, in the same manner that major catastrophes of the past have defined the people of the eras in which they occurred.

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Our own country has not been without its share of the negative effects of terrorism. And yet terrorists have created fear, not just among foreigners, but even among our people, right here in their own backyard. We have lost many good men, both soldiers and civilians. We have seen how they have been dismembered by ruthless bandits hungry for blood, and fortune that could be made at the expense of their fellow human beings.

How many wars must yet be fought just so cruelty and greed and avarice would end?

In fact, there are even personal wars that must be fought to keep our world truly safe.

I am sad because I know of one man who’s waging his own war, as he himself fights to live. I cannot help but ponder about the great deeds of this man who, in his own way, sought to save this very world that we’re learning to love and appreciate only when we’re in danger of losing it.

Maximo Kalaw Jr. is fighting what could be considered his greatest battle. Angels knock on his door with nagging insistence, seeking aggressively to take away to never-never land a visionary who lies shamelessly unappreciated in his own country.

More fondly known as Junie to family and disciples of his environmental crusade, he roamed the wilderness of our own and far lands, and came out a victor in his quest for a livable environment.

Even as Junie made international waves as a visionary in his environmental perspective, our own countrymen never took notice. Of course, a visionary is never without disciples , admirers and a select circle of friends. But Junie, the visionary was recognized beyond the narrow boundaries of Philippine territory, thank goodness. Appreciating the substance of his perspective and uncompromising adherence to the highest ecological and environmental standards, many countries forming the Earth Council convinced Junie to be its executive director.

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For three decades of total dedication towards environmental protection, Junie was given the "Service of Life Award." The award, though, was not bestowed by the Philippine government. It took an American non-government organization to mentor and value Junie’s pioneering efforts for the protection of the environment.

The private foundation which gave the award to Junie is the Jenifer Altman Foundation dedicated to the vision of a socially just and ecologically sustainable future through mind-body and environmental health. Its founder, Jenifer Altman, was an environmentalist and an advocate for cancer patients. She understood that many epidemic conditions that lead to premature deaths are caused by climate changes, ozone depletion, toxic chemicals and habitat destruction. Not only animals and mammals are affected but mankind itself.

Altman’s president, Michael Lerner, says that their focus is to help bring a new age of Interbeing. The Jenifer Altman Foundation (JAF) aspires to transform the private death-dealing technologies into fully conscious technologies to sustain the tree of life. It became the first global movement to address the great cataclysms of human and ecological health directly. The foundation has since joined hands with the StarFire Fund of the Rockefeller Financial Services that co-grants with the JAF. Both are limited to environmental health issues and are in partnership for information technologies with Mitchell Kapor, the founder of Lotus software.

Junie Kalaw and the JAF brought to treaty negotiations in Montreal of June 1998 its campaign to ban 12 of the most persistent toxic pollutants in the world, a move sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program. They lobbied to rid the world of uncontrolled uses of biotechnology, particularly in the food and agricultural sectors, as part of a global environmental campaign focusing on reducing life-degrading chemicals.

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In the 1970s, Junie’s Caliraya Foundation already started to advocate environmental protection. His scientific team included Dr. Celso Roque, a physicist, Dr. Reynaldo Punongbayan, who is now head of Phivolcs, Dr. Ed Gomez who became head of the UP Marine Science Department and Dr. Pio Zamora of the UP Botany Department. Shortly after, Junie founded the Haribon Foundation which focused on the prohibition of national and international exploitation of timber and forest products. It was during his Haribon days that Junie tangled with commercial logging companies. A book, Plunder in Paradise, was written by John Cavangh and Robin Broad based on Junie’s experiences.

Now satisfied with two foundations, Junie became president of Green Forum in 1992 and staged an environmental covenant between the rebels of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the AFP Chief of Staff and political parties to demonstrate that contending interests could come together for Mother Earth in spite of conflicting ideologies.

In 1997, as executive director of the Earth Council, he managed the famous Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It was also as executive director of the Earth Council when Junie designed a contribution campaign for "A People’s Earth Charter" in 45 countries. The Earth Charter is envisioned to be the environmental equivalent of the United Nations Charter for Human Rights.

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Junie confronts his challenge of a lifetime in New York without much fanfare, though friends in the environmental movement in the Philippines have been offering prayers. While our country struggles to find heroes to emulate in the face of a former president accused of plunder and a former police chief accused of heinous crimes, Junie Kalaw could very well be the one who would do us proud.

As the world stands still in suspense, awaiting what would happen next, we Filipinos would do ourselves good if we paused for a moment and prayed for this man, Junie Kalaw, who chose to fight the ills that clawed into the very life of the world we live in.

Junie Kalaw chose to terrorize the enemies of Mother Earth. He certainly earned his enemies, but he has the whole humankind for his friend, aware or not of his existence and accomplishments.

When the good finally triumphs over evil, as the sun is sure to rise in the east each time we wake up in the morning, it would be a most fitting tribute to Junie Kalaw if we finally learned to love our world more. The peace we would then enjoy and cherish would also be his.