The horrible state of the Philippine environment

Judging from the Senate hearing on the Chocolate Hills and other environmental fiascos, we can say that this is a nation of finger-pointing. The DENR refuses to affect command responsibility. The local governments appear to be invoking the right to remain silent. The bureaucrats are washing their hands. I thought Pontius Pilate was only for the Holy Week.

Many of our officials are in denial. The trapos in our country refuse to face the real score. It is painful to face the truth, but if we continue to deny the realities, we shall keep on doing what is undesirable, highly pernicious, exceedingly damaging, totally deleterious, and highly prejudicial to our natural environment, and therefore, ultimately, to the national interests. The Philippines is one of the most environmentally-damaged nations in the whole world.

For the longest time, we have ravaged our forests, polluted our waters, squandered our natural resources and, in the language of jurisprudence, our government and our population are mindlessly proceeding in the reckless "rape of Mother Earth". According to United States Agency for International Development (USAID), while millions of our people are relying on agriculture and fishery for livelihood, our government and people keep on hurting the sources of our means of surviving. That is why we keep on asking for aid from other countries whenever we are hit by disasters and calamities because our own people have ravaged the sources of our own subsistence.

We are inclined to concur with the observations that most of our peoples' sufferings are self-inflicted because for many decades we have abused the natural environment. The floods and the droughts that we suffer from, resulting in famine, diseases and social conflicts, are direct results of our own notorious lack of foresight, habitual lack of care for nature, our insatiable greed and inclinations for easy and quick solutions to our needs and problems. Our nation doesn’t have a vision of a truly humane and livable environment, and our leaders don’t have strategic actions to avoid the harmful effects of climate change. Our people aren’t conscious of the far-reaching consequences of our notorious and repetitive negligence.

The Philippines is one of the heaviest contributors to ocean plastic pollution. It is estimated by USAID that our country generates no less than 2.7 million tons of plastic waste annually. Filipinos have remained lukewarm to the initiatives to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic garbage and other solid waste. In our country, there is an increasing rate of urban migration, as millions of people from the hinterlands are abandoning agriculture and are migrating to cities and mega-cities, and building huge and unmanaged urban poor settlements. There is no government agency or LGU that focuses on sanitation and environment nurturing in these massive informal settlements.

Knowing fully well that fish and other marine resources constitute no less than 50% of all Filipinos' dietary requirements, still our people continue to ravage our coral reefs, pollute our rivers, seas, streams, lakes, and springs. Illegal fishing practices like the use of dynamite and chemicals are highly damaging and unsustainable. These unreported and unregulated practices wreak havoc on our coastal and marine biodiversity. There is no sustained marine ecosystem management and no effective administration of fishery practices and resources. The Laguna Lake is one of the most polluted lakes in the country, and yet, it is relied upon by thousands of families albeit monopolized by powerful and greedy capitalists who are unregulated and uncontrolled.

The Philippines faces water scarcity and this very vital resource has been privatized to some profit-hungry business tycoons. The dams are drying up during summer and are overflowing and causing floods during rainy and stormy months. Along with electricity, water is in the hands of private businessmen who always decide on the side of profiteering, rather than the peoples' interests. The country's heavy reliance on non-renewable energy as sources of power is exacerbating the emissions of carbon dioxide that continues to complicate climate change and there is no stopping the deleterious effects it brings about to the quality of life.

Any trapo who deludes himself or herself as well as misleads the whole nation on the true state of our environment, should be marked as an enemy of the people. When they decide to damage the environment by their policies, practices, and projects, they commit acts that constitute betrayal of public trust.

They should be exposed, punished, and never again return to power. And the Pontius Pilates in the bureaucracy should be fired.