We, the 25 delegates to the ICM Philippine District Assembly, a national gathering of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, at De Meester Residence, St. Theresa’s College Compound, Quezon City, issue this Statement on the Ecological Crisis we are experiencing today.
Our discernment led us to the realization that industrial and development aggression are behind this crisis of Climate Change and Global Warming with their adverse effects on nature: land, forests, water, air, food sources and biodiversity, which further impacts on humans in the form of:
Intensified poverty and powerlessness; Landlessness and loss of ancestral domains, extinction of Indigenous peoples due to relentless logging and corporate mining;
Human rights violations; Migration; Increased social and health problems caused by air and water pollution due to mining, use of fossil and environmentally destructive waste disposal;
Proliferation of GMO/GEO products and a consumerist lifestyle promoting greed, materialism, dualism and individualism.
Scientific findings show the urgency of responding to this crisis and unless we address this NOW we will all PERISH even within this generation.
We protest against agreements entered into by our government with investors that contribute to the escalation of this ecological crisis such as:
JPEPA – with toxic wastes to be dumped in Philippine waters;
Foreign corporate mining and logging companies destroying our forests.
Companies producing and promoting GMO/GEO products threatening all living species, to mention a few.
We are convinced that God calls us today to protect, conserve and defend the integrity of Creation and to take the side of the poor especially the Indigenous Peoples who are the direct victims of this crisis.
We call on all peoples to join us in the communal advocacy for the survival of Mother Earth and Humanity. — Sr. Emmelina Villegas for the ICM Sisters of the Philippine District