OPINION: SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT, IS IT WORTH DYING FOR?
MANILA, APRIL 3, 2008 (STAR) TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS By Babe Romualdez - I received very disturbing information that Hanjin Shipping, a Korean company that’s supposedly investing a lot of money in Subic has reportedly finished construction of a 22-story building right in the middle of the tropical rainforest in Subic to house its employees. This is really very disturbing considering that everyone all over the world is talking about preserving natural resources, the effects of deforestation and other activities that could potentially destroy the environment and their impact on global warming. If this is true, officials have a lot of explaining to do. Why did they allow this to happen and who was responsible for this?
One of the few things that we have, thanks to the Americans who have painstakingly made sure it remained preserved during their stay in Subic, is the rainforest which is home to a lot of flora and fauna and perhaps even other species that remain undiscovered to this day. Several studies revealed the critical role rainforests play in slowing down global warming since they trap more amounts of carbon dioxide and evaporate more water, thereby producing clouds that reflect sunlight back to space. Due to the large amounts of oxygen they produce, tropical rainforests are also called the lungs of the world. As a matter of fact, an expert from the Carnegie Institution of Washington even described them as “like earth’s air conditioner.”
In Bangkok, experts are holding a UN-sponsored summit to discuss climate change, the reduction of carbon emissions, etc. and how countries can mitigate the effects through technology, financing and other activities – underscoring the importance of global warming and climate change. Just recently, reports came out about snakes showing up in a city near the Amazon River because of the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, one of the largest in the world. Authorities are naturally worried about the impact of deforestation to humans in more ways than one could imagine. In Costa Rica, experts are monitoring the rainforest canopy in La Selva to study everything from frogs to snakes to global warming and use the data to assess the impact of rainforests on climate change.
It’s ironic that while other countries are trying so hard to preserve their forests and other natural resources, here we are just allowing our emerald heritage to be eroded. We’re already suffering from worldwide rice and food shortage; we’re overbuilding commercial areas, turning agricultural lands into residential areas and even golf courses. And now, we have this reported construction in an area that has long served as a refuge for Aetas who depend on the forest for their survival. What about the many wild plants and animals that thrive in the vicinity? And then there’s the possibility that surrounding areas could be polluted with human and chemical wastes from the inhabitants of the building. And for what – a couple of billion dollars in investments that in the end will cost this country and its people more?
It can be recalled that last year, a South Korean group also initiated the construction of a six-hectare, high-end spa and resort at the edge of Taal’s crater. Taal is an active volcano and was declared a protected area in 1996 under the government’s National Integrated Protected Areas System law. Constructing a high-end spa on the edge of an active and deadly volcano was no doubt a ridiculous idea – and it would have pushed through had local residents and environmental groups not protested the project – which in the end, would have done more harm than good.
The furor was such that DENR – which initially issued an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) that allowed the Korean group to push through with the project – cancelled the ECC at the last minute with a flimsy excuse that the company did not meet all requirements. If the DENR had not backtracked, it would have cost Angelo Reyes – who was then DENR secretary – his job.
It’s a good thing there are still a number of concerned and responsible people who are trying their best to preserve the environment, like Gina Lopez and her Bantay Kalikasan foundation. Gina’s group has been batting for the preservation of the La Mesa watershed, which is critical in supplying potable water to most of Metro Manila’s residents. Bantay Kalikasan is trying to slow down the degradation of the watershed since, if left unchecked, could result in the loss of more than 85 percent of the forest cover. We should really support Bantay Kalikasan and do our part in protecting our remaining resources.
In fact, big tour operators in Europe have now made it a standard to check out the environmental compliance record of a country before they send large numbers of tourists to resort areas. Boracay of course is very popular but it is one place that’s also overbuilt, with commercial structures seemingly built haphazardly without considering environmental impact. I’m also told that Shangri-La Hotel cut down a portion of a mountain just to build its 217-room Resort and Spa.
A paper by National University of Singapore professors said some of the issues the Philippines needs to address with great urgency include pollution, poverty, climate change and overpopulation. It’s already bad enough that we face an impending rice and food shortage compounded by a growing population with more and more hungry mouths to feed. But it’s even worse to see our natural resources getting destroyed – and for what – a few billion pesos of short-lived profit? Is saving the environment worth dying for? Certainly, we have to fight to save our resources in order for the next generation to survive. Otherwise we will all die in the end because of pollution, climate change and all the other serious consequences of global warming.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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