The State of the Philippine Environment is THE National Emergency

Letter to the Editor
march 10, 2006

The State of the Philippine Environment is THE National Emergency

WE, environment advocates, in unity and with full conviction and courage, denounce in strongest terms the violence that Proclamation 1017 has dealt on us as a sovereign people---and on our national territory and patrimony which is our very source of life.

Proclamation 1017, as it attacks the Bill of Rights, has also effectively suppressed our freedom to express and assemble to expose and defy the increasing violence on the environment by multinational companies and other big businesses that have long exploited and continue to exploit our natural resources for their own benefit and that of the powers-that-be, now under the current illegitimate regime of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Most of our forests have disappeared due to wanton large-scale mining and commercial, destroying as well thousands of hectares of watersheds, eroding tons of topsoil for agriculture, silting and poisoning bodies of waters. Farmlands have been degraded due to massive use of imported chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, as well as the proliferation of garbage dumpsites all over the country which have also taken over forest areas, watersheds, and even coastal zones, spreading leachate to otherwise productive soil and water resources and emitting toxic gases into the air.

Disasters are everywhere---the Quezon and Southern Leyte landslides, the Rapu-rapu and Marcopper mines spills, the Semirara oil spill, the Payatas garbage slide are but a few of countless other horrors.

The whole Philippine environment is now on the brink of other disasters of nationwide proportion, while the Filipino people have become impoverished and endangered of our very lives, deprived as we are now of the right to breathe clean air, drink safe water, eat nutritious food, and live in a hazard-free environment.

Instead of addressing these very urgent issues, the government chose to attack the basic rights of the Filipino people--the right to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and the right to seek redress of grievances. These rights are the most powerful tools of environmental advocates and advocates seeking to halt environmental destruction brought about by the anti-people policies and irresponsibility of the government.

WE, environment advocates, call on all other sovereign Filipino people to protest Proclamation 1017 which, if unchallenged, will effectively clamp down on further efforts to prevent the onslaught of big mining and other exploitation companies that stand to benefit further from this Proclamation or pursue the Truth hiding behind such shadows as the Garci tapes and the fertilizer scam.

In just defiance of Proclamation 1017, we seek refuge in the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, echoing the Preamble as we invoke the aid of Almighty God in working for a “just and humane society,” a government of our ideals, for the common good, and affirming our patrimony; with the “blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, equality, and peace….” ###
Reference:
Clemente G. Bautista Jr.
ENRAGED and Defend Patrimony Alliance
9248756, 9209099, 09283448797 kalikasan.pne@gmail.com
26 Matulungin St. Central District Quezon City