Wanted: Environment Defenders

(A revised version of this essay was published in Manila Standard Today on November 5, 2012)

Five years ago, I found myself riding in a tricycle within Ateneo de Manila campus heading out to Katipunan Avenue – in silence.

Suddenly I noticed that tears began to flow from eyes. The lady beside me who happened to be one of our local organization’s trustee embraced me and she began to cry, as well.

Yes, one of our leaders was shot to death that very day in an isolated island called Sibuyan. He was killed by an armed mining security officer while leading a protest against a research activity funded by a mining company. He was infuriated by the fact that mining conglomerate dummies were given special license to cut some 70,000 trees and the world’s largest nickel mining company was trying to invest in the island.

To my knowledge, this is the only environmental killing case which a court tried to resolved – with three years imprisonment for the killer, after five years of seeking for justice.

Weeks after the court decision, the local government units of the province of Romblon, from the governor down to the lowly concerned barangay captain were sued by a mining company for their local issuances against mining aiming to protect the environment and the rights of the their constituents.

Three years ago, I was invited to visit a municipality in the northernmost part of the country where both onshore and offshore sands are being extracted for magnetite. The local executive sought our help on how to halt the mining operations in which, ironically, allegedly the legislative chief fully supported.

For the record, the local executive broke the chain of decades-long political dynasty when he won the 2007 local elections. However, he was charged with a lot of administrative cases at the provincial council and was suspended twice. The vice-mayor then took over the mayoralty twice.

I was there in the last take-over. I was with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) team to visit the magnetite mining site. When we went back to the municipal hall, we were barred by armed policemen to enter. But I argued that my bag is in the mayor’s office. I was allowed to enter but the CHR was disallowed. To my dismay, they left the area in which until now the reason is unknown to me.

The mayor stood up by his principles and the municipal hall was locked inside. He declined to step down. Hours passed by, the electricity line was cut, no water - with armed men around the area. Evening came and thanks to an internet broadband stick with a fully-charged laptop, I was able to communicate to Manila.

At last, through our religious connections, I was able to jump out from a window and was escorted by armed men to a makeshift police security station where I was interrogated. The police head in command told me that the vice mayor wanted to see me and that I should go to his place. I declined because I knew my life and security were highly at risk given the situation.

I was allowed to go away, alone. I walked for almost a kilometer in the dark while at one time men riding in a motorcycle approached me and asked questions in a language I was unable to comprehend. I just walked and walked until I reached the place where I was fetched by church representative for safety.

The mayor gave up his post the following day. After a year, his close confidante and leader of the anti-mining movement was shot to death.

To date since year 2007, there are more than 30 environment activists who were murdered, almost all have been receiving threats and being harassed.

Most recent were the murders of children Jordan Manda of Zamboanga del Sur, Jordan and Janjan with their pregnant mother Juvy Capion of Davao del Sur. Capion’s family has been opposing the largest copper mine in Southeast Asia, the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project of SMI-Xstrata.

On the day when the Capion massacre happened in that gruesome morning, one of our anti-mining leaders Esperlita ‘Perling’ Garcia of Cagayan province was arrested for an alleged libelous Facebook post against magnetite mining in her town.

The day before, we marched from CHR to the House of Representatives to halt mining operations until policies on mining industry are put in order. We were calling for the enactment of the Philippine Mineral Resources Act of 2012 or the Alternative Minerals Management Bills (AMMB) which aims to put environment conservation, protection and rehabilitation first respecting the right of the communities to decide, and push for concrete mining no-go zones.

In the evening, we went to Mendiola to voice out the sentiments of indigenous peoples, farmers, fisherfolks and mining-affected communities who had joined the AMMB Caravan from more than 15 provinces in the country. We were joined by indigenous women who were vocal on their stand against the atrocities brought about by the mining industry among other development aggression. The president of the republic did not show up.

Last week, Dr. Isidro Olan, an active anti-logging and anti-mining leader in Surigao del Sur survived in an ambush.

Some say ours is a risky advocacy. The number of environment defenders may be few but the impact of what they do is for the benefit of all.

Threats are challenges. If we yield to threats, fear comes. The risks involved in this advocacy are inevitable. Being an environment advocate is a lifelong commitment. We are all called to discover for ourselves the amazing link of our lives to nature. Unless we are able to accept that we are part of the totality of nature, we will continue to look at it as a mere object for utilization. This we do to learn from the past, address the abuses of the present and pay for our ecological debts for the next generations to come.

With the blood of those who died for the environment, environment defenders become warriors.  

And I am afraid, yes, we are becoming endangered species.

We may belong to the one percent of our country’s population, but we are everywhere, unnoticed. We are not left-winged, we are just ordinary citizens promoting the constitutional rights to a healthful and balanced ecology for all.

People power abused: mutant candidates in the making

(An edited version of this essay was published in Manila Standard Today on October 3, 2012.)

Nobel laureate and former United States vice president Al Gore when asked about the inaction of politicians on the present climate crisis, he answered back poignantly – political will is a renewable resource.

To my surprise, in another instance I have heard him suggesting that in a crisis wherein governments and businesses are unable to act, we should emulate the people power revolution of the Philippines.

People power? Where is it now? Gone were the days when we had to take up arms and kill people, and be killed, for our sovereignty as a nation. Gone were the days when we held our arms close to each other to trample down a dictator.

We are facing a bigger crisis. Economic fall-down? No, in the eyes of our present and former administration – a transcendent perspective of investment based on how we flaunt our country’s natural resources and sovereignty in a pompous and seductive way.

A self-crisis created by ourselves being puppets of the power shared to the supposed leaders and defenders of our inherent human and natural rights. A self-inflicted crisis, a disease brought about by apathy and blind obedience to the mutant power. And the only cure is to reclaim such power and make it again of the people, by the people, for the people.

Recent studies say that the Philippines is the most typhoon-vulnerable country in the world, second in economic risk for natural disasters and third most prone to hazards of climate change.

We have swum in floods, our relatives and friends buried in landslides, drowned in raging seas. From the bellies of Manila Bay tons of plastic wastes showing off how irresponsible we are and how the implementation of laws are inutile. Not counting the industrial wastes which are legally exported by overly consuming countries and accepted by us with open arms as if we are happy to be called a sovereign state of dumps.

We have not learned from the lessons of the past such as the Marinduque mine disaster, and now, the leak of water and sediment wastes from a mine in Padcal, Benguet. The mutant power behind the venerable flag of the country is bullying the very honorable statesmen to continuously flaunt our mineral resources almost to be given free to aliens, forcing to lastly give an environmental compliance license to the future biggest mine in Southeast Asia situated in South Cotabato, displacing indigenous peoples communities, thousands of trees to be cut, huge mine waste pits near an active volcano with thousands of hectares agricultural land downstream.

Gradually, the mutant power opened wide the gates of our gardens and farms to mutant agricultural species, or monsters – controlled by one or few transnational corporations. Unknowingly, in our veins flow unnatural modified nutrients which will result eventually to a mutation of our genes. Safe food mixed with genetically modified organisms, less rationality with more profits.

In this country where freedom of expression is recently suppressed, how can we reclaim the power we just lent to the leaders who now become mutants?

We put our hopes in the chosen few, as of now. There are still a handful trusted leaders in our society but are endangered, either by suppression or death.

Today, we commemorate the fifth anniversary of a man who sacrificed his life for his people, Armin Rios Marin. He was elected councilor for his staunch stand to defend the fragile ice-age island ecosystem of Sibuyan in the province of Romblon. As he joined the island’s defenders, they successfully kicked out the world’s largest nickel mining company. Though he only served for three months, he lived by his principles and public trust to the last breath of his life – we have given him the power and together with the community, nourished and made it a platform for selfless public service and payment for ecological services.

How many of our leaders now are willing to stand up selflessly for the general welfare, for a healthful and balanced ecology?

Yes, the biggest crisis we have now is ecological crisis and to solve this is to reclaim and exercise power we have as a people. This week, people who seek power are lining up asking us to lend our sovereign power to them.

They are pleading to borrow our natural power. We shall not allow them to abuse it; else our society shall become a dynasty of mutants.

The natural environment is the center of our life. It is where biodiversity gives life, clean water, clean air, food, medicine, shelter and clothing. It is where the non-living things serve as platform and balancing system for the whole life-cycle.

God-given, yes. And we should manage it responsibly with accountability. The real essence of sustainable development must be exercised.

Remember, mutants may be heroes on silver screen – but in public service, no way.

Testing Executive Order 79: Sibuyan Island

(An edited version of this article was published in Manila Standard Today on September 18, 2012.)

The controversial Executive Order 79 signed by President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III and its Implementing Rules and Regulations are already set in place. What’s next? Consider the case of Sibuyan Island, situated in the middle of the Philippines composed of three municipalities belonging to the province of Romblon.

This ice-age island called Sibuyan Island is undoubtedly a hotspot for biodiversity conservation as seen by the scientific community. Biologists claim that the island has vast variety of flora and fauna species found nowhere else in the world. The National Museum counted 1,551 trees in one hectare with 223 species, of which 54 are endemic, concluding that Sibuyan has the world’s densest forest, as confirmed by noted botanist Dr. Domingo Madulid. Thirty-three percent of the land area is basically primary forest which covers more than 140 square kilometers.

This 445 square kilometer island is a center of endemism, according to the US-based scientific institute The Field Museum which also says that the beetles and lizards of Sibuyan have yet to be studied, but it would be a good bet that more new species remain to be discovered by biologists. Sibuyan Island boasts 700 vascular plant species and is a critical plant site as described by the Philippine National Herbarium. A scientific study conducted by University of the Philippines researcher Miah Mayo Malixi shows that there are 35 endangered and endemic species in almost all barangays outside the protected area, Mt. Guiting-guiting Natural Park (MGGNP). With an approximate area of 15,265.48 hectares, MGGNP has been established by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 746 in 1996 under the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act (NIPAS) or Republic Act 7586. Moreover, a publication ‘Priority Sites for Conservation in the Philippines: Key Biodiversity Areas’ by the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) exposes that there are one critically endangered, four endangered, and eight vulnerable species of biodiversity within and outside the protected area.

In a publication of DENR together with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project, it assesses that “several new (endemic mammal) species have been discovered in small islands such as Sibuyan (five new species) and Camiguin (two new species), catapulting these islands to a new status as centers of mammal endemism.” It further explained that “the distribution of land mammals illustrates that each island that existed in the Philippines during the latest Ice Age period is a unique center of biodiversity. Smaller islands that remained isolated during the Ice Age, although small, are also considered unique centers of biodiversity. One example is Sibuyan Island (463 km2), which hosts four species of endemic non-flying mammals (plus one bat), a total exceeding that of any country in Europe.”

Almost every year, new biological species are being discovered. In 2008, a new species of stick insect has been discovered, the Pharnacia magdiwang. In 2010, a new species of shrew has been documented, crocidura ninoyi. Gekko coi or Leonard’s Forest Gecko, named after famous taxonomist Leonardo Co, was known in 2011. And in 2012, a new owl species has been found, Ninox Philippensis Spilonota.

MGGNP has been proclaimed by PAWB as an Important Bird Area (PH 058) and Conservation Priority Site (CPA 82). The seas of water surrounding Sibuyan and Romblon Islands have been considered as a priority conservation area for Cetaceans. Sibuyan Island is also a Conservation Priority Area for amphibians and reptiles.

In addition, the whole island has been declared a mangrove forest swamp reserve through Presidential Proclamation 2152 in 1981, putting it as an initial component NIPAS.

To emphasize and maximize biodiversity conservation for and of communities, a project granted by the UNDP in the amount of US$ 48,982 had been satisfactorily completed. The project mainly the Sibuyan Island Ecotourism Development Plan which according to UNDP’s Small Grant’s Program, a biodiversity conservation undertaking through the promotion and institutionalization of ecotourism programs and projects and setting-up of an island-wide network that will serve as support mechanism for environmental conservation and management.

Since year 2008, the whole province of Romblon, including Sibuyan Island, has been stricken by flooding, landslides, storm surges and typhoons, to mention Typhoons Frank, among others, which devastated crops and livestock amounting to Php 110 million. Further, the combined climate and weather related risks vulnerability of the Romblon is relatively high. In fact, the geohazard maps of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau show that almost 100% of Sibuyan Island barangays are highly susceptible to flood. Additionally, nearly 85% of Sibuyan Island is highly susceptible to landslides.

On 23 December 2009, five days before he resigned as DENR head, Secretary Lito Atienza approved a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) valid for 25 years in favor of Altai Philippines Mining Corporation (Altai), a subsidiary of Canada-based Altai Resources Inc., which is now operated by Sibuyan Nickel Properties Development Corporation (SNPDC) by virtue of an agreement on November 2004 with SNPDC’s Australian Connection and shareholder Sunshine Gold Pty. Ltd., a subsidiary of Australia-based Pelican Resources Ltd. As early as 2006, SNPDC through its subsidiaries All-Acacia Resources Inc. and Sun-Pacific Resources Inc. applied for small-scale mining permits before operating under Altai’s mineral rights.

In 2007, then DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes issued a Special Cutting of Trees Permit within 406 hectares of land, equal to 9,455.183 cubic meters or more or less four million board feet, in which conservation institution Haribon Foundation assessed that there are threatened tree species to be cut such as apitong and yakal species included in the national list of endangered plant species. Although the permit has been suspended, it was neither revoked nor cancelled and may be lifted anytime.

As of September 2012, there are active applications for MPSA in an area of 623.70 hectares for feldspar, 1,791.21 hectares for nickel and chromite exploration, and 544.3 hectares for gold under Minahang Bayan.

Despite the joint resolutions of the three municipalities of Sibuyan: Magdiwang, Cajidiocan and San Fernando which clearly says that “Sibuyan Island’s sustainable development can be achieved through enhancing the vast agricultural lands and natural bounties of the island than through the temporal benefits mining industry have promised; and believed that in the pursuit of the development of the passionate care for Mother Earth and the Environment shall not be set aside and disregarded,” the national government still accepts mining applications in the island.

With the call of communities, and one life sacrificed in the person of San Fernando Councilor Armin Rios-Marin, the local government units invoked their constitutional rights to a healthful and balanced ecology under Article II Sections 15 and 16 of the Philippine Constitution and the general welfare clause of the Local Government Code of 1991, Chapter II Section 16; and the provisions of Climate Change Act, Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act, National Integrated Protected Areas Act, Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, Philippine Agenda 21; and in the spirit of the Convention on Biodiversity, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, and all of the aforesaid facts and figures; in which the Mining Act of 1995 stands alone together with the Small Scale Mining Act of 1991, and some other related policies, although constitutional; intergenerational responsibility and precautionary principles are also invoked to exempt Sibuyan Island from mining.

If mining would still be allowed in critical island ecosystems which has delicate biodiversity and excellent ecotourism potentials; in protected areas, mapped geohazard areas, without social acceptability with companies circumventing laws and policies in favor of themselves hiding in corporate veils in connivance with corrupt officials, then Executive Order 79 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations are inutile, so do with the Mining Act of 1995.

Thankfully, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau suspended the activities of SNPDC.

But, suspension is not enough – the license must be revoked, if the executive order under the shadow of the mining act is effective.

Shaping our country’s future?

Quo vadis?

The queen and I: remembering Maita

This blog entry has been published in Manila Standard on July 16, 2012.

Maita at the Ateneo de Davao University talking on the economic lies of mining. (www.ecoteneo.org)

"Hapi birthday my dear Rodne."

That was the last text message I received from Maita.

Yes, I did not know her at first.

The first time I heard her name was when I was still a volunteer for a mining policy reform campaign in 2008. She was interested to work for the campaign.

After two years, I met her in a cozy office of Action for Economic Reforms (AER), the home of a transparency in extractive industries campaign called Bantay Kita. I was tasked to assist her in a series of fora and focused group discussions on the economics and transparency in the mining industry.

I wanted to know more about her. I admit, before going to the office of Bantay Kita, I googled her name online and explored the web to learn more about this woman - the ordinariness of her extraordinary life.

I asked Fr. Archie Casey, a Scottish missionary, and my superior Jaybee Garganera about this  'queen reformist turned economist' and how to deal with her. They just smiled and at least I felt relieved.

Intimidating. That was my first impression. But when she stared back at me and called me by my first name with her husky voice coupled with a real smile, I know our work would be full of adventures.

Together with her assistant, we took a small plane to Tablas Island, spent a night in a simple bed and breakfast called Pearl's Cafe and the next morning prepared brewed coffee for us - she brought with her a french press!

Our boat trip to Sibuyan Island was full of surprises - surprises of knowing her inner beauty - intelligence, wisdom, generosity and simplicity. She was flexible. The island people loved her not because she was a celebrity but being a down to earth woman - from politicians, the religious to the plain housewives, fishers and farmers.

Real joy ride with the queen on our way to Dagubdob Falls.

After rounds of meetings with the townsfolk, we decided to refresh ourselves. I grabbed my father's motorcycle and drove Maita and a woman guide to the still undeveloped Dagubdob Falls. There, she marveled at the beauty of nature. For me, it was the right time ask her on how she became so interested with environmental issues especially mining.

She looked at me and answered: "Rodne, it's so unfair, it should be just and fair." Then she looked at us again, one by one, shook her head and said: "Never permit the miners destroy your island." She smiled again held a pitcher plant and drank fresh water from one pitcher.

Maita drinking fresh water from a pitcher plant in Dagubdob Falls.

We need to catch the plane in Tablas Island which would leave mid-morning. The mayor of San Fernando town offered a speedboat and at 4 o'clock in the morning we found ourselves crossing the rough Sibuyan Sea. I had second thoughts, a 63 year old woman and a former beauty queen, crossing Sibuyan Sea?

After two hours, we were in the middle of the notorious nautical highway, with 3-5 meters high waves. I was consistently asking Maita and her assistant if they were okay. Staring at her, I saw no fear. Minutes later, flying fishes were literally flying into and over the boat. I felt a little nervousness - what if sharks and barracudas would fly over our boat? Maita was still calm despite the cold - we were all wet, five of us - the other two are the boat operators.

One hour passed, we got lost. The captain of the boat could not remember where we ought to dock. But thanks God, I know my geography and the mysterious Kalatong mountain showed up. It helped us located the airport by the beach.

A four-hour travel, indeed! We reached Tablas Island and Maita was smiling at us while saying like: "Oh, we are here. We had a great boat ride, isn't it?." Of course, her assistant was relieved and fear was gone.

I was then tempted to ask her if she were afraid. If my memory is right, she answered back, "Why would I be afraid? You have to face all these if you want to serve the people. If it is your time, then it is your time - it is natural."

And the rest is history.

She became a  mother, a grandmother, an adviser. She accepted me as I am.

I was unable to thank her for the lessons I learned from our conversations, work-related or personal - even love life.

---

Madam Maita, wherever you are, I want you to know that:

I cannot again ask you to ask me if I smoke, you would know my answer ("Yes, I am a second hand smoker."), and we would burst into laughter.

I shall miss that moment when you felt cold and you asked for my coat. I was really worried about you that day in Ateneo de Davao University.

How I wish to go back to that paradise island in Lumot Lake where Mother Nature where the earth, air, wind and fire are felt as one - from the moment I left Manila to the last minute of the travel, you never stopped guiding me.

I shall miss all our activities together, the humor and the wisdom, plus the one-liners which tickled our minds yet challenging our beliefs and perspectives.

Next year, no Maita shall greet me on my birthday, but your greetings last June shall be forever.


You mat not be able to cross the stormy Sibuyan Sea but I am sure you are now smoothly sailing to eternity.


You may not be able to drink from a pitcher plant but I am sure you are now drinking from the fountain of life.

You may not be able to go back to that island in Lumot Lake but I am sure you shall reach the paradise reserved for a hero like you.

Thank you for becoming part of my life.

---

What I know is that she now became a successful environment advocate who left a great challenge to all of us: we cannot just monetize our natural resources to satisfy the greed of the few.

Maita may be as gentle as the zephyr's touch but if one is oppressed, she is as fierce as the big and strong waves of a stormy sea.

---

Laughing out loud in a meeting with the employees of San Fernando, Sibuyan Island, Romblon.

"There is no debate that the extraction of mineral resources does extreme damage to biodiversity, water systems, land viability, and the environment in general..."

-Margarita 'Maita' Favis Gomez (1947-2012)

Eco-nomy: what is it?

Photo taken from http://tni.org.

The Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, has ended. But what is this controversial issue called ‘green economy’?

Let us explore some reflections on the word ‘economy’.

For those who believe in the Bible, the whole existence comes from nothing – creation, ex nihilo.

Let us explore the story of creation deeply in the context of maintaining the balance of Ecology.

From the first day to the fifth day, the Creator prepared all things in this wide universe and in the place where we live we call home – the Earth. He saw all these things were well and good: night and day; waters and sky; land, seas and vegetations; sun, moon and stars; and sea creatures, birds and animals.

All which have been there became, primarily, the totality of the oikos – household – our home. Etymologically the word ‘ecology’ comes from ‘oikos’.

The Creator saw it was ‘good’ – all things he created.

(When English word ‘good’ is translated to the Filipino language as ‘Good morning’, it definitely means ‘magandang umaga’ – ‘maganda’ literally is ‘beautiful’. In the Filipino perspective, creation may be the epitome of what is good and beautiful – a comprehensive look at the oikos in itself as both material and transcendental system reflecting the immensity of interconnectedness and order towards peace and order between creatures.)

This is the genesis of oikos – the household prepared for the sixth day. This is the first part of the whole story of existence. It is the ‘household of enoughness’ in which all things have been put in place to address the needs of creation in itself and prepare for the coming of the stewards as the seen reflection of the unseen Creator.

On the sixth day, human beings were created in the image and likeness of the Creator – from the oikos, dirt was gathered and human life commenced. This is the first time human beings knew about Economy.

‘Economy’ in its original meaning is not all about profits and investments – it comes from the two Greek words ‘oikos’ and ‘nomos’ which mean ‘household’ and ‘management’. Apparently, economy speaks of the management of the household – hence, to be stewards of the oikos, that is to maintain and oversee the grand goodness, beauty, interconnectedness, symbiosis and interdependence of the whole of creation.

All that were created were seen as very well and good. The stewards were instructed then to take care of the whole oikos except that they were prohibited to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was a commandment.

When the first humans gave in to the temptation of the serpent, disobedience and malice reigned in their minds and there was chaos – disorder. Disobedience led to greed and they ate the forbidden fruit.

This is the corruption of the genuine meaning of Economy.

But the challenge of the Creator remains – to bring back the real meaning of being true managers of the oikos.

As we know, all these led to the Great Flood.

There are things in this world which should not be exploited nor touched nor destroyed.

On what is ours

(An edited version of this essay was published in Manila Standard Today on July 6, 2012.)

What is mine is what I own, that is what is ours is what we own. Making what we own theirs without our cognizance and permission is stealing.

Making what I own, which I did not acquire nor asked for, ours is collective ownership. It is the recognition of the responsibility of my peers to my possession - to protect me and what I own from possible harm by some others who do not belong to our circle though may intrude and declare that they are also responsible to what we now own through collective ownership. The fact that they do not belong to the circle and are alien to us, their ownership is not inherent. We may permit them to take responsibility with the aim of advancing our status, however, if taking such responsibility for their own utility by taking what we own from us is an absolute harassment.

What is ours is what we call heritage. This is how what I own becomes ours. Hence, what we own depends on how we own it and we, as owners, see to it that it is being utilized for our own benefit to live in the present and prepare for the future without defecting our interdependence on each other, including the dependence of what we own as regards its continuous existence in defense from utilization through exploitation by aliens.

Heritage is of the past which continues to exist in the present to be preserved responsibly for the future. It is what we own and it owns us. It owns us because we depend our livelihood on it, that it produces what we need to exist.

Making what is ours theirs for the sake of development is noble but if part of it would be salvaged and taken away from us is disagreeable. Sustainable development, a kind which gives balance to all, living and non-living to progress in harmony and co-existing interdependently, should be offered instead.

It is environmental heritage that I ought to point out. Environment is the highest form of heritage we have for the one who has given this kind of inheritance is inherently unknowable, hence the length of being of it being ours is unknowable, eternal. This, for us as heirs, is inherent inheritance.

I say this as one of the heirs of an ice-age island geographically located at the center of the Philippine archipelago. Though some may disagree with me, this is my own perspective and I would be glad if others may share mine - this might become a collective ideal.

The issue at hand is mining. What a word to play with, but the word is quite controversial and it needs a deep but careful understanding and scrutiny. Generally speaking, mining is tantamount to exploitation—land exploitation in this case. Yet, no matter how we put some other technical and obscure meanings on it, still the meaning remains the same. The root-word of the term is 'mine', the verb is 'to mine', and the act of it is 'mining'. What is being produced after the process is the 'mined', whatever it is. Words are interconnected and meanings are related. Hence the act of mining is not only to exploit the land to get the minerals, but also 'mining' what was 'mined' -- or owning it. So what is ours is being 'mined' to become theirs. In the process, to become what is ours to be theirs, that is mining what is ours, they equate it monetarily, either momentarily or permanently. For a time, to exploit and take some away; or for all time, to exploit and take away all what could be taken out in so far as they claim it and take the monetary equation, they have given in exchange, a thousand fold.

To consider mining as avenue for development and poverty alleviation to a third-world country excited to progress is far from reality and could be considered as a myth. First-world countries such as the United States of America , China and Japan commenced their journey to development and progress, primarily, through agriculture, a historical fact. Thus, considering mining as alternative for development is a wrong notion, at least here in the Philippines.  If we say 'alternative', we should choose what is better, safer and sustainable.

There are more issues to be considered and resolved as consequences of the mining industry. Some would be patrimony, environmental degradation, and social division, among others. 'Mining' could be a source of greed and selfishness, of hate and apathy. Promises for economic stability and development are temporary. May I quote Dr. Ernesto Gonzales', former Director of of the University of Santo Tomas - Social Research Center, comment during the Bishops-Businessmen's Conference General Assembly on the issue of mining: "Instead of creating wealth, mining industry in the Philippines has created poverty."

Now, the Philippines opened her doors to foreigners to mine our minerals. It is now what I call mining what is ours and making it theirs. I think it is now also the time to open our eyes to this reality. Gradually, our land are being exploited—the land our ancestors tilled and cared for for centuries; the land our heroes defended and martyrs fought for. And in the name of development and economic progress, the Philippines is now an open country—for foreigners and some Filipino greedy capitalists selling our lands and minerals. For whose benefit? For them and for the chosen few. They gain, we lose.

Treasure under our feet? Yes, indeed, but not to be exploited for our land is not for mining (at least in island ecosystems such as ours). Our minerals are treasures of the very soil that make our plants grow to satisfy our hunger eaten and waters flow to quench our thirst.

What is mine and making it theirs is unacceptable.

Me, here; them and everything else in Rio+20

Again, minds and brains from all over the world gathered themselves in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, to negotiate and perhaps decide on the plight of human existence in the principles of sustainable development. Generally, there were two kinds of negotiators: brains which can control, and the other, brains which think comprehensively accepting the fact that the continuous rape of the environment, which leads to a massive imbalance in nature, is in itself the gradual extinction of homo sapiens.


Unfortunately, the clash of the overly-consuming countries and the consumed ones was definitely unavoidable: the east versus the west, or the south versus the north. But in the spirit of environmental justice, we hope that our planet can still be saved through an emphatically genuine dialogue.


What may be the root-cause of this whole crisis?


Yes, it is as if we control the whole universe.


The brain – where a lot of intellectuals regard as the abode of homo sapiens’ superior rationality – is the tiniest natural receptacle of all the galaxies combined in the whole wide universe.


As viewed in this consumerist generation in which all natural resources are considered as subjects for utilization, it is as if the existence of everything belongs to human being’s capacity to contain the essence of nature in its skull.


Can we limit nature in our brains?


The processes in nature had been dynamic to its fullest purpose serving both living and non-living things. Symbiosis is evident within the living world and the non-living is always there constantly as part of life-support systems providing a balancing platform to a quite complicated yet continuous life-process.


There was once grand harmony and order. There may appear disorders but such resulted to the restoration of order, yet part of the whole overarching cycle of life.


Every species has its own view of the world, of the universe. There may be some which yield to the physically powerful few with larger brains and all wanted to survive, but nature itself limits the survival capacity of some and the limitation is a challenge to adapt.


When ancient humans came into existence, they learned how to utilize the non-living as instruments to survive, and the living as food to sustain the natural processes within the body, perhaps to become more powerful. This skill of humans slightly above what some other animals could made them superior – the ability to think before acting – manipulation of the once orderly world.


Not in the case of the first walking and thinking mammal, perhaps. They lived within the symbiotic community, equal among others adhering to the principles of survival. When their number increased, communities evolved, varied communities with different views of survival. What is common then was symbiosis which is integral, non-compartmentalized.


During the course of time, the non-living which was originally used simply as instruments became the mode and food. The balancing platform which had been supporting the life-cycle was eventually utilized destructively. Hence, the imbalance between the living and non-living had been inevitable.


Humans when given full opportunity and power tend to abuse.


Symbiosis may be one of the strongest forces behind evolution of species especially in interdependent co-evolution, the natural course of evolution had been tampered with a disorder never experienced by the universe since the beginning. Surprisingly, the phenomenon can be traced back to the superiority complex which occurred in the human brain.


Be that as it may, human brain will still decide on the future of our home called Earth. The meeting of brains may not agree in a genuine solution, but I hope the heart and soul may help.

Green resolutions for 2012

This article was originally published on Manila Times - Sunday Times Magazine on January 22, 2012. Written by Climate Leader Shiela Castillo-Tiangco.

The good thing about the New Year is that it presents another opportunity to start over and try to do things better. For this year, I’m proposing several resolutions for our planet— three of which most of you are familiar with and might even be practicing. The last five are various ideas that make perfect sense with the first three. The 8Rs put together make for a great list of green resolutions for the New Year. I heard the 8Rs first from my good friend Rodne Rodino Galicha, district manager of The Climate Reality Project-Philippine Presenters, when he shared it to the Asia-Pacific Climate Change Leadership Congress last November. 

Here are the 8Rs for green living:

Reuse. Avoid anything disposable. However, some disposables could have a longer lease in life with reuse. For instance, restaurants make food to go with throwaway containers, which can actually be reused. By reusing things, we keep more ‘stuff’ from entering the system, which almost always end up in dumps. Before throwing something away, ask yourself, can this be reused? You will be doing the planet, and your wallet, a lot of good.

Reduce. Are you cooking too much for the size of your family? Are you shopping for things that you don’t really need? Are you generating waste that could be reduced? Less is more. By reducing what you use and lessening the waste that you generate, you have less impact on the environment. 

Check out wonderful waste reduction tips on the net that can be immediately practiced at home and in the office.

Recycle. If you cannot reuse something, ask yourself if it can be used for another purpose? By recycling, we are using less energy needed to manufacture various products, thus we are helping mitigate climate change. Through recycling, less raw materials are used and less pollution is generated.

Repair. Filipinos are great at this. I know, because my parents still have the two electric fans we had since I was eight or nine years old, and believe me, that was a long, long time ago. Those fans conked out probably twice, and my parents had them repaired. By repairing our stuff, we get a lot of savings as we prolong the service life of our appliances and other things.

Rethink. New Year is the best time to reflect on our impact to the planet. Evaluate your lifestyle. What should be changed? What should you do to be a better earth citizen? You’ll be surprised at your answers if you seriously take on this exercise.

Refuse. Say no to things you don’t need. I have been blessed to have generous sisters who shower me with gifts. Sometimes it’s hard to tell them I will have no use for their new gift, but I guess they are starting to see how simple (probably even Spartan to their standards!) my lifestyle is. I always appreciate new gifts I could really use and even decent hand-me-downs from my sisters who have impeccable taste. They keep me stylish while I refuse more trips to the mall.

Rain-forest. Are you aware of the country’s National Greening Program? The target is to plant 1.5 billion trees by 2016.

Although some issues mar the NGP, you can always have a local initiative for greening. But make sure to plant only endemic and indigenous trees instead of exotic ones. And remember it is not enough to just plant trees. The new concept is tree growing, where you actually visit the trees again to make sure they are thriving well.

Reconnect. Our indigenous brothers and sisters show us what we have lost— our connection with nature and the entire family of creation. Modern living has brought about an aversion to nature or biophobia. Richard Louv notes that the younger generations have “nature deficit disorder.” One way this can be addressed is by well-planned nature trips that should be done regularly, whether once a week, once a month, or once a year. It should be pleasant enough to look forward to, especially for those who are not the adventurous types. Better to start them young, as children who grow up without any connection to the environment could hardly be expected to value or care for it when they grow up.

Reconnecting with nature is not as simple as reading books about loving nature. Nothing compares with actually communing with the environment. An hour on Facebook or in front of the TV cannot be as memorable as a nature walk, birding or spelunking. Reconnecting with nature is rejuvenating, even a spiritual experience!

By the way, my last date with nature was last November, I better plan for the next one.

What do you think of these green resolutions? Are you doing the 8Rs this year?

Shiela R. Castillo is a co-founder of the Movement of Imaginals for a Sustainable Society through Initiatives, Organizing, and Networking (MISSION) and is a trained presenter for Nobel Laureate and former US Vice President Al Gore’s The Climate Reality Project (TCRP). She blogs as Green Pen at http://shielarcastillo.net.

Nais kong mamatay

(Alay sa mga nagsipagdalo sa Pride March at lalo na isang taong nakibahagi dito.)


Nais kong mamatay.

Nais kong mapigtas ang aking hininga.

Ngayon, ika-5 ng Disyembre, naramdaman ko ang lamig ng isang bangkay. Ang hininga'y napigtas matapos ang isang hinagpis sa ganap na ika-3 ng hapon sa harap ng krus kung saan ang Poo'y nais kumawala sa pagkapako.

Sa hininga mo'y magpakailaman na paghimlay sa puntod ng kawalan.

Mundo'y biglang dumilim at ang liwanag ay pumanaw, bagaman iindap-indap, sa isang iglap nilamon ng kawalan.

Ramdam ang bawat turok ng mga tinik na kasinlaki ng karayom, sa bawat ugat kumawala ang dugong nagbibigay-buhay.

Ang hinagpis na animo'y kasing-init ng lava na nagmumula sa bulkang matagal nang hindi pumutok.

Ang paningi'y tinakpan ng talukap at biglang dumaloy ang naipong luhang tigib ng panghinayang.

Hanggang saan, hanggang kailan dadaloy ang luhang sing-alat ng Patay na Dagat?

Nais kong maramdaman ang talas ng karit ni Kamatayan.

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Ang pag-ibig nga talaga'y nakamamatay dahil ang sarili'y iiwanan para sa minamahal. Ngunit kung ang minamahal ay siya ang papatay sa binuhay na bulaklak ng pag-ibig, ang mundo'y wari'y maglalaho.

Ang pag-ibig nga ba'y wagas?

Wagas.

May wakas?

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Sa pagdalaw ni Kamataya'y isang dangkal ang pagitan ng matalim na karit at ng masiglang ugat sa aking leeg.

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Ngunit ang pag-ibig ay wagas...

Hindi mawawakasan ng karit ang tibay ng tunay na pag-ibig.

Maghihintay ang pusong naghihinagpis.

Maghihintay...

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Sa tapat ng Poong nakapako ngunit iniaabot ang kanang kamay, nakita ko ang maliit na bata... itinuro ng Poon: ang banal na bata.

May pag-asa pa.

Ako'y maghihintay, kahit ito'y gawagas.

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(At natakot si Kamatayan dahil sa kanyang katandaan siya'y nanangis ngunit ang bata'y hinaplos ang luha sa kanyang kunot na pisngi.)

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PAMZ, 7043.

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I want to be a rebel

(On President Benigno Aquino III's total log ban exemption in mining areas)

President Benigno Aquino III has exempted the mining industry from the total log ban in exchange for obligating the industry to take part in the National Greening Program launched early this year.

Leo Jasareno, Mines and Geociences Bureau (MGB) national director, said on Thursday that making decisions like this was the Aquino administration’s way of making industry regulations more efficient and mining more acceptable to the public.

Yes, I want to be a rebel.

Four years ago, a colleague of mine was shot to death by a mining security officer while leading a picket against some hired surveyors of a mining company and the approval of a special cutting of trees permit approved by the late DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Such permit will let the mining company cut more or less 70,000 trees.

The license had been suspended by then DENR Secretary Lito Atienza and anytime it may be lifted by now DENR Secretary Ramon Paje the fact that the exemption of President Aquino has been publicized.

I want to be a rebel.

Every tree and mineral on my island is already tainted by the blood of our martyr. This pronouncement of the President will lead to more bloodshed.

I want to be a rebel.

This government has now shown its hidden tentacles - orchestrated by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines composed by mere less than one percent of the country's population.

I want to be a rebel.

Perhaps.

Fortunately, a few government agencies I really trust are still fighting for a real change in the service of the Filipino people. One of which is the Climate Change Commission with people who are genuinely concerned with the future of this country.

Perhaps, the President doesn't know the real statistics on the ground.

Perhaps.

I want to be a rebel.

Mr. President, I hope you read this message.

What you have pronounced will lead to a more chaotic Philippines.

I tell you. Believe me. Believe us. We are the 99%.

Mr. President, YOU LIED.

Mr. President, WE ARE YOUR BOSS.

Mr. President, you are now becoming the leader of the 1%.

Mr. President, I tell you solemnly: do not be fooled by these people.

Mr. President, you are an economist, and your own government agency says that the contribution of the mining industry to our gross domestic product is only less than 2%.

What have you become?

Mr. President, be afraid of your people for in due time they will become rebels themselves against the 1% you are now leading.

Is this a compromise?

A compromise of a fool mind and lost soul.

I wish I am a rebel.

We are nature

Published on Sunday, November 06, 2011, in Manila Times

Our ancestors collectively remind us that everything is interconnected; however, not interdependent when human beings abuse such harmony.

Humanity depends on nature for survival and existence but it is not the whole humanity who wanted to survive and exist. Greed and selfishness in the guise of national security created a great global apathetic divide which will eventually result to genocide.

It is the apathy of human beings that leads to unjust treatment of our planet as subject. It is as if life on earth began through the power of our superior rationality.
Unless we are unable to accept that we are part of this whole ecosystem, it will be impossible for us to solve the emerging environmental crises.

It was a rendezvous of same worldviews when I met and listened to Paul Hawken, author of New York Times bestseller Blessed Unrest: How the largest movement in the world came into being, and why no one saw it coming.

My colleague at The Climate Reality Project, Simon Bradshow, describes the Paul Hawken speech and interactive discussion as “Over an hour and a half, and in his gentle poetic style which felt more like a Sunday walk in the bush than a lecture, Paul Hawken ranged seamlessly from dissolving the human and nature divide, rediscovering the miracle of life, understanding our place in the world and understanding the extraordinary power of the nongovernment organizations and collectives.”

It was indeed a journey beyond our imagination reaching into challenging realities of going back to the basic sciences of nature from which all of us came into being. A realization that what we are doing as part of these seemingly “small” movements to restore environmental harmony and promote social justice for all is but a natural propensity as part of the whole life-system of the universe. Hence, I agree when Hawken said “We are nature.”

Belonging to environmental movements, we are often addressed as “environmentalists.”

Practically, receiving such regard comes with a huge responsibility and challenge which in fact all human beings should do and face.

It is not being an “environmentalist” that moves us, for being so it is just sympathy to the environment which forces us to protect and fight for it. We intangibly put humanity as the masters of the universe and environment as mere subject obviously kneeling down for our mercy.

Or is it the other way around, begging mercy from nature from which all our cells come from forming almost 1 septillion activities within us 10 times the number of stars in the universe, as Hawken puts it?

Solutions?
What is the root cause of all these turmoil in the world? It is the denial of humanity as part of nature thus making everything in the universe as mere subjects for utilization.

How to solve this? We should learn from the indigenous peoples of the world who have been teaching us how to live in harmony with nature and accept the reality of being part of nature.
Sadly, the whole utilization movement is promoting ethnocide bringing age-old traditions and customs into the brink of extinction.

Why indigenous? In our veins flow indigenous blood which enable us to adopt and strife for survival. Once upon a time, we belong to a humanity dependent solely in the abundance of nature and we live with it, in harmony. However, there were some who abused such abundance and forced nature to be more abundant to the extent of stripping off the capacity to become abundant. This started the utilization movement which is 1 percent of the world’s population.

It is now high time to bring back what had been. Together, with the indigenous peoples of the world who have been sacrificing their lives and defending their lands and traditions for the sake of maintaining the balance in this planet, we shall stand up. Against the 1 percent, we are the 99 percent who are now making environmental and social justice into reality.

Yes, every one of us is part of each and everyone. I breathe what you breathe. Let the 1 septillion cellular activities in our bodies modify and transform the minds of the utilization movement. Let us not permit 1 percent to occupy the 99 percent who wanted to bring back the natural balance in this world.

Don’t forget, the minds of the 1 percent utilization movement are still part of the 99 percent. The silence and inaction of 99 percent make them more powerful.

* * *

Why all these natural problems? Nature just reacts.

Why such “exaggerated” reactions? Because of our exaggerated apathetic actions.

Whatever we do to the detriment of the environment comes back to us because we are all part of it.

The living and the dead

Below is an article written by veteran columnist Conrado de Quiros of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Surprisingly, it is an honor to be quoted by a respected journalist:

Galicha is right, it’s time we added our voices to those protesting the complacency, the indifference, the cynicism of the greedy—yes, the greedy, as Occupy Wall Street so rightly puts it—before we end up being merely the voices of the damned. Like Galicha, it’s time we told countries like the United States that have remained stumbling blocks to global accords to fight off global warming: “From the Pacific islands, from the global South, we don’t need your money. What we need is climate justice. Decrease your emissions.”

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There’s The Rub
The living and the dead
By: Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer

There’s a horror story to scare us out of our wits today. No, it’s not any movie that’s currently showing in our movie houses. And no, it’s not the ongoing bloodletting in the South if you want a horror story from real life, even if the faces of the Muslim women that appeared here last weekend, all haggard with anxiety, adding deeper furrows into faces already furrowed by age, are horrific enough in themselves.

It’s global warming.

That term almost makes it sound anticlimactic. It’s such a benign way to refer to a planet in peril, to a threatened apocalypse, to the making of a day devoted to visiting the dead redundant.

A news item came out Monday that drove home the point.

Richard Muller, a prominent skeptic of global warming, spent two years studying the data to prove the doomsayers wrong only to discover that they were right. The earth is heating up, its land mass in particular now being 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than it was in the 1950s. Muller is set to deliver his findings this week.

The community that has been warning about climate change is unimpressed though it welcomes his corroboration. “After lots of work he found exactly what was already known and accepted in the climate community,” says Jerry North, the atmospheric sciences professor who headed a National Academy of Sciences climate science review in 2006. “I am hoping his study will have a positive impact. But some folks will never change.”

There’s no longer any reason to be skeptical about rising temperatures, Muller wrote in the Wall Street Journal, a bastion of skeptical thinking about global warming. Which is the reason his study is making waves, if not exactly whipping up a tsunami. His study however does not address the causes of global warming or suggest ways of counteracting it.

Still, he said, the world would do well to reduce carbon emissions caused by fossil fuels. “Greenhouse gases could have a disastrous impact on the world.”

Just how disastrous it could be, a group of scientists and environmental activists pointed out a month and a half ago. Led by Al Gore, the best president the United States never had who gained fame with “An Inconvenient Truth,” they held a day-long marathon show called “24 Hours of Reality,” which was streamed worldwide via Internet. The event drew in representatives from 24 locations across the globe whose job was to “connect the dots between the changing climate and extreme weather.” It featured our very own Rodne Galicha, a 32-year-old environmental activist from Sibuyan Island, Romblon. He held his own in the distinguished company.

He began by drawing attention to the humongous catastrophes that have beset the world of late: massive floods in Pakistan, Australia, even Mississippi and North Dakota; mudslides in Korea; droughts in Brazil, Mexico and Syria; unrelenting rains in China, Fiji, Colombia and the Philippines; rising temperatures, increasing water vapor over the oceans, and growing intensity of rainstorms and snow storms.

He ended by saying: “If we are unable to act, with this phenomenon, we are committing suicide; for the next generation, we are committing homicide. Homo sapiens has now become the most critically endangered species of all time.”

All this merely confirms what our senses have been telling us for some time now.

There’s no denying global warming, there’s no denying climate change, there’s no denying a dying planet. Monumental catastrophes have happened in the past, some more catastrophic than the ones we see today. But not as plentifully, not as frequently, not as universally harshly. Quakes and tsunamis violently rocking various parts of the world, laying low even a powerful country like Japan; hurricanes and tornadoes howling in the American heartland and elsewhere; super storms and floods devastating countries in Southeast Asia, the Philippines at the frontline of them: You don’t have to believe in the Mayan prediction of an apocalyptic event ravaging the earth next Christmas to be very, very afraid.

As it is, we’re already thanking heaven a storm did not waylay our visit to the cemeteries today. A thing we may not count on in years to come. Galicha himself contends that it’s the poor countries like ours that are taking the brunt of the effects of global warming.

Can we stop the complacency, the indifference, the cynicism that are pushing humankind to the brink?

Yes.

But unfortunately that is not just something we can do on our own, even if we had the will to do it. It takes global effort of the kind Gore and company are spearheading. It is no small irony that the rich countries continue to preach the infinite wonders of globalism while being the very obstacle to real globalism, the kind where the peoples of the world unite to take global action to save the planet. They’re the ones who insist that even if the planet is warming, they have nothing to do with it, it’s a natural cycle of life, the earth has immense powers of recuperation, left to itself it will right things in the end. An argument unfortunately that nobody can win: You prove them wrong, you still lose.

Galicha is right, it’s time we added our voices to those protesting the complacency, the indifference, the cynicism of the greedy—yes, the greedy, as Occupy Wall Street so rightly puts it—before we end up being merely the voices of the damned. Like Galicha, it’s time we told countries like the United States that have remained stumbling blocks to global accords to fight off global warming: “From the Pacific islands, from the global South, we don’t need your money. What we need is climate justice. Decrease your emissions.”

Homo sapiens is the one species now most threatened with extinction. We don’t act to reverse this, we blur the line between the living and the dead.

Filipino climate change activist tells world: We can do something

Thanks Philippine Daily Inquirer for this article. This peice is written by TJ Burgonio.

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MANILA, Philippines—Too bad many of us in the Philippines missed “24 Hours of Reality,” a day-long live-streamed event highlighting the reality of climate change in 24 locations around the world.

If you had tuned in to the live broadcast on the Internet on Sept. 14 and 15, you would have caught Filipino climate change activist Rodne Galicha’s presentation on the Solomon Islands from New York City, where he shared the limelight with former United States Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore.

Galicha sent a powerful message to the world’s top carbon emitters: Climate change is real but something can be done about it.

Galicha went through the catastrophes that struck the world in the past year or so. There were massive floods in Pakistan, Australia, even Mississippi and North Dakota; mudslides in Korea; droughts in Brazil, Mexico and Syria; intense rains in China, Fiji, Colombia and the Philippines; rising temperatures, increasing water vapor over the oceans, and growing intensity of rainstorms and snow storms.

Later in the panel discussion with Climate Reality Project leader Maggie Fox, TreeHugger.com founder Graham Hill and American Meteorological Society associate director Paul Higgins, Galicha said Third World countries were bearing the brunt of climate change, and fired off a strong message to the United States.

Climate justice

“From the Pacific islands, from the global South, we don’t need your money. What we need is climate justice. Decrease your emissions,” he said.

Galicha came online at around 4 a.m. on Sept. 15 in New York (4 p.m. in Manila), hours before Gore capped the 24-hour program with his own presentation on the same stage. His presentation as well as the rest can still be viewed at www.climaterealityproject.org.

“I had goose bumps just thinking about the number of viewers,” said Galicha, 32, who was informed he’d be addressing 2.6 million global online viewers. Otherwise, it was an exhilarating experience for the activist from Sibuyan Island, which is often compared to Galapagos Island.

After the presentation, Gore complimented Galicha for “doing a great job.”
24 Hours of Reality was the launch pad of Climate Reality Project’s new global campaign to warn the world of the climate crisis. The Climate Reality Project was founded and chaired by Gore.

The online event was held in 24 different locations and different time zones, and 23 activists, including Galicha, were picked by the Project to make the multimedia presentations to “connect the dots between the changing climate and extreme weather.”

First time

It was the first time Galicha shared a stage with Gore. But they met back in 2009 when Galicha became a volunteer of Climate Reality Project. Since then he has been criss-crossing the archipelago to spread Gore’s gospel in “Inconvenient Truth” to audiences in the Philippines.

Galicha, along with three other Filipinos, were trained by scientists at the Project’s summit in Melbourne, Australia, in 2009 to “dissect” the highly acclaimed 2006 documentary. He became the Project’s country district manager in the Philippines.

It was natural then that the Project would pick him to do the segment on the Solomon Islands from New York City.

“It was an opportunity of a lifetime. We had to maximize that opportunity, and tell the people what we wanted to tell them,” said Galicha, who opened with a tribute to indigenous peoples.

Suicide, homicide

He ended with the stern warning: “If we are unable to act, with this phenomenon, we are committing suicide for the next generation; we are committing homicide. Homo sapiens have now become the most critically endangered species of all time.”

Galicha began his advocacy in his hometown.

A Philosophy major from the University of Santo Tomas (2001), he experienced the adverse impact of mining, and of powerful storms right on Sibuyan, an island of Romblon province which, like Solomon Islands in the Pacific, is a biodiversity hotspot. On the map, it’s at the heart of the archipelago.

He grew up near Mt. Guiting-Guiting, a dense, lush forest that is home to many endangered species, and one of the country’s cleanest rivers.

One could imagine his outrage when the government allowed companies to bring in heavy equipment to mine ore and nickel, and to cut a path of destruction through the pristine island. Out of this the Sibuyan Island Sentinels League for Environment Inc. was born, and Galicha became its executive director.

Before long, he linked up with Alyansa Tigil Mina (Alliance to Stop Mining) and led protests against mining operations on Sibuyan and elsewhere.

The killing of an antimining activist by a mining company guard on Sibuyan in 2007 fired his activism further. In 2008, Galicha flew to Australia, the headquarters of one of the largest mining companies in the Philippines, to argue his case.

The same year, in June 2008, Typhoon “Frank” sank the interisland M/V Princess of the Stars off Sibuyan, leaving 800 of its crew and passengers dead and missing and spilling oil and possibly toxic pesticides into the sea. That was about the time he was invited to volunteer for the Climate Reality Project. He did not have any second thoughts.

After their training in Melbourne in 2009, Galicha and his Filipino colleagues have been active on the ground, educating students, farmers, fisherfolk, and just about anybody about the effects of a warming climate. Bro. Jaazeal Jakosalem joined them as a presenter in 2010, and at least five more Filipinos came aboard in January this year after being trained by Gore in Jakarta.

“Filipinos are a resilient people,” and can easily adapt to extreme weather events,” he said, but conceded that this “adaptation capacity” was hardly enough to deal with extreme weather conditions.

“Sure the Philippines has a very low carbon emission, but the thing is, we need to change attitudes. If you want to solve the climate crisis, you will not say ‘let’s open more coal-fired power plants’ or ‘let’s cut trees in order to mine.’ That’s hypocrisy.”

But the Philippines, which has passed laws such as the Climate Change Act and formed the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to deal with the effects of a warming climate, can only do so much. First World countries can have a bigger impact, Galicha said.

“In a way the solution for this global problem is global. We should make large countries accountable,” he said.

Takure at Bibingka

Ang induced global warming resulting to the inconsistencies of climate changes ay maihahalintulad sa pagpapakulo ng tubig na ang nangyayari'y umaalimpuyo ang tubig kasama ng hangin. At ngayon, naiipit at naipapalaman ang lupang ating tinutuntungan at ang mga katubigang ating nilalanguyan. Ang init na nakukulong sa loob ng daigdig at ang init na galing sa earthcore ay nais na hagkan ang isa't-isa -- ang init sa ilalim ng lupa ay gustong kumawala at lalo pang kumulo at maaaring sunod-sunod na sumambulat kasama ng mga nagbabagang mga bato at luwad. Tayo at ang mga nilikhang may buhay at wala ay nasa gitna - tayo na ngayo'y BIBINGKA.

Sa pagtunaw ng mga naglalakihang yelo sa Arctic, Greenland, Antarctica, at iba pa, ang matinding lamig na dulot ng pagtunaw ay umaabot na sa Equator. Magulo, hindi maunawaan ng hangin kung saan pupunta. Parang init na binuhusan ng lamig, umuusok. Mala-kalsadang nagbabaga sa init ngunit biglang umulan. Pilit kumakawala ang init.

Init at lamig. Ang hindi maunawaang pagbabago ng panahon ay hindi lamang usapin ng matinding pag-iinit ng mundo. Ito ay usapin ng pagtatalo ng init at lamig.

Sana sa panahon ng pag-iinit, mahimasmasan tayo at baka nga'y biglang mabuhusan tayo ng malamig na tubig sa pagkahimbing, may maaari pang magawa.

Sa matinding pag-init, tumitindi ang paglamig sa hindi naman dapat lumamig ng ganoon katindi.

Init at lamig.

Maligamgam kaya?

Ngunit hindi na panahon ngayon upang maging mediocre. Tumayo tayo at makialam.

Kumilos na!

The Tree

Natuwa ako sa facebook post ni Ate Mae (aka Juana Change) tungkol sa isang text message na kanyang natanggap: "Puno" a poem by Joyce Killjoy.I thnk dat i shall never see, a friend lucky as dis tree. A tree who's twice failed d test, yet boss won't let him go and rest. Poems r made by fools like me, but only my president can axe dis tree. Bow!"

At ito naman ang aking mga reaksyon:

"Sa larangan ng biodiversity, ang species na itinanim ni PNoy ay isang exotic isang hindi nararapat sa kalupaan ng pamamahala, isang INVASIVE na puno. kung patuloy pang aalagaan ni PNoy ang ganitong klase ng puno, para itong sisipsipin ang natitirang katubigan ng republika at maaari ring magiging monoculture plantation of corruption na ito. Kaya kay PNoy, 2010 is Year of Biodiversity. Say NO to invasive PUNO or else the flowing waters of democracy and transparency shall be sucked gradually! Kahit sa ganitong aspetong pangkalikasan, sana naman si PNoy maging isang environmentalist."

At eto pa:

"Ang kabaligtaran pala ng INVASIVE ay NATIVE o INDIGENOUS. Sa ngayon, ang nakikita kong native at indigenous sa gabinete ay sina Robredo na may ugat na sa lokal na pamamahala, si de Lima na hiyang na hiyang sa usapin ng karapatang pantao at maaaring si Luistro na ang talaga namang ang paaralan ay kanyang naging tahanan (ngunit hindi ko alam kung nakaugat sa mga karanasan ng mga karaniwang mamayan na nagpapaaral sa pampublikong mga institusyon). Tanggalin ang INVASIVE at magtanim ng NATIVE! Iyan ang pangangalaga sa BIODIVERSITY"

Active Vista in Palawan

Nais kong ibahagi ang aking talumpati sa pagbubukas ng Active Vista Film Festival sa Palawan State University noong nakaraang buwan:

Isang maalab at mapagpalayang umaga sa lahat kung saan ang haring ALDAW ay paulit-ulit na sumisikat. Masarap paglaruan ang mga katagang Active at Vista. 'Active' na nananawagan ng pagkilos at 'vista' na kung saan ay mayroong kang nakikita maaari ring nararamdaman, naririnig at naaamoy. Isang aktibista, isang nilalang na may pakialam, hindi pabaya sa lipunan at kalikasan, para sa pagbabago, isang gawaing DAKILA, isang kadakilaan na nagsisimula sa sarili. Ang ang pagiging aktibista ay hindi pagiging kritiko sa pamahalaan, bagkus, ito'y isang karapatan at likas sa pagiging tao. Noong ako'y nag-aral tungkol sa climate change sa Australia sa ilalim ng Nobel Peace Laureate na si Al Gore, noong tinanong siya kung ano ang gagawin sa kapabayaan at pagkabingi ng isang namamahala: sagot niya: gayahin ang people power ng Pilipinas! Kapangyarihang nagmumula sa isa't isa, sa bawat puso, isip at kaluluwa ng iisa na naibahagi sa lahat. Isang pagtingin: punto de vista, kung saan ang pagtingin ay tarok at tusok sa kaloobloban ng kaluluwa at kalooban kung saan mauuunawaan ang pagtanaw sa katotohanang tayong lahat ay magkaugnay-ugnay, hindi lang sa pagiging tao kundi sa pagiging bahagi ng buong kalikasan. Ang pagtingin ng Alyansa Tigil Mina: bawal ang ang pagmimina sa gubat at sa mga lugar na nayuyurakan ang karapatang-pantao lalo na ng mga katutubo. Hindi ako maka-kalikasan, dahil kung ganoon, ang kalikasan ay nandoon at ako'y nandito, inihihiwalay ko ang aking sarili sa kanya. Bagkus ako ay bahagi ng kalikasan, tayo, sila: kalikasan. Hindi natin mapapangalagaan ang kalikasan at ang ating sarili hangga't hindi natin kayang tanggapin na tayo ay bahagi nito. Sabi ni Pangulong Aquino, kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap. Ngunit ang sabi ng mga puno, mabuting pinuno. At maaari nating sabihin: Kung may gubat, walang mahirap. Makibahagi at makialam. Magandang umaga!

Ang Pagbabalik

Mahigit isang taon na yatang hindi na-update ang blog na ito. Maaaring dahil na rin sa kasikatan ng Facebook at hindi na ako nakapagsusulat ng pormal. Kahit hindi pormal, mas magandang simulan uli ang pagsusulat. Mukhang hindi na matalas ang aking kaisipan at nangagailangang magkaroon ng kaunting pagsasanay.

Maraming mga lugar na naman akong narating, maraming klase ng tao at iba't ibang mga pananaw.

Bago, maraming bago: presidente, mga opisyal ng bayan. Marami ring nagbabagu-bagohan.

May good news. May bad news.

Ngunit simula siguro ngayon: NGAYON, bubuhayin kong muli ang blog na ito: araw-araw. At sana sa paraang ito, maipalalabas ko sa aking kaisipan ang mga agam-agam at hinuha sa mga bagay-bagay sa paligid.

Sana huwag ako dalawin ng katamaran. At sana naman unti-unting lumiwanag ang karimlan kung saan nais kong tahakin ang isang napakasalimuot na daan.

Bukas, ang panibagong simula.