‘Ondoy’s’ lesson: We must change the way we live

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By Augusto Villalon
Philippine Daily Inquirer

LAST week’s column piece “Where Have All the ‘Esteros’ Gone?” has generated several feedback from readers.

“Let’s change the way we live,” writes M.L.C. “All is not lost, we can still reverse the situation now...though we must first do our part in taking care of Mother Nature.”

“Your article was a good read for those who are concerned with what just happened [the floods]...One thing for us to look into is the lowly bamboo as alternative for construction. It is sturdy and grows easily. Plant them in areas prone to landslides.

“We have to live simply so that others may simply live.”

From another reader: “Yes, I agree the drainage in Manila is so outdated it is the big reason why rains flood Manila.”

Krisbelle of Pagadian City, who has been living in Manila for eight years, observes in Filipino: “I do not see cleanliness in Manila; people here do not care about their surroundings. Only one thing will prevent flooding, that canals and drainage are not clogged and proper exits are provided.”

Chronic disregard

Readers express mainly outrage at how the government has allowed the state of the urban and rural environments to dismally deteriorate.

Outrage? By all means, we should be outraged.

Look at the chronic disregard of planning and environmental ordinances by government authorities and real-estate developers.

Consider the poor maintenance of drainage and flood-control facilities; over-concreting of urban areas; unregulated building over natural waterways and open public areas, whether urban or rural; massive deforestation. These are just a few of a multitude of issues that must be looked into immediately.

But we are as much at fault as those in authority whom we like to blame.
Illegal residents squat on easements and clog waterways with trash. From upscale communities like Forbes Park to mid-scale BF Homes, residents appropriate public easements as well, either fencing them off or worse still, covering them over with permanent structures that clog urban waterways with concrete.

Plastic-free Philippines

These days, a covered basketball-cum-multipurpose area gifted by the leading local politician is the centerpiece of most town plazas, displacing the usual open planted areas that would have naturally drained excess water back into the ground. Goodbye to natural water absorption.

Despite ill-enforced environmental laws to protect our forests, rampant illegal logging persists. Goodbye to natural flood control.

Rather than being outraged at government carelessness and blaming it for the widespread degradation, should we not also be outraged at ourselves for being so remiss?

In the same way that ordinary citizens banded together to help out flood victims, people can channel their energy protecting the environment. We could start simply by taking care of our immediate surroundings, keeping it clean and free from garbage, avoiding the use of plastic altogether.

A plastic-free Philippines makes so much sense after seeing how drains and waterways clogged by plastic caused flooding and destruction. This is a call for us to use biodegradable materials.

We should let our cities breathe again. Peel away as much concrete as possible. Restore open areas and replant trees and shrubs to allow excess water to drain naturally back into the ground.

It is time to change our environmental paradigms. The old way of environmental laissez faire does not work, as the floods have so cruelly shown us.

After the floods, we can’t go back to our old habits. We have to change the way we live.

E-mail feedback and comments to pride.place@gmail.com.

Bill against non-biodegradable bags approved

By BEN R. ROSARIO

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill restricting the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags in supermarkets, department stores, and similar commercial establishments.

Authored by Representatives Oscar Malapitan (NP, Caloocan City) and Raymond Democrito Mendoza (TUCP Party-list), House Bill (HB) 4840 drew bipartisan support when presented for third and final reading recently.

Malapitan and Mendoza said the bill imposes a three-year ultimatum on the use of plastic bags, which are being blamed for floods and other environmental dangers in the country.

Mendoza said biodegradable plastic bags are those that decompose by 60 percent within two years of use without leaving significant harmful residues, while non-biodegradable plastic bags are the widely used material which hardly decomposes even after decades and which has been identified as the primary reason for flooding due to clogged drains.

He said about 50 percent of floating waste on water is plastic that ends up clogging drain pipes or smothering turtles and killing birds and fish that mistake plastic as food.

“This is criminal!” said Mendoza.

Laguna Representative Dan Fernandez, chairman of the House Committee on Ecology, lauded his colleagues for strongly supporting the measure, considered a priority of the House panel.

The lawmaker cited the case of Los Baños wherein total ban of plastic bags and Styrofoam containers is being implemented and where residents are enjoined to promote the “Bring Own Bag” program, and encourage use of woven bags (bayong), cloth bags (katsa), paper bags, and other reusable materials.

“If it can be done in a small town, then it can be done anywhere,” stressed Mendoza.

Malapitan disclosed that a number of pro-environment firms have started developing biodegradable plastic bags.

From illegal logger to conservationist

Local communities in Leyte lead movement to protect, manage forests

By JACQUELINE HERNANDEZ

September 17, 2011, 2:19pm

MANILA, Philippines — Expedito Vanzuela, 59, was once an illegal logger, cutting trees in the forests of Maasin, the capital city of Southern Leyte, where he grew up.

He sits outside the wooden shack in Sitio Canlugoc recalling those days. It is the headquarters of the Young Innovators for Social and Environmental Development Association.

“I didn’t have a job so I resorted to cutting logs to feed my family. I don’t know how many trees I cut down from 1975 to 1982… countless numbers),” he says in the broken Tagalog he learned growing up in his native village.

Although logging has been illegal for some years, Vanzuela and many people in Maasin considered it their only option for livelihood. They continued chopping the trees and selling the wood, despite the Leyte province’s prohibition against cutting trees.

Leyte is one of the only two provinces in the Philippines that supports total log ban; the other is Negros Occidental.

Vanzuela says that after being caught by local police in 1982, and after having conversations with people from the local government unit, he changed his mind. From then he started attending seminars offered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and other organizations like the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

“Tumigil na ako sa pagputol. Natakot na rin ako dahil magkaron ng landslide pati sobrang paginit ng panahon. Sumama ako sa mga seminar una kong natutunan ang pag compose ng abono, pag asikaso sa lupa (I stopped cutting trees. I got scared of landslide and climate change. I attended seminars and the first lesson I learned was about organic composts, soil management),” Vanzuela recalled.

Today he is a conservationist, an active member of YISEDA, a community-based forest management project in Sitio Canlugoc in Barangay Lanao, Maasin City. Vanzuela has led his fellow Maasinhons in protecting the forest around them. He has thought dozens of children with the proper way of planting trees and has shared his agricultural knowledge to many.

Another YISEDA member Celsa Mori, 41, a mother of 4 children, says, “Negatibo ang pagtingin sa amin ng mga ibang mga tao nung 1980s, ignorante, walang pinag aralan, walang mga trabaho, kaya nag sumikap kami para ipakita na mali sila (We were perceived as ignorant, uneducated, worthless bunch of upland dwellers back in 1980s, so we worked our way to prove them wrong).”

So the people of Sitio Canlugoc soon engaged in reforestation, agro-forestry, domesticated animal-raising and alternative livelihood. They were awarded the Best Peoples Organization in Southern Leyte during the PO Regional Summit in Tacloban City on July 23, 2010.

“Kahit mga bata kapag may nakikitang buto ng Mahogany sa daan, pinupulot nila ito at itatanim ng maayos. Hindi na kami nangangaba sa kinabukasan dahil alam namin ang mga anak namin marunong na magbigay ng importansya sa kapaligiran (Even the children whenever they see a Mahogany seedling they would pick them up and plant it in a proper way. We are not scared about the future because our children know how to take care of the environment.),” Mori said.

Mori, together with other members of YISEDA, expressed their gratitude for the interventions of local government units and other organizations such as GIZ for the uplifting their lives, giving them the much-needed support for their livelihood programs. GIZ awarded 75 hectares for reforestation, 25 hectares for agro-forestry and 50 hectares for Assisted Natural Regeneration project to the group back in 2010.

With the pilot launching in Southern Leyte of the Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)-Plus, the newest variation of REDD campaign by GIZ, many organizations in the area will be deeply involved as they were to embark on the establishment of more nurseries raising trees seedlings needed for the program, conduct of surveys, mapping, tree planting, among others.

These groups include YISEDA, Katipunan Imelda Catmon Community Forestry Association (KICCFA) Inc. in Silago and other active People’s Organization, particularly among the Community–based Forest Management (CBFM).

Aside from the general objective of saving forests from further deterioration while conserving them for biodiversity and sustainable livelihood for local communities, REDD-Plus also aims to reduce emission out of deforestation and forest degradation.

This means conservation of forest carbon stock, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stock. REDD-Plus also offers a performance-based incentive approach towards sustainable forest management and climate protection.

REDD-Plus, together with the National Greening Program (NGP) of the Aquino administration, are now vigorously pursuing until 2016 to conserve what is left of the more than 500 hectares of the virgin forests of Silago, Sogod, Bontoc, Tomas Oppus, up to the remaining forests in Maasin City.

According to the United Nations, the world population will grow by 50 percent to 9.4 billion by 2050. As the world population grows, the demand for timber grows in parallel with it. Thus, sustainable forest management and mainstreaming social accountability is an important step towards developing the national REDD-Plus strategy. Forests are renewable, an important fact to remember when considering how to best manage them.

Vanzuela now proudly walks inside the forest carrying Mahogany seedlings to be planted on the slopes of Maasin forest. He braves the slippery and dangerous terrain of the mountains to plant seedlings that his children and grandchildren will harvest 20 years from now.

“The arrival of the new millennium provides an ideal opportunity to implement a positive vision for the future - one which draws together the peoples and nations of the world behind a common goal,” according to Restoring the Earth Project.