WALA LANG
ECO WARRIORS President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (seated, middle) at the 2022 DENR Multistakeholder Forum at Diamond Hotel in Manila. With the President are (standing from left) Vista Land CEO Paolo Villar, Ayala Corporation's Marianna Zobel de Ayala, FPIC’s Federico Lopez, SM Investments’ Hans T. Sy, Mike Toledo of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, Cebu Pacific CEO Lance Gokongwei, San Miguel Corporation's Ramon Ang, (Seated from left) special assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo Jr., Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, Presidential Management Staff Secretary Ma. Zenaida Angping, and Senator Cynthia Villar (Noel B. Pabalate)
Speaking about the Falkland Islands War, then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said that a real crisis was welcome relief from humdrum issues like the environment. That was 40 years ago in 1982 and now, even with Russia invading Ukraine and China building islands on our coral reefs, it is the environment that is the real crisis.
The environment is the concern of the newly appointed Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Ma. Antonia Yulo Loyzaga. The department’s concerns are both long term and short term. In the long term, we need to have enough resources for future generations, which means protecting forests, coral reefs, biodiversity, clean air, running rivers. In the short term we need housing, motor vehicles, airplanes, farmland. We need to export minerals to finance import needs.
Balancing foes with Secretary Loyzaga’s job. With her experience and advocacies in sustainability, resilience, and climate change, the secretary brings a strong element of science to DENR. She immediately identified the need for everyone’s awareness and cooperation. Last Wednesday, she organized a multistakeholder conference to bring together leaders of government and the private sector to focus on the topic.
President Marcos pointed out that the Philippines is the world’s fourth country most vulnerable to climate change, particularly rising sea levels that could displace the millions who live in low lying places that happen to be where some of our largest cities and towns are located.
Secretary Loyzaga underscored the need for everyone to do their bit, from national and local government units down to barangays, business establishments, and households.
Big business described what they are doing and planning to do to safeguard the environment. Ramon Ang of San Miguel started the ball rolling by describing how San Miguel dredged Valenzuela’s Tullahan River of some 4.5 million tons of muck and the Pasig River of 0.5 million tons as of now. Naturally the permanence of this achievement will depend on the piggeries and factories of Quezon City, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Malabon, and Navotas. Similarly, Pasig River cleanup will depend on the cooperation of the waste, chemicals, and plastics generating residents and establishments lining the Pasig, San Juan, and Marikina Rivers and all the esteros that feed into them.
Lance Gokongwei spoke of Cebu Pacific’s efforts to find more efficient airline fuel and measures being taken in other companies of the Robinson group.
Hans Sy of SM talked about energy conservation measures possible in balls, particularly the calibration of air conditioning and ventilation depending on the number and concentration of people within a mall and the use of solar panels the solar power that they have begun to use. Waste minimization and disposal have also been a concern.
Marianna Zobel de Ayala described the sustainability thrust of the Ayala companies and their aim of achieving a zero carbon footprint in the Ayala conglomerate. Ayala Land sets aside areas within its land bank as “carbon sinks,” namely forested areas that absorb pollution and help retain rainfall. Ayala Malls prioritize the limitation of waste and its proper disposal.
Senator Mark Villar spoke about measures adopted in the Villar property development projects to ensure efficient provision of utilities and waste disposal. He also talked about the need for disaster preparedness and relief to assist those affected by the strong typhoons, flooding, and other calamities caused by climate change.
Informal discussions generated other thoughts.
Mining, said one, is needed and can be regulated. What is more harmful to the environment is road construction that provides easier access to old growth forests in public lands that then become easier to log. Furthermore, he added, trees are chopped down along the entire route for the temporary housing of road builders.
A water company president declared that Kaliwa Dam in the Sierra Madre has been on the drawing boards for some 50 years and that it needs to be built soon if a crisis is to be averted. Laguna de Bay, the present supplemental water source, is already highly polluted and will be even more so as population and industry grow along its perimeter. Something has to be done to safeguard the livelihood and homes of the indigenous communities affected, but the project is urgent for Metro Manila.
Plastic is a big problem because so much ends up in Manila Bay and the China Sea, consumed by fish and ultimately by people. Large dump sites are close to the Manila Bay shore or to streams that end up in Laguna de Bay and ultimately also in Manila Bay and to humans via the food chain.
Land use has to be rationalized. Agriculture and forest land are needed tor food and water supply. Housing development cannot be anywhere and everywhere. And what will happen to reclamation areas in a few decades with rising ocean levels?
Some measures may seem minor, like automatically serving a glass of water to restaurant patrons, with a plastic straw too. Water not drunk is wasted, as is the water needed to wash the glass later. People used to drink water without a straw, why do so now? These may not seem much but done by millions of people, they are.
The DENR multistakeholder conference took place on Oct. 5, PBBM’s 97th day in office. There are 2,095 days to go before a new president takes over, fewer before someone moves into the office of Secretary Loyzaga. Let us all hope that government, business, and the Filipino masses work together in the next years to safeguard the environment, no longer a humdrum issue but a real crisis.
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