by Ricky Jimenez
If global temperature should shoot up to 5 degrees Celcius, the Philippines among 16 countries in tropical Asia, will experience a one meter sea level rise (Reader’s Digest, August 2005). Coastal cities (like Davao where 30% of the 1.4 million people live along the coastline of Davao Gulf) will have to adapt to watery neighborhoods and focus development on higher ground. During high tide, commuters may have to move around large portions of the downtown area aboard bancas, motorized or otherwise.
This scenario is depicted in computer-generated graphics on the effects of global warming, patterned after the video documentary of 2006 “The Inconvenient Truth”, narrated by former US vice president Al Gore, showing Manhattan in New York City, and other coastal metropolises in the world, permanently submerged in seawater.
Flashback to 60 years ago: Mindanao enjoyed 50% forest cover in relation to total land area. Soon after, massive logging operations, whether legal or illegal, left less than 20% forest cover, causing ecological imbalance.
Fast forward to the present: Matina Shrine Hills has lost is pleasant Baguio-city coolness due to rapid housing and commercial development on slopes where once upon a time stood trees. Reports of landslides have become commonplace, underscoring topsoil instability in the area.
Once dubbed “outside the typhoon belt”, Mindanao is beginning to experience the same fate as Luzon and the Visayas: prolonged rainfall enundating residential, commercial and agricultural areas. During dry season, what were once once arable fields dry up leaving cracks criss-crossing the surface, as if out of this world.
The rise of environmentalism and health consciousness emerged in the last decade in Mindanao, galvanizing Christians, Muslims and Indigenous Peoples (and others in between) into action. We can cite the example in Bukidnon when farmers dramatically blocked roadways to prevent logging trucks from passing thru, claiming that the forest was their source of water and life. The event caught the attention of Metro Manila’s mainstream media.
In North Cotabato, then Gov. Manny Pinol became the first Mindanaoan leader to cause the passage of an environment code, enhancing the protection of the Mount Apo national park down to the Liguasan marsh.
In Davao province, Sto. Tomas municipality exceeded its own expectations when its solid waste management program (said to be a clone of Davao City’s own) has began winning national awards. It mandated all barangays without exception to segregate from the source, to reduce garbage for disposal, to practice recycling and composting (according to the mandate of RA 9003, the national law on solid waste management), without let-up.
Non-government organizations (NGOs) and People’s Organizations (POs) came up with their own initiatives. The most publicized was the anti-aerial spray campaign launched by IDIS, an advocacy that led to the passage of an ordinance.
YAMOG, an NGO helping off-grid communities to have electric power, set up mini-hydro-electric power systems, benefitting 1,725 households in various parts of Mindanao. YAMOG executive director Nazario R. Cacayan said alternative and renewable energy sources don’t create global warming while helping less fortunate communities to enjoy simple amenities in life.
In the hinterlands of Marilog district, upland Christian settlers and Matigsalog tribal families joined hands to rehabilitate denuded mountain slopes by planting endemic tree seedlings in exchange for food assistance. Betty Cabazares, Kinaiyahan Foundation Inc. (KFI) executive director, said the campaign aims to protect watersheds to ensure water supply.
These and many more activities to save the environment and health of the people make us proud to be called Dabawenyos and Mindanaoans. That’s “Think Global. Act Local” in practice. [email me at rjrjrajimenez@gmail.com]
