Michelle's posts with tag: environment
|  | Tubig: Buhay Natin, Ating Pagyamanin
April 22, 2008
Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex |
| Start: | Apr 22, '08 | | Location: | Global |
Here’s a briefer for this year’s Earth day celebration: Organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), in partnership with Earth Day Network Philippines, this year’s theme is “Tubig ay Buhay: Ating Pagyamanin at Linisin.” Venue for the main event is at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, on April 22 (Earth Day, of course), from 7:00 am to 12:00 noon. March 24 kicked of the country’s celebration with the World Water Day Event at the DENR Compounds (in partnership with Nestle), followed by a technology Exhibition at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife, and a River Forum at the DENR Social Hall. Right this moment, a Luzon Cluster Caravan is doing the rounds (March 30 to April 4), convergence point is at SM San Fernando, Pampanga. Here’s a list of the events we could expect: April 7-12: Visayas Cluster Caravan (Convergence Point: Kalibo, Aklan) April 14-19: Mindanao Cluster Caravan (Convergence Point: Cagayan de Oro City) April 18: Opening of Exhibits (SM Mall of Asia) April 20: Tour of the Fireflies (Starting Point: Tiendesitas, Pasig City); SANDIWANG (Peace Bell, Quezon City Circle) For the main event on April 22, at SM MOA, activities are: - Paglalayag, Paglalakbay, Pagtitipon, Ugnayan, at Pamamahayag (Convergence Point: The Music Hall) - Awarding for the Search for Model Barangays on Ecological Waste Management (2006-2007) - Relaunching of the Industrial Ecowatch Program - Baga’t Hangin Musikahan on Wheels - FREE emission testing of vehicles and FREE medical check-up for drivers (asthma and air-related diseases) at the Mall Parking Terminal There will be a fluvial parade before, and a Motorcade to the Manila Cathedral, for the Pontifical Mass, right after the event. Then on April 25, the annual Earth Jam, in Tomas Morato Street, Quezon City. See you there!
| | Earth Hour is a global movement to bolster awareness of climate change. The very successful campaign was led in the country by the environmental group, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - Philippines.
Next year's Earth Hour will be celebrated on March 28, 2009. Please regularly visit the Earth Hour website for news and updates.
Sorry konti lang pics, nakalimutan ko mag-charge ng camera, as usual :P
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| Start: | Sep 15, '07 10:00p |
| Start: | Mar 5, '08 | | End: | Mar 8, '08 | | Location: | Tagaytay City |
| Start: | Jun 27, '07 01:30a | | End: | Jun 28, '07 5:00p | | Location: | The Richmonde Hotel |
The conservation of species, sites and corridors is pursued by environmental agencies through science-based strategies and technical expertise. Human well-being (the basic material needs for a good life, freedom of choice and action, health, good social relations, and security) is inextricably included in all these scales of conservation, because changes in the ecosystems result in changes in the human condition, and vice versa, both directly and indirectly. By the Socioeconomics and Policy Unit of Conservation International - Philippines
| Start: | Jun 26, '07 01:00a | | End: | Jun 26, '07 4:00p | | Location: | The Richmonde Hotel |
The conservation of species, sites and corridors is pursued by environmental agencies through science-based strategies and technical expertise. Human well-being (the basic material needs for a good life, freedom of choice and action, health, good social relations, and security) is inextricably included in all these scales of conservation, because changes in the ecosystems result in changes in the human condition, and vice versa, both directly and indirectly. Presented by the Socioeconomics and Policy Unit of Conservation International - Philippines
| Start: | Jun 5, '07 09:00a | | End: | Jun 5, '07 5:00p | | Location: | Conference Rooms 9 and 10, Ramon V. Mitra Bldg, House of Representatives, Batasan Complex, Quezon City |
In celebration of the World Environment Day, the Population, Health and Environment Network a group of development practitioners, policymakers and advocates will conduct a policy forum entitled “Promoting Synergistic Solutions to Environmental Challenges” on June 5, 2007; from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at Conference Rooms 9 and 10, Ramon V. Mitra Bldg, House of Representatives, Batasan Complex, Quezon City. Environmental problems are complex and thus require integrated development approaches. Current environment policies and development programs, however, have been structured in a way that discourages cross-sector problem-solving. Population growth, migration and environmental health have not been given due focus in natural resource management and climate change strategies leaving environmental policies and programs fragmented and unsustainable. Thus, the policy forum seeks to identify gaps and recommendations in national and local policies on natural resource management and climate change strategies towards the achievement of human development goals and to promote integrated solutions and synergy among development actors. This policy forum is the first of the eighth-part series of the sectoral pre-conferences involving the representatives of different non-government organizations (NGOs), peoples’ organizations (POs) and development experts to discuss important population and human development issues The environment sector will present the results of this forum to the newly-formed legislature and executive branches of government for the 14th Congress in the 2nd National Multi-sectoral Policy Conference scheduled on August 15 and 16. This will help craft a common, comprehensive and congruent human development policy agenda of stakeholders that will hopefully be considered by policymakers in their Legislative Agenda Planning Conference this year. Please confirm your attendance to Ms Irene Reyes or Miriam Abaja at tel.nos. 9251800, 9211044 and 4362373.
| | Brgy. Telbang, Alaminos City, Pangasinan
21 April 2007
Hundred Islands Natural Park
Alaminos City, Pangasinan
22 April 2007 |
| Start: | Apr 21, '07 08:00a | | End: | Apr 21, '07 4:00p | | Location: | Alaminos City, Pangasinan |
At this point in the existence of the Earth,
What is expected of me is to take the role
Of not only being a caretaker
Of the seas, the land and the skies,
With all of its rich endowments,
But also a healer of the Earth.
As I receive from the Earth,
So must I give in return to replenish it.
Therefore I pledge to be more of the Earth
Than a mere keeper by being a protector than a user.
Constantly nurturing the environment to a state
Whereby development compliments and not destroys,
Always mindful that the very things
That I do or don't do, directly or indirectly
Affect the harmony and balance of nature
And can spell the difference.
Further, I pledge to take responsibility
To purposely direct my efforts
Towards the preservation of the gifts of the Earth.
The Priceless treasures owned by Humanity for all times.
This commitment I make on behalf of
And for the sake of Tomorrow's children.
Barge with Guimaras debris sinks off Misamis
By Grace Cantal- Albasin, Joel Guinto, Leila Salaverria
Associated Press, GMA7, Inquirer, INQ7.net
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- (5TH UPDATE) A barge commissioned ferrying 750 metric tons of sludge and debris from the Guimaras oil spill to Misamis Oriental sank off Polo Point in Plaridel, Misamis Occidental Monday night.
Master Chief Petty Officer Bernard Nacua, commander of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Misamis Occidental, told the Inquirer that the barge, Ras, was being towed by MT Vega when it was overturned by huge waves.
It was supposed to dock at the Holcim cement plant in Lugait, Misamis Oriental where the debris would be incinerated.
"The records showed that MT Vega has eight crew members while Ras has two. It is owned by Harbor Star Shipping based in Makati City," Nacua said.
Nacua said based on the investigation of MT Vega's captain, Jeremy Caperio, water breached the barge's hatches, causing it to sink some two miles from shore.
The two crew members manning the barge were rescued and are safe, he said.
According to the Philippine Coast Guard, the captain of MT Vega decided to cut the line that connected his vessel to the barge when the waves hit and rescue the barge's two crew members. The barge subsequently sank.
Nacua said they checked the portion of the sea where the barge sank but saw no indication of an oil leak. "We are monitoring the area and it has not shown any signs of spill or leak," he said.
Hye said workers at the Petron Bulk Plant in Jimenez town were on standby and would remain so to allow them to respond immediately in case of a leak.
Misamis Occidental Gov. Leo Ocampos told the Inquirer that Petron had assured him the sinking of the barge would not cause any destruction of the province's fishing grounds. Plaridel is part of the province's fish sanctuary.
He also said Petron officials told him the debris was tightly packed. According to a report from the PCG, the debris was packed in 59,649 sacks.
But Ocampos said he was not taking Petron's assurance at face value.
"Well, we cannot just accept what Petron is saying. We need to alert the disaster council and the municipality to monitor the areas near the site where the barge sank, considering that we have a fish sanctuary there," Ocampos said.
He said Petron also assured him it would be sending spill booms and oil-sucking equipment as soon as possible.
Energy Secretary Rafael Lotilla said he would also send a representative to Plaridel to monitor the incident.
But the international environment group Greenpeace immediately reacted to the sinking, saying Petron "must be held accountable by the Philippine government to the fullest extent of the law."
Greenpeace campaigner Beau Baconguis, in a statement, said: "Petron has yet to fully answer for its disastrous oil spill in Guimaras, but here it is again with another environmental disaster in the making."
"This is truly deplorable, and betrays once again Petron's serious lack of diligence in ensuring that the company's operations are safe and secure," she said.
Bencyrus Ellorin, spokesperson of the Task Force Macajalar, an environment group based here, said Petron should be punished for its recklessness in handling pollutants from the Guimaras oil spill.
"Even in its state now, tar balls from the oil spill in Guimaras could release noxious substances like hydrogen sulfide, so it will have an adverse effect on the fragile coastal eco-system in Misamis Occidental, where some of the more advanced and successful marine and coastal conservation efforts are located," Ellorin said.
PCG spokesman Lieutenant Commander Joseph Coyme said the debris would contaminate the environment and could also be toxic.
"To a certain degree, it will cause contamination of the environment because a foreign substance was introduced into the environment," Coyme said.
The sunken barge was carrying 630 tons of sand with bunker oil that was cleaned up from the Guimaras, where the tanker Solar I sank August 11, spilling some of its cargo of two million liters (500,000 gallons) of fuel. The Solar I's cargo was owned by Petron.
The oil spill displaced 39,000 people and damaged 220 kilometers (140 miles) of coastline that includes pristine marine reserves.
Coyme said personnel from the PCG's Marine Environmental Protection Command had been dispatched to the site of the barge sinking to assess the extent of the damage caused by oil debris.
He also said the debris, which had solidified, had likely sunk to the bottom of the sea because it was heavier.
According to Coyme, the damage to be caused by the oil debris might be lesser than the one caused by the sinking of the Solar I tanker because it was unlikely to reach the shore.
The leaked oil from the Solar I reached the shore of Guimaras Island, damaging marine resources and affecting fishing grounds and the livelihood of the people.
With reports from Joel Guinto, INQ7.net
Palace restores permit to log in 36,000 ha in Sierra MadrePublished on page A14 of the August 13, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily InquirerLUCENA CITY—A license to cut trees in more than 36,000 hectares of land in Sierra Madre was approved by unidentified Palace officials after it had been cancelled earlier by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, according to environment groups fighting logging in the logged over mountain. The Quezon Provincial Multisectoral Forest Protection Council (QMSFPC) and two other environment NGOs said a forestry contract of the Timberland Forest Products Inc. (TFPI), owned by Bulacan logger Wilson Ng, was reinstated on orders of Palace officials. Johnny Glorioso, QMSFPC Committee on Information chair, said he was stunned when he got the information from DENR Regional Executive Director Antonio Principe during the launching of Green Philippine Highways in Lucban town Thursday. "The reinstatement has been recently approved with finality by Malacañang though TFPI has yet to start its operation due to some (unsubmitted) requirements," Glorioso quoted Principe. He said the controversial Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA), or license to cut trees, has long been opposed by residents and local officials of Real, Infanta and General Nakar towns. "And now here comes this final Malacañang decision allowing it to proceed operations." The 25-year IFMA, covering 36,660 hectares in the Quezon province part of Sierra Madre, was granted to Ng on Nov. 12, 2002, during the term of former Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez. Alvarez's successor, Elisea Gozun, revoked the IFMA on January 13, 2004, saying "fraud, misrepresentation and omission of material facts" surrounded the process by which the DENR granted the IFMA contract. In a past interview with Ng, he admitted that he appealed his case to Malacañang. Based on DENR records, TFPI's IFMA was reinstated by the Office of the President on March 4, 2005, four months after the tragic flash floods and landslides in the three Quezon towns. The decision was immediately protested and contested by residents, local officials, and environmentalist groups. The Palace held back the implementation of the decision for further study. Lawyer Asis Perez, Executive Director of Tanggol Kalikasan, a public interest legal defense center for the protection of the environment, and Catholic priest Pete Montallana, Task Force Sierra Madre Chair, both confirmed Glorioso's information. Montallana described Malacañang's approval as "nauseating." "It seems that Malacañang has not learned the lessons left by the 2004 calamitous flash floods and landslides," Montallana said. Perez said they were inclined to believe that President Macapagal-Arroyo had nothing to do with the reinstatement of Ng's controversial IFMA. "President Arroyo has cancelled all logging permits. But then suddenly here comes this IFMA approval. We will continue to vigorously oppose it," Perez said. The head of DENR-Quezon took a safe distance from the controversy. "I know nothing about that. Ask the DENR central office," he told the Inquirer. The environmentalist groups vowed to continue to protest any form of logging in Sierra Madre. "Any form of logging in Sierra Madre is abominable," Montallana said. The Social Action Center of the Prelature of Infanta has long been opposing not only TFPI's IFMA but also the continuous logging operation of Green Circle Properties and Resources Inc., a real estate development company said to be owned by lawyer Romeo Roxas. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon
In celebration of this year's Clean Up the World Weekend, Clean Up the Philippines Movement together with the Australian Embassy in Manila, DENR-SCO and DAKILA will coordinate the 2006 Clean Up the Philippines Day on September 16, 2006. This weekend is an opportunity for all Filipinos to unite with millions of people around the globe in an environmental activity at a common time, to celebrate member actions and achievements from throughout the year and to raise the campaign's profile globally. Clean Up the Philippines Day 2006 will involve volunteers from all walks of life working together to clean up areas around the local community, from rivers and beaches, to parks and side streets. By simply removing (and where possible recycling) waste from public areas can vastly improve the look and health of an area. This can have a positive impact on local trade and tourism, environmental awareness, restoration of flora, fauna and wildlife habitats and community pride. We are calling on businesses, community groups, youth organizations, schools, government, and individuals to join the 2006 Clean Up the Philippines Day and start organizing your local clean up. REGISTRATION IS FREE! Please log on to www.mycleanup.org for more details. NOTE: CUP Day 2006 is being held in conjunction with the international Clean Up the World Weekend Celebration. Supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Clean Up the World mobilizes more than 35 million volunteers around the world making it one of the largest community-based environmental campaigns in the world.
Again, bad news via email. I don't know what we can do about this, but I think we should at least know that this is going on.
Brooke's Point, Palawan: A Protracted Battle Against Mining
Brooke's Point is a small, idyllic town at the southeastern tip of Palawan (voting population, 27,000). It has one of the highest Internal Revenue Allotment in Palawan, yet it is also the second poorest town in the province.
Since last year, its citizens have been up in arms over the endorsement given by their town officials to the planned entry of a mining firm. Town officials have endorsed the application of Macro Asia Corp, owned by Filipino-Chinese tycoon Lucio Tan, to explore for nickel and other minerals.
The endorsed plan, however, violates several environmental laws. First, the endorsement was given without public consultation, a basic requirement for any environmental clearance. And second, the identified mining area falls within core and buffer zones, which under the Strategic Environmental Plan for Palawan should be "fully protected and free of human disruption". The residents have held sit-down rallies, gone to the dawn mass wearing black shirts on which were written, "NO TO MINING," and have gathered 9, 935 signatures on an anti-mining petition. They have gone around the schools, explaining that they could do without mining since their town is earning enough from agriculture, and that the proposed mining would only harm their environment and might leave them poorer than before.
Once they understood the issue, even the children and the youth joined the protests; after all, it is their future at stake. They, too, were signatories to the petition against mining. Last year they had their faces painted as they joined a rally against their town officials the day after Christmas. Young professionals who were working in Manila, even applied for a permit to rally in front of Macro Asia's office in Makati. The Makati government denied it, saying they were all tied up at the SEA Games and could not assign security personnel to the rally.
Town officials have so far turned a deaf ear. After all, if Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could ignore the people's cries, here in Manila, for a credible government, why not the town officials of Brookes Point in Palawan?
Now the residents are talking about a recall petition for their town mayor, the vice-mayor, and pro-mining councilors. The logistics of the recall alone would cost P2.5 million. The people have no money, and no political organization to match that of their local officials. But they are determined, courageous, and willing to sacrifice. This gives them creativity and power that no money can buy.
Several non-government and civic organizations conducted the public fora and led the protests, but in the end, all these were done by ordinary people, who believed that citizens have the right to determine their future.
In behalf my townmates, I would like to appeal for your help (in whatever way possible) in campaigning for the protection of Southern Palawan from further environmental abuse.
Jose Manuel F. Alba
TOBSPA' 91, Palawan Council
There are stories out there, but are there people who want to tell them?
The search for the best documentaries on Philippine environment and culture is here once again! If your group has a story about our country, it is time to speak up and tell your story!
The Center for Environmental Awareness and Education (CEAE) is announcing its call for entries for the second Moonrise Film Festival scheduled on 18-20 August 2006. Last year, sixteen entries competed for the prestigious Grand Charlie award at the Gateway Mall, Cubao. More than P450,000 worth of prizes were given, with a grand prize of P100,000 for the best documentary.
Aside from professional filmmakers, we are inviting and encouraging first-time filmmakers, teachers and students to once again put forward their entries for this year’s Moonrise Film Festival.
In the 2005 Moonrise Film Festival, Moving Mountains, a film that vividly illustrates the destructive effects of large-scale mining in the Cordillera, secured the award of best documentary. Worth mentioning are the other films that received various citations and are remarkable in their own right such as Legacy: Philippine World Heritage Sites, Tamaraw Quest, Wailing for Paradise, Agno, and Environmental Art.
The Philippines is considered a global hotspot for biodiversity, having one of the richest ecosystems and wildlife in the world. Our country can also pride itself with the uniqueness of its cultural and historical heritage. Sadly, much of these natural treasures have already been lost, neglected, and destroyed, which makes it ever more relevant and urgent to document these issues through film.
Anything in and about the Philippines, from garbage to underwater life, from forests to historical sites, has the potential to make for a good story. We are looking for documentaries that are both entertaining and educational.
Winning films also have the opportunity of being shown in different film festivals here and around the world! These events are valuable reminders of the power of media to boost awareness on environmental and socio-cultural issues about the Philippines.
CEAE is now accepting entries for the 2006 Moonrise Film Festival. Deadline for early submission is on May 31 and late final deadline on June 30. For any inquiries regarding participation or sponsorship, please visit www.moonrisefilmfest.com, or contact CEAE at (02) 721 7360 during business hours, or email email@ceae.org. Complete details and guidelines are posted on the website.
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