Toxic Indifference

December 17, 2008

By Gigi M. Campos

It is easy to point an accusatory finger at a smoking pile of garbage next door or a corporate polluter as the source of environmental problems. And it is true that industries put out millions of pounds of toxic substances into our world every year. It is harder, however, to flush out the destructive indifference that many people practice on a daily basis in our disconnected world. It can be terribly disconcerting to realize how many people continue to remain indifferent and unconcerned about what is happening in our world in terms of environmental problems. Segregation and proper waste management is one glaring example. How many are actually practising waste segregation to be able to reduce, recycle or re-use what would normally be discarded as trash? How many actually refuse extra packaging or that plastic bag? Sad to say, we have become so uncaring about this beautiful world God created for us to live in. Unless we somehow find the way - and the will - to end this indifference and challenge the assumptions we all hold dear, the environmental onslaught will continue until there are no functioning ecosystems left on our planet. We will reap what we sow. 

“The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” — Albert Einstein 

That is why it is vitally important that we all periodically examine our lifestyle choices and see what level of responsibility we each bear for the environmental crisis we are facing. It is no secret that few polluting industries would exist if there were no customers for their products. The amount of goods we consume and eventually end up polluting our environment is staggering. 

Since the industrial revolution, we have been radically changing the natural environment, through our actions and our consumptive, materialistic lifestyles. Environmentally, the toxins and pollutants that we produce impact not only on ourselves, but on every other living organism with which we share this planet. Plastics top the list as mentioned in some of my previous columns. 

There is now irrefutable evidence of the destructive effects of our actions on the viability of life on earth. If we are to survive, we need to understand our place within the web of life that sustains us. Because, with development comes unbridled consumerism. 

We are so afraid of fully accepting the consequences of our purchases, for to do so would mean that we might have to make another choice, maybe even decide not to buy. 

There is always the temptation to get the newest flat screen LCD tv or the sleekest laptop even when what we already have is still functioning. 

Billions are spent on electronics every year, especially on computers, ipods, cellphones and all the latest gadgets because people are constantly upgrading. 

Our indifference translates into a profound disconnection with the natural world and a loss of our roots and our home. Abusing our environment and ignoring the cries of pain of our neighbors is easy if we don’t feel a connection to the world. We need to shed our layers of intentional or unintentional indifference. 

We must look below the surface of every issue in our life. And not just wonder, but find out. We must not shy away from knowing and never fear the truth. Knowing the consequences of our choices cannot hurt us as much as ignoring them will.*

‹ Politics, Politicians and the Environmentup

The Vista Youth

SOMETHING SMELLS

NEGROS DAILY BULLETIN

By Alan S. Gensoli

The Vista Youth. The children with a view. A view of a cleaner, greener, and flood-free Bacolod. In time, Vista Youth will probably become a byword in the Solid Waste Management campaign in Bacolod. 

Last Dec. 1, 2008, while many were enjoying an extended weekend at the beach, the Bacolod Anti-Baha Alliance conducted a whole-day seminar on Solid Waste Management (SWM) and how to conduct an Information Education Communication (IEC) campaign about it. To put these two in proper perspective, IEC is the way to promote SWM. IEC has many components or manners of execution, including media exposure and putting up signages in public places, but since the challenge to IEC is primarily educating people, the majority of the work is face-to-face communication. The seminar last Dec. 1 was held at Brgy. Vista Alegre in Bacolod, and is part of an ongoing effort of the Anti-BAHA involving Vista Alegre as a pilot project for SWM implementation. 

The choice of Vista Alegre was prompted by the emergence of Purok Abada-Escay, the city’s latest resettlement area. 

With the addition of Abada-Escay alone, Vista Alegres total population blossomed twice over, from 7,500 residents to 15,000. And we all know, with population growth comes a corresponding increase in garbage generation. Double the people and you double the mess. 

Conducting the seminar was Joel Jaquinta, who comes with proven experience in SWM implementation. Joel was the SWM coordinator of E.B. Magalona during the mayorship of Alfonso “Diding” Gamboa, a valuable member of the Anti-BAHA. It was also attended by Provincial Ecological Solid Waste Management Coordinator Ruby Arribas, who gave a very inspiring introduction to the seminar. We have worked with various government officials before, and I am so glad to finally meet someone, in the person of Ruby, who shares our concern about garbage and the urgency to find solutions to our garbage problem. Specifically, Ruby Arribas agrees with us that education is perhaps the most important foundation of SWM, and as such, the most critical requisite to a successful SWM. It is for this reason that I appeal to our city government to begin and sustain any and all IEC campaigns, but especially barangay seminars such as what we did last Dec. 1. Without these seminars, any SWM effort is a photo op. 

The audience for our Vista Alegre seminar was made up of youth leaders, around five from each of the 16 puroks of Vista Alegre. But why the youth? First, the youth have the energy to go around puroks, knocking on doors house-to-house to disseminate IEC information. Second, the youth have the extra time on their hands to work on the IEC campaign, the elders work during most of the day. Third, the youth do not have deep-set bad habits about garbage, so it is more likely that they will be convinced to practice SWM. Fourth, the youth are the biggest stakeholders of SWM because the future of the community belongs to them. And fifth, the youth have a proven track record of running successful IEC campaigns here in the Philippines and around the world. So, why reinvent the wheel? And so, the Vista Youth. 

During the seminar, the Vista Youth were enjoined into a workshop where they drew maps of their puroks and identified areas, such as road corners, open canals, eskenitas, esteros, etc., where they’ve seen garbage piles. They were then asked how they envisioned to transform these into garbage-free areas. The workshop was not only fun, it was also very strategic because problem areas were specifically targeted. 

When you are doing something good and right, God sends blessings your way. And so it happened that three of the Vista Youth who attended our seminar are students at the national high school in Vista Alegre. The following school day, they reported their experience to their principal who, by the grace of God, is an environmentalist at heart. Principal Gladys Sales invited the Anti-BAHA to speak to her students. We were obviously excited about this development as this could result in a faster and wider spread of the IEC campaign...and the mushrooming of the Vista Youth, of course. And so, on Dec. 5, we went back to Vista Alegre to talk to Junior and Senior high school students, all eager to learn about the city’s garbage problem, and what they can do as agents of IEC. 

Ms. Sales had planned that on the following Monday, Dec. 8, she would start a campaign called “Basura Mo, Ibulsa Mo.” Candies will be given out to her 300-some students during the flag ceremony on Mondays who will then be reminded to keep their candy wrappings in their pockets. This habit-forming activity, inspired by a similar project done successfully by Marikina Mayor Marides Fernando, will surely keep the school and the surroundings candy-wrapper-free, perhaps a first step to declaring the school campus PLASTIC-FREE! The higher goal is, of course, for students to bring their acquired good habit home and inspire their families and neighbors to do the same. The principal also shared that a bulletin board be set up where students will write their “environmental” promises to live by. 

We are very happy with the way Vista Alegre folk, including their barangay officials and school teachers, received our SWM efforts. We are especially proud of the Vista Youth. If their efforts succeed, and with dedication from all of us I know it will, the Vista Youth will become the city’s first youth force in SWM. That’s a mighty noble achievement. 

City Hall has the responsibility of educating all of us about SWM. Thus, City Hall is responsible for running IEC campaigns. I have seen some TV commercials, heard some radio reminders, and read banners on the city’s garbage dump trucks, all reminding us to segregate. These efforts by City Hall are all good, but before we can remind people to segregate, we must first teach them how to segregate. I suggest to City Hall to conduct intensive seminars in barangays, and to adopt the idea behind the Vista Youth for all the youth of Bacolod to come on board the SWM campaign. Let all the children of Bacolod become members of the Vista Youth...the children with a view...a view of a cleaner, greener, flood-free Bacolod.*

City Mayors Are Making a Difference

SOMETHING SMELLS

NEGROS DAILY BULLETIN

By Carmen Rossello 

Most city mayors in the world today want their cities to be first class. Many of them even compete to be awarded as World Mayors or Best Mayors in the world. “The World Mayor Project seeks out mayors who have the vision, passion and skills to make their cities amazing places to live in, work, and visit. It honors those who have served their communities selflessly and courageously.” 

We might be surprised to find out that in Asia, Karachi’s Mayor Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has been chosen by The Foreign Policy magazine as the second among the best three mayors in the world in 2008. He came in after the mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit. Pakistan is known for its religious violence and political killings, corruption, poor infrastructure, over crowdedness, daily brownouts, poor sanitation and waste management systems and vast tracks of squatters. Mayor Kamal was able to turn around Karachi for instilling ownership of the city among residents, spur up volunteerism and putting into the residents’ hands the maintenance, upkeep and uplifting of restored and improved infrastructure in the city.

He came out with tree planting activities, built parks, made bus stops, repaired and widened roads and built infrastructures. Karachi has seen a metamorphosis where investments are starting to pour in. Malaysian investors have started construction of a multi-million rupee corporate tower, and Dubai development firms making investments in the local scene. 

Mr. Kamal’s “cut and paste” leadership has made wonders in solving problems in the city where 15-18 million people reside, half of whom live in destitute areas. Kamal says he wants Karachi to be the next Dubai, a model for development. By taking hands-on approach in leadership, he studied storm drains in London or the way garbage is collected in Shanghai, and applied the same in Karachi. Mr. Kamal has obtained serious gains for his city; Karachi now generates 25% of Pakistan’s gross domestic product, controls 60% of cargo movement and its Stock Exchange has surged as one of the most active markets in Asia. Chapeau to Mayor Kamal for all his efforts in trying to reshape Karachi! 

Back home, we have Mayor Marides Fernando of Marikina who looks up to Singapore as her model city. Marikina used to be drawn to a brink of residential housing pandemonium. Marikina was transformed into the country’s best Local Government Units (LGUs) and Hall of Famer for being Clean and Green since 1996. From turning a clogged, dirty and easily flooded city by the riverbanks of Pasig, the administrators of the city has transformed the city into a “little Singapore” in terms of cleanliness, orderliness, health and sanitation, flood control and waste management projects, and discipline of its citizenry. 

Mayor Fernando has created discipline among its citizens with policies and programs that benefit the city, and promote action toward respect of law and order. They were able to inculcate discipline through its clean and green programs, waste collection, and respect for city laws and barangay ordinances. Surprisingly, for an area close to the river, shanty structures are absent. The air is fresh. Garbage is nowhere to be found. Streets are clean. Traffic jams non-existent. Rules obeyed. For a land area so small, but large in terms of population, it makes me think how one person can institute discipline, participation and respect for law and keep it sustained. Mayor Fernando has truly made a name for leadership and excellence. 

The next city of excellence is Davao. Previously known for vigilante style lawlessness during the 1980’s, Davao has been transformed into a city of peace, order and investment under the rule of its mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Davao now boasts of being the Most Livable City in the Philippines, the Most Competitive Metro City in the Philippines for four times, (2001, 2003, 2005, 2008), considered among the 20 most livable cities in Asia (besting Metro Manila and Metro Cebu), and adjudged the 10th Asian City of the Future by the Foreign Direct Investment magazine. 

Mr. Duterte started his vision for Davao by curbing lawlessness and criminality. He imposed the respect of law and instilled law and order among its citizenry. With people rallying on his battle cry plus a hands-on approach in providing solutions for productivity and development, he was able to rally support and eventually spur programs to improve lives in Davao. 

Mayor Duterte was able to pave the way for investments - breaking down monopolistic tendencies, dismantling protection for “infant industries” and encouraging competition. He also enticed foreign participation in the economy with tariff reductions and loosening restriction on inward foreign investments. With love, peace and progress as its vision, the city has remained to be the best and safest investment havens in the country. 

Why do we recognize and immortalize such leaders? Why do we need to make awards and give out laurels, trophies and stuff like these? Accolades were created to recognize people for a job well done. We acknowledge the efforts, their talents, their skills and their abilities in making our world a better place to live in. These heroes so to speak have contributed intangibles and these intangibles ought to be worth living (and dying for). They should inspire people like us to emulate what they have done and perhaps inspire others to do more so we can finally rid of everything that SMELLS!*

’Tis The Season To Be GREEN (Part 2)

SOMETHING SMELLS

NEGROS DAILY BULLETIN

By Tina M. Monfort

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*Treat your family to a round trip ticket to FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS PILGRIMAGE. A 12 day tour with Cairo & Mt. Sinai ( Egypt ) & Petra Jerash ( Jordan ) Extension. Visit churches where the multiplication of Loaves and Fish took place or the First Wedding at Cana and get the chance to renew your marriage vows. Included in this tour package is an optional climb to Mt. Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments. (SWIP TRAVEL contact numbers: 4336404-05, 4354717 & 19, please look for Irene ) 

*Lastly, and the closest to my heart, instead of buying ourselves Christmas gifts, as we most often do, why not ADOPT A PET? If you are an experienced pet taker, you may adopt one from our City Pound. For puppy adoption, call your nearest veterinary clinic or a pet shop. ( Bacolod Dog & Cat Clinic contact numbers: 434-6973, 433-8199 and look for Dr. Ina) Hope Shines!

THE "NIMBY" SYNDROME

SOMETHING SMELLS!

By Agnes T. Jalandoni

 

In his book, The Laws of Nature and other Stories, Antonio Oposa,Jr. describes the ‘Nimby’ Syndrome . “The entire waste problem is really a simple problem of attitude. We like to throw things away, yet we expect others to accept our garbage.  In Spanish, there is an elegant term for this.  It is called sin verguenza.  One is hard put to find a term for it in English, the closest being the word, ‘shameless’; in Filipino, however, the sound of the word closely imitates the meaning. The word is ‘bastos’. “

I was intrigued.  Words are powerful aren’t they?  In Spanish it is elegant, in English, objective and in Filipino, well, it hurts.  He continues, “Even assuming that all the volume of waste is actually collected, (an impossible assumption especially in economically disadvantaged countries), the garbage still ends up a problem: there is nowhere to put them in.  Everybody wants to throw garbage away.  However, since one of the laws of ecology states that everything has to go somewhere, the garbage that we throw away will always have to end up In someone else’s backyard.  This has given rise to the “not-in-my-backyard” (or NIMBY) SYNDROME.  Everyone wants to throw away his garbage, but no one wants to accept garbage in his backyard. “  BULLSEYE!

In the year since we started our work in the Anti BAHA campaign, I have seen this syndrome in the poorest slums and also, in the manicured sidewalks of secured subdivisions.  In one of our monitoring videos a clip of a yellow plastic bag was caught being hurled from the window of a shanty to the creek below. We were mortified to find out that this was actual footage of a disposable toilet practice. In the yellow bag was human feces.  Don’t ask me how we found out.  No toilet?  Do  it in the plastic bag and hurl it as far as you can in the hope that the creek takes it downstream – hard realities of living in the slums. The problem is downstream… who gets the ‘s_ _t’ in the yellow plastic bag.

It’s peculiar how the NIMBY syndrome manifests itself in the upscale subdivisions here in our city. Notice how some garbage cans are strategically located - as far away from the gate of the carefully manicured sidewalk surrounding the residences?  The contents of these bins is another topic altogether but many are overflowing to the max.  Take it all away. I’ll pay you. Just make sure it’s thrown far, far, away.

We know this to be true. Perhaps, we are guilty ourselves. “ The NIMBY attitude is an offshoot of the  ‘throw – away’ or ‘disposable’  syndrome.  Things are used and then thrown away.  We like to buy things from the store, use parts of them and then throw away a larger part of these items.”  Hence, the huge waste that we generate.  

We have to stop and look at what we throw away.  Then, we must ask ourselves, where do all the things we throw go?  Whose backyard does it all end up anyway?

The floods that have hit our city have shown that in some prophetic way, what comes goes around, and ends up where it began.  Right in one’s backyard.  Ah, so you found the yellow plastic bag? 

BAHA Celebrates First Year

The Bacolod Anti-Baha Alliance celebrated its first anniversary with a conceleb-rated mass which was held at the University of St. La Salle chapel with Msgr. Vic Rivas, Vicar General of the Bacolod Diocese together with eleven other priests.

High note of the celebration, which was attended by over a hundred members and sympathizers was the homily of Msgr. Rivas who said that neglect and the sins of omission by some public officials have led to the flooding of many sectors of Bacolod City.

He praised the lady members of the Alliance as he said the power of women had always been phenomenal. He also blamed some officials for their abuse and pride of their political power which has led to the present situation. 

He even metioned that at the height of the rains last December, 2007, that even the Cathedral was flooded which led to a very alarming situation where parishioners were prevented from attending some masses. He emphasized that the problem of Bacolod City was not only in flooding but also in governance. He made mention of the hand shaking between of Cong. Monico O. Puentevella and Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia during the 75th anniversary celebration of the Diocese which he said should have been a first step in the right direction where politicians of the city should unite for the common good.

He praised the Anti-Baha movement for taking up the cudgels of the poor people of Bacolod City with respect to the flooding and other community problems. 

That this organization did not only work for the benefit of their subdivision but also for the welfare of those who have less in life. This clearly shows that the Anti-Baha officers and members are very civic-minded. 

He further stated that uncollected garbage and flooding go togehter. Ms. Jean Trebol, in her message of thanks, expressed their gratitude to officials of the University of St. La Salle, their members and the general public for their support which led to the successful first anniversary celebration of the Anti-Baha Alliance.* (WHOS)

BAHA to City Officials, National Agency Heads:

‘Put Service for the Common Good Above Politics’

By Carla N. Cañet

The Bacolod Anti-BAHA Alliance marked its 1st year anniversary yesterday with a concelebrated mass at USLS with Msgr. Victorino A. Rivas as the main celebrant. 

The holy mass was attended by BAHA members, USLS students and a lot of concerned citizens who believe in the cause of BAHA. 

Jean Trebol said that, “I thank all of you for coming to join us in thanksgiving for the 1st anniversary of BAHA. It has not been an easy year for BAHA and we do not expect the days to come to be easy either.” 

She added, “We pray to God to continue to guide us and bless us with perserverance to relent-lessly pursue our cause. We pray that our City Officials and national agencies will put a premium on service for the common good above their personal politics. We pray that all of you here will continue to support our cause, your cause for a clean, flood-free Bacolod.” 

Agnes Jalandoni said that “A year ago, we formed an alliance in order to compel our city government officials and national government agencies to once and for all utilize all the resources and laws at their disposal to solve the flooding problem of Bacolod City, and to encourage all citizens to do their share. We come together to celebrate in thanksgiving one year of commitment. It has been an eventful year, filled with small successes and some disappointments. 

But through it all, we have experienced God’s abiding presence, his fidelity manifested in people who have supported us, who have rallied behind us, who have expressed their faith and hope in us. So even as we celebrate, we also come together to ask for God’s strength so that we may face the challenges and obstacles that may come our way with steadfastness and deeper commitment. May we continue to open our hearts in concern for others, to be the voice for those who have no voice, to take up the fight for those who do not have the strength and the will to fight for their cause.” 

Msgr. Rivas thanked BAHA for taking up the in behalf of the community. The San Sebastian Cathedral was once flooded for the first time. He urged local leaders to unite to solve the problem on flooding.*