Operation Boycott

SOMETHING SMELLS!

Negros Daily Bulletin

By Alan S. Gensoli

Did you see the women’s tennis finals of the BNP Paribas Open? With 25mph winds, the 16,100-seat stadium court of the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens continued to be packed with tennis fans from around the world, including the garbage mal-educados. The match between reigning champ and Serbian beauty Ana Ivanovic, and Russian challenger Vera Zvonareva, was a thrill from the get-go, what with strong winds blowing balls where they were not intended to go. But the wind blew more than just balls. Twice, the tense and highly contested opening set was interrupted by the umpire due to plastic wrappers being blown practically into the faces of the players-the first while they were playing Deuce #3 at Game 13 (both players were tied with six games apiece), and the second during the tie breaker of the set (since all the allowed deuces ended without producing a winner). So you see, plastic wrap is irritating in more ways than one! 

Why was plastic wrap allowed at Indian Wells in the first place? Don’t they know that plastic wrap is not even allowed in the new wet market of Lucban, Quezon Province? And soon, perhaps also in Bacolod City? Ambitious? Hey, if Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Councilor Greg Gasataya can warn us, “No Segregation, No Collection” come April 1, after so many years of not complying with R.A. 9003 (the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000), anything can happen, including finally banning plastics in our midst and “Nicole” saying Smith didnt rape her after all. 

Let me share with you these anecdotes en route to April 1, the deadline set by the Bacolod LGU for its citizens to segregate garbage.

Last week, our member, Joel Jaquinta, MSWM (that’s Master in Solid Waste Management, if there is such a thing), made a command performance for the Bacolod Business Inn and the new Planta Centro Hotel. At the request of these two establishments, Joel ran a four-hour seminar on SWM for their managers and personnel. 

I learned from our Education Committee Chair, the indefatigable Maggie Jalandoni, that Joel does not even charge a standard fee. But don’t be a scrooge and take advantage of Joel’s meekness. Now is not the time to be penny-wise and pound-foolish. For his wisdom, I suggest you offer Joel a respectable honorarium plus food. Believe you me, the seminar is worth every centavo you pay him, especially considering that ignorance of SWM could get you some jail time. That’s why they say, if you think SWM knowledge is expensive, try ignorance.

What is respectable honorarium? Let us cut to the chase here. For a four-hour seminar on SWM, ignorance of which could mean imprisonment for you, an honorarium of at least P2,000.00 qualifies as respectable. If you can be more generous, it will be rewarded unto you a hundredfold, because I will mention you here in my column, and that is free advertising for you. And by the way, let’s not play tricks and try to be penny-wise in various creative ways, like packing the seminar with representatives of 100 companies to save on each company’s share of the honorarium, just because you are so successful that you have 100 companies, or you are a president of a trade association. The seminar includes a demonstration of segregation processes, and so four hours is really needed to ensure that employees of a company are well guided on procedures. 

Knowing that the Business Inn and the Planta Hotel have undergone this seminar-thus proving their respect for the environment-guarantees my continued patronage of their businesses. For why should I dine elsewhere when I know that at Business Inn and Planta Hotel, people and processes are clean, sanitary, and hygienic? Moreover, undertaking the seminar hints that both hotels will be sending only residual waste to the city’s garbage facility. This show of corporate social responsibility will weigh heavily on my decision to recommend hotel accommodations to my friends, which in fact I already did when some of them came for the IBP convention last week.

Our advocacy leader, Jean Trebol, just informed me that she has already spoken to the management of The Sugarland Hotel, who likewise welcomed the idea of holding the same seminar. And so, to all my friends who often hold catered receptions in their homes, not only will you continue to delight in the chefography of Chef Pancho, now you will also be assured that the garbage that your birthday party will generate will be responsibly taken care of. Thus, by your mere choice of The Sugarland Hotel as caterer, you would have also shown your personal social responsibility. Why risk your garbage with another caterer? 

How about the other hotels, resorts, restaurants, bars, and the many honky tonks? Are you ready for Wednesday, April 1? I would be pleased to print on this space the names of establishments who subscribe to SWM practices. As much as I would be happy to boycott any establishment that refuses to practice SWM.

This brings me to my point exactly: boycotting businesses that do not make worthy contributions to our community, such as practicing SWM. Consider the analogy that sidewalk vendors present. We have cried at the top of our lungs that these sidewalk vendors should be driven away, but our government has maintained that such is impossible. As a result, we have become suspicious, sometimes malicious, that the reason why this is impossible is that these sidewalk vendors are voters, and so politicians are scared to scare them away. Be that as it may, we have another ace in our sleeve. We can boycott the businesses of these sidewalk vendors, can’t we? That we do not makes us as culpable as the city officials who are unwilling to clean up the sidewalks.

It’s the same thing with businesses that will refuse to practice SWM starting April 1. If they do not heed the call of government, if they circumvent the orders of government by, say, bribing garbage truck drivers, or hiring private vehicles (such as trisikads) to pick up their unsegregated garbage in the early hours of the morning, then let’s boycott them. Last week I wrote about fines and imprisonment to penalize prohibited acts provided for by R.A. 9003. Some businesses may laugh the fines off because they can afford to pay them, or they can stomach sending their employees as their fall-guys to jail. But can they afford to close shop when we start boycotting them? It’s time we put our moneys where our mouths are.

As a marketing consultant, this idea of boycotting businesses that are not eco-friendly is close to my heart. No, I do not wish to kill businesses, but I certainly would like to grow them properly rather than blindly. If a columnist must take a stand and present a solution, then boycotting the businesses of companies that are careless about how they impact the environment, and society in general, is both my stand and my solution. And so, patience my dear reader, for you will hear this tune hummed in my column over and over again.

Back in the 70s and 80s, one of the country’s leading daily newspapers had a columnist by the name of Nanette Franco-Diyco. Her column minced no words in criticizing products and companies that fooled society in various ways, including false advertising claims. Perhaps she was feared. But for sure she was respected. She later became a top executive of J. Walter Thompson, a leading advertising agency worldwide, and upon dropping her name as my Advertising professor at the Ateneo, I landed my first job. I may be unfit to untie the shoe straps of my professor’s Ferragamo, but I am a good student and I have seen and heard how fighting for what is right in business will in the end win. Environmental care-such as segregating our garbage starting April 1-must be part of what is right in business.*

Going Green, Not Easy but Necessary

SOMETHING SMELLS!

Negros Daily Bulletin

By Gigi M. Campos

It’s been said so often as to seem almost a platitude: ‘Go green because it’s good for your business’. And certainly there are many high-profile examples of corporations taking measures to make their businesses more environment-friendly. But by and large, the impact of the green message on businesses remains depressingly negligible. 

We need to ask why, and what can be done about it. On the positive front, more people have been alerted to the dangers of global warming and other environmental disasters than at any time in the industrial and post-industrial era. The process of educating billions of people around the globe has been hugely aided by modern communications, with green evangelists taking their message to the masses via radio, television and print publications, and now the Internet. 

Al Gore may have struck more than a few uncomfortable chords with his ‘inconvenient truth’, but the war on environmental ignorance is in fact being carried out by tens of thousands of lieutenants and foot soldiers armed with nothing more than a cause. 

Many are passionate young people who have moved beyond traditional media to the interactive world of the Internet. For them, the Web’s social networking sites and strategies are the perfect way to disseminate information, identify and encourage green initiatives, and generally educate tens of millions of their young peers in an intensively interactive environment. On Facebook, one of the more popular social networking sites are environmental causes like Drop the Plastic Bag, Green because You Can, Stop 

Global Warming, Save our Oceans, etc.

The educating is more effective because the lessons are shared, dissected, criticized and recreated by consensus. It is education that is absorbed, not imposed. And that is a lesson that their senior counterparts in business and government could take to heart. Not in the area of green products and activities; leave that to the experts. 

It takes scientists to create more effective and eco-friendly fuels and efficient hybrid cars, engineers to reduce the power and emission needs of a manufacturing process. It needs an experienced business team to convert eco-friendly innovations into commercially feasible products. And it takes visionary government officials to project a country’s needs decades into the future, and create a public transportation system that is effective, and people as well as environment-friendly. But that’s already happening. 

So why do the mass of business folk, who stand to benefit from eco-friendly innovations and infrastructure, continue to drag their heels? Simply, the message hasn’t got through. And for as long as this vast majority remains uncommitted, the industrial fog will stay, both literally and figuratively. 

Clearly, education is key. But education imposed in the traditional way has proven to be ineffective. Which is why it’s worth paying attention to the new-media world of our youth, where information is dynamically shared and absorbed. It could be the strategy that turns the tide.

Going green is an uphill task and not an easy decision in our world of convenience. But it takes so little to make an effort to recycle, reduce and re-use. For two years now, my colleagues and I in the BAHA Alliance have been religiously bringing katcha bags to the supermarts. Initially, some cashiers were amused at our refusal to use any of their plastic bags for our purchases at the same time curious about the messages our bags carried. But if more people adopted this habit, we will help to reduce the usage of thousands of plastic bags every day. 

Businesses can also implement easy environment-friendly policies such as setting air- conditioners at a comfortable 25 to 26 deg C. For how many times have we walked into freezing malls, cinemas and hotel lobbies and restaurants? 

Bacolod is far from being a green society, compared to more advanced cities. Planting trees once a year or taking your own bag to shop for groceries is a good start but is just not good enough in the long run. Education is the key. We need to spread the message of protecting our environment. The more we talk about going green, the more we share our experiences, the more we can get people involved. We just need to remember that our every action has a consequence and will have a trickle-down effect on the next generation.*

Back To Basics

SOMETHING SMELLS!

Negros Daily Bulletin

By Tina M. Monfort

Have you ever heard of ozone? Do you know what ozone is and why it is important in the Earth’s atmosphere? 

Ozone is made of three oxygen atoms (O3). Everyone has heard of oxygen before as part of the air we breathe. Oxygen is made up of two oxygen atoms (O2). Add another oxygen atom and you have ozone. When a lot of ozone is around, a pale bluish gas can be seen. Ozone is found in two different layers of the atmosphere. The stratosphere (where many airplanes fly due to the stability) and the troposphere (where the weather occurs and which contains the air we breathe). Where we find ozone in the atmosphere determines whether we consider it to be “bad” or “good.” 

Ozone in the troposphere is an air pollutant that damages human health and plants. It is a key ingredient in smog. Ozone in the 

Stratosphere, however, is considered ‘good’ since it protects life on earth from the harmful effects of the Sun. 

The ozone layer is situated between 19 and 48 kilometers above the earth. Ozone is formed through a reaction of oxygen with sun light. This process has existed for millions of years, but the nitrogen connections that are present naturally in the atmosphere kept the ozone levels stable. On earth, a large ozone concentration would be harmful. In the atmosphere, however, the ozone is a vital condition for life on earth. It blocks harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun from reaching us. 

The harmful effects of UV radiation or ozone depletion are well understood and include both health and economic aspects. Most notably, the more humans are exposed to UV radiation, the greater the likelihood of skin cancer. Reports suggest that a 1 percent thinning of the ozone layer can produce as much as a 5-7 percent increases in skin cancer. Other health effects include potential increased instances of cataracts and a weakening of the immune system. 

In the marine food chain, fish larvae and phytoplankton near the ocean surface are destroyed by exposure to increased levels of UV radiation. Phytoplankton is the basis of the marine food chain and is also important in the production of oxygen. 

In the 1970s scientists discovered that a substance, which had long been used in fridges, was dangerous for the ozone layer. 

These substances were chlorofluorocarbons, generally known as CFCs. When CFCs are released, they rise and are broken down by the sunlight. The chlorine reacts instantly and destroys the ozone. For this reason, CFCs are banned in many countries. 

By the beginning of the eighties scientists discovered a ‘hole’ in the ozone layer above Antarctica. This hole is not literally a hole, but an area with a lower concentration of ozone. Research has revealed that the percentage of ozone above Antarctica is generally decreasing. Ozone is now being destroyed more quickly than it can be created. When the emissions of these chemicals cease, the ozone layer will eventually repair itself. The repair will not be instantaneous. Even if all CFC emissions were immediately stopped, depletion of the ozone would continue to worsen for 15-20 years before any repair would begin. The natural rejuvenation of the ozone will be a very slow process. 

Individuals can still have an impact on ozone depletion in several ways. Avoid using gas propellants of any sort, as the long-term effects of many propellants are unknown. Let us comply with the disposal requirements for old refrigerators as identified in the Clean Air Act, have automobile air conditioners serviced in a station that recycles the fluid and have air-conditioner coolant removed from auto air conditioners before disposal. Labeling requirements of the Clean Air Act will allow consumers to choose or not, those products containing, produced with or packaged in ozone-depleting compounds. Legislation has put an end to the production and ultimate use of CFCs and other compounds. 

Individual action drives industrial action and the political process. Although 59 countries have agreed to end the production of many of these damaging substances by the year 2005, it is us individuals who will end the use of these substances through choices as consumers. Remember, when the buying stops, the production can too. 

Let’s do our share! 

Reminder: let us observe EARTH HOUR this March 28 at 8:30PM. Please turn off appliances, lights, etc. for 1 hour.*

April Fools?

SOMETHING SMELLS!

Negros Daily Bulletin

By Alan S. Gensoli

As I write this column, my celfone is ringing fast and furious ushering text messages from business owners and executives, even barangay officials, confirming their receipt of notice from Mayor Bing Leonardia and Councilor Greg Gasataya that effective April 1, 2009, unsegregated garbage will no longer be picked up. Moreover, penalties will be imposed upon those convicted of non-compliance to the city government’s directives towards Bacolod’s final and full subscription to R.A. 9003, the country’s Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. I thought this day would never come. Apparently, it will. Alleluia! 

First thing’s first: As much as I have been critical of our local government in the past for its delayed compliance to R.A. 9003, it is now incumbent upon me to applaud Mayor Bing Leonardia and Councilor Greg Gasataya for this landmark step, albeit the first step, towards the implementation of R.A. 9003. 

When Pres. Arroyo signed E.O. 774 last Dec. 26 and gave a new deadline of June 26, 2009 for LGUs to reduce solid waste generation by 50%, I admit I was skeptical about the ability of the present government of Bacolod City to perform. Imagine my glee now that City Hall has turned around to beat the President’s cut-off date by almost three months. If we give censure where censure is due, we must also give credit where credit is due. To ignore this accomplishment of our local government would only hold the integrity of my past criticisms suspect. And so, cheers, City Hall! 

The notice came in the form of a four-page flyer, relatively brief but packed with all the needed information-needed for now, that is. You see, if Mayor Bing and Councilor Greg gave us the entire R.A. 9003 in one fell swoop, nothing could ensure resistance to Solid Waste Management more. But with this flyer, we are given just enough information to make a dent at SWM, and that’s good enough, I believe, for so long as we are all clear that this is just the beginning, and that there will be improvements and modifications along the way to SWM heaven. 

I like it that the flyer includes basic descriptions of what compostable, recyclable, residual, and special wastes are, the latter really referring to hazardous wastes. There are also examples of each-all the reason for us to comply and for government to penalize us when we do not comply. I also like it that the flyer lists examples of prohibited acts and their corresponding penalties. There are a total of 16 prohibited acts listed in Sec. 48 of R.A. 9003, but the flyer includes four only, for now. The four are most applicable to our local population: Littering or throwing wastes in public places (like flicking a cigarette butt, and I suppose, even spitting), open burning of wastes (like burning our garden sweepings every afternoon, like burning sugarcane cansiaja after the field has been harvested), open dumping (like designated dumping areas in our subdivisions where we dump unsegregated garbage), and mixing of segregated garbage. The fines for these range from P300 to P500,000. And there could be additional imprisonment of up to six months. 

Please do not misunderstand that just because only these four have been published by our city government you cannot be faulted for the other 12. Remember what they say about ignorance of the law. If that happens to you, it would be adding injury to insult-ignorante ka na, namultahan ka pa. 

If at the time this column is published you haven’t received any notice from your barangay captain yet, call him. Or her. You need to get in touch with your barnagay officials because things need to be explained to you, such as, how to segregate garbage, what are the collection days for different types of garbage, and if you have to bring your garbage to certain pick up points central to your barangay. 

One of the worst things that could happen is for you to be waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the garbage truck to collect from your house, and the garbage truck never comes, because you are supposed to take your garbage to a designated pick-up station in your barangay. Make it your business to know all these things, because if you don’t, because if you persist to be lazy, you will stink. Nanimaho ka na, multahan ka pa. Araguy. 

The penalties-including fines and imprisonment-are there for a reason, the reason being, resistance to garbage segregation. We hope there will be no resistance, but should there be, the penalties will kick in. But let us be clear: The penalties are not there to threaten the worst of us. They are there to protect the best of us. Penalties are there to preserve what is right for a civilized society. And resistance to SWM, just because it is inconvenient, just because it demands extra work, just because it is outside of what we are accustomed to doing, is not right for a civilized society. Let us not protest City Hall’s April 1 deadline because we are already on borrowed time. Our compliance to R.A. 9003 is long overdue, in fact, five years overdue. 

You read me right: our compliance! While before I wrote and talked about City Hall’s compliance, or the lack of it, to R.A. 9003, now that City Hall has given a deadline, now that City Hall is ready to implement in earnest R.A. 9003, the topic shifts from City Hall’s compliance to “our compliance.” That’s because per R.A. 9003, garbage segregation must be done at source. That means at home, or wherever garbage is generated. 

My co-writers in the Bacolod Anti-Baha Alliance, whose views you read on this space three times a week, have shared volumes of advice about SWM. Perhaps some of you bite your lips now wishing you clipped all that and stuck them on your fridge door. But it’s not too late to gather fresh information, and neither is SWM advice too complicated. Many, in fact, are common-sensical. Such as the first R in the 5-Rs of SWM: REFUSE plastics. Add to that the second R: REDUCE if you can’t Refuse. You can start with these two. You should, in fact, start with these two. 

We in the Alliance have been pushing the use of re-usable shopping bags. We’re not saying that you should buy our katcha bag, or the green bag of SM, or any other reusable grocery bag being peddled around town. We’re simply saying that all of us have some kind of REUSABLE bag at home that may be used and reused to carry your groceries, and that we should use these instead of the “sando” plastic bags. Never mind if your bag doesn’t look like a grocery bag. Never mind that it’s actually a roll-aboard, or an old Louis Vuitton daffle, an old Coach saddle, or an old Dooney & Burke pouch. Anything at all is better than the “sando” plastic bag, because people use the “sando” plastic bag to dispose of their feces, which eventually turn up in our dumpsite, contaminating our potable groundwater source with fecal coliform! 

Begin your SWM habit by refusing and reducing the use of plastics. By doing so, you would already have won half the battle, because if you REFUSE and REDUCE, then there will be less to RE-USE, less to RECYLCE, and less to ROT-which are the final three Rs of SWM. 

I know, April 1 is April Fools Day. But don’t get the funny idea that Mayor Bing and Councilor Greg are just fooling around with this deadline. If I may say so myself, our local government and we in the Bacolod Anti-Baha Alliance have quarreled about SWM for far too long. We have debated each other. We have begrudged each other. We have worked with each other, and then divorced each other. We have come a long way to know that City Hall is serious about April 1. And so, a word to the wise: On April 1, don’t take City Hall for a fool because you will end up as April’s Fool. Be a good citizen of this city. Follow the rules. Segregate your garbage. Bacolod City is not a place for uncivilized, unkempt people. Be clean and make your mother proud of you!*

BA ‘NAG’ O - The Floodway

SOMETHING SMELLS!

Negros Daily Bulletin

By Agnes T. Jalandoni

At the rate the Banago floodway is going it seems it will never be finished this year. The March heat gave way to a heavy downpour last Wednesday; unusual weather this time of the year. Global warming is real and is here. It was a good thing that the rains lasted only an hour or so or else, the floods would have come again. 

After the big flood of December 20, 2006 the City government and the DPWH finally decided to work together to build a floodway to ease the flooding in the northern part of the city. The plans for the Banago floodway were drawn up after many consultations since both government agencies could not agree on whose responsibility it was to solve flooding in the area. One argument was that the road in question was a national highway and the floodway would be built beside it. Therefore, it was under the jurisdiction of the DPWH. But the removal of the illegal structures and illegal structures in the area, and flood control in the city is the responsibility of the local city government. A compromise was struck. With the initial budget for the floodway released, the DPWH agreed that it would do the excavation, riprap and flooring of the first 300 meters of the floodway. The city promised to excavate the remaining 500 meters and assist in the removal of illegal structures and illegal dwellers that obstruct the waterways. 

Finally by mid-2007 the project started and dragged on at a pace that would make your mother cry. Nagging or making “kulit” reached epic proportions as engineers were reminded of their meetings and the city’s legal department was requested help in the process of removing the illegal structures so that work could continue all through 2008. 

Now in March 2009, how much of the work has been completed? 270 meters of the 800 meters!

What of the remaining 500 meters and the promise of the city government to excavate the remaining portion of the floodway? 

We are told that the second tranche of the budget has already been released. The DPWH is waiting for the city to start the excavation. However, there is a property owned by the PNB where the floodway will cross. Both Congressman Monico Puentevella and Mayor Evelio Leonardia have said that negotiations with the PNB officials were done. Can the last 500 meters of the floodway cross the property? The rains are here to stay. The waters will rise, the floods will come. It’s crazy weather. 

What’s even more absurd is the Banago project - only 800 meters - already two years in the making and still unfinished. 

There is a beautiful GK Village by the floodway. Last year these newly built homes were knee high under water. Unless the flooding is controlled, construction of the new houses cannot continue.

With elections coming in May 2010 will our elected officials finally get this project done?*

In Search for Green Energy Alternatives

SOMETHING SMELLS!

Negros Daily Bulletin

By Lourdes Ledesma

Because of unaffordable fuel oil prices that is wreaking havoc on our economy and pockets, and because of greenhouse gases produced by factories and vehicles using it that is causing global warming, most nations are now searching for other sources of energy. Admittedly, rising oil prices rather than environmental concern is the main driving force in the mad dash for alternative fuels worldwide. The Philippines is also looking for solutions. Vehicle emissions, after all, account for up to 80 percent of air pollution in this country. It is a rough estimate that approximately 2,000 people die each year in the country’s major cities, such as Manila, Cebu and Davao, due to the effects of air pollution, according to a World Bank study. More than 9,000 Filipinos suffer from chronic bronchitis and lung ailments annually because of pollution. Towards minimizing air pollution, Congress has passed the Clean Air Act of 1999 (R.A. 9275), setting and enforcing standards of emissions of vehicles and factories nationwide. 

It has also passed the Biofuels Act of 2006 (R.A. 9367), directing research and manufacture of alternative fuels, as well as setting standards for them. The Department of Energy under this law, recognizes and sets standards for the following alternative fuels: 

1. Bioethanol (C2H5OH) refers to ethanol produced from feedstock and other biomass, such as sugarcane 

2. Natural Gas - naturally-occurring gaseous petroleum that accumulates under the earth’s crust 

3. Electricity - stored in batteries for use by electric motors 

4. Hydrogen - a clean-burning type of gas 

5. Automotive liquefied petroleum (LPG or autogas, also known as “propane”) - hydrocarbon gases kept under low moderate pressure as a liquid 

6. Biodiesel - refers to fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) or mono-alkyl esters derived from vegetable oils or animal fats and other biomass-derived oils 

The law was signed by the President in January of 2007 and became effective immediately. It mandates that all liquid fuels for motors and engines sold in the Philippines shall contain locally-sourced biofuels components, such as: 

Bioethanol - shall comprise 5 percent of total volume of gasoline within two years of the effectivity of this act; increasing this to 10 percent within 4 years as recommended by the National Biofuel Board, provided that the ethanol blend conforms to standards. 

Biodiesel - within 3 months from the effectivity of this act, a minimum of 1 percent biodiesel by volume shall be blended into all diesel engine fuels sold in this country, increasing this to 2 percent within 2 years, provided the blend conforms to standards. 

Furthermore, as incentives, the law will not impose a specific tax on local or imported biofuels component, and the sale of raw material used in the production of biofuels, such as, but not limited to, coconut, jatrophra, sugarcane, cassava, corn, and sweet sorghum shall be exempt from the VAT (value added tax). Also, water effluents from the production of biofuels used as liquid fertilizer and other agricultural purposes considered “reuse” are exempt from wastewater charges, so long as they conform to standards of the Clean Water Act (R.A. 9275), and are subject to monitoring and evaluation by DENR and approved by Dept. Of Agriculture. Financial assistance for such projects will be accorded high priority by lending institutions. 

The Daily Inquirer (May 3,2008) noted that “According to an executive summary on the Bioenergy Forum 2008 in Bangkok, the Philippines is at the forefront of biofuels development and use in the world.” The Biofuels Act of 2006 has become a model for other countries to emulate and is “decisive” and clear in its policies on the use of coco-biodiesel and fuel-ethanol.

Our government is also looking into other green energy sources, such as solar and wind power, hydropower and geothermal resources. In fact, there is already a wind energy project in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. A total of 15 windmills, each 70 meters tall and bases covering 4 square meters, provide 40 percent electric power to Bangui and Ilocos Norte. A $4 million windmill project will also rise in Cagraray Island, Albay, in Bicol this year. 

Basically, a windmill is a structure that converts wind into usable energy to power homes, farms, water pumps and provide electricity for communities. Traditionally, the windmill was used to pump water and to grind grain. The earliest recorded use of the windmill was in Persia in 500 A.D. and in China in 1219. The concept of the windmill spread to Europe after the Crusades, and was refined by the Dutch. In addition to water pumping and grain grinding, they were used in Europe for powering saw mills and processing spices, dyes and tobacco. However, the use of the windmill declined in the advent of the steam engine. 

In the U.S., especially in remote places, homes use windmills to provide power, and farms to draw water. Small wind generators with capacities of 10-100 Kw are widely used in every state. However, increasingly, U.S. consumers are choosing to purchase grid-connected turbines. As wind energy is governed by nature, and as wind speeds increase, turbine output increases and the amount of power purchased from the power utility also decreases. When the turbine produces more power than the house needs, the extra electricity is sold to the utility. All of this is done automatically. There are no batteries in a modern residential wind system. 

In the U.S., wind power receives a tax credit for each kilowatt-hour produced, with provision for increasing inflation adjustment. Many states offer tax incentives, such as accelerated depreciation, exemption from property tax, and tax credits for wind generation with assured grid access. 

There are enough windmill power systems being offered in the market for all types of needs, from residential to community-based, in the U.S., Europe and China. This is clean and green power and now is the time to consider installing it in our homes and businesses...when the cost of fossil-fuel electricity is fast spiralling upward and becoming unaffordable, besides emitting greenhouse gases. This is the time to shed the old ways and look for new pathways to the future.* 

Let the LGUs Do it!

SOMETHING SMELLS!

Negros Daily Bulletin

By Alan S. Gensoli

Why ignore the LGUs? It seems to me, R.A. 95121 is trying to take the work away from the LGUs. Signed into law on Dec. 12, 2008, R.A. 95121, the Environmental Awareness and Education Act of 2008, mandates the inclusion of environmental education in all school levels ASAP. 

Reading through the law, however, I observe that LGUs are not mentioned anywhere at all. What is the purpose of this tactic? If we are educating people on Solid Waste Management in a particular city or town, shouldn’t we at least let the LGU know that this is going on? Indeed, shouldn’t the LGU be on top of the effort? But with R.A. 95121, it would seem the Senate and the Lower House have given up on the LGUs, and have gone over the heads of the mayors. I hope I’m wrong. Environmental education requires the collaboration of everyone. But consider the following paragraph from Sec. 6 of R.A. 95121 just to drive my point: 

“The DENR shall have the primary responsibility of periodically informing all agencies concerned on current environmental updates, including identifying priority environmental education issues for national action and providing strategic advice on the environmental education activities. The DepEd, CHED, TESDA, DENR, DOST, DSWD, and barangay units shall ensure that the information is disseminated to the subject students.” 

What happened to the city and town officials? Shouldn’t we involve them also? Of course, we should. It is true that environmental education will be rolled out in the barangay level where Solid Waste Management (SWM) will be taught house-to-house. But that is not the only venue for learning. There are many more. Who will supervise the teaching in schools, the public markets, and the commercial centers and business offices? Who will tell SM City, for instance, to educate all of its employees and concessionaires? And who will run the sanitary landfill where segregated garbage will be collected? These will all have to be overseen by the LGU. Besides, the barangay captain might need financial help from the mayor. 

The fact that R.A. 95121 makes no mention of the LGU should be clarified, if not completely restated. This is not just typographical. This smells intentional and could be counterproductive. For why did we elect our city officials if we are not willing to give them the full responsibility of running our city? Wouldn’t it be simpler if everything that happens in the city goes through our mayor? Remember last year when we all got stuck with the construction of the waterway in Banago? That was because City Hall and DPWH were pointing at each other...whose job is it? I think it’s only practical to make City Hall responsible for it and DPWH can assist. Otherwise, the finger-pointing is causing further delay. 

At one point, I recall City Hall telling us to go talk to the DPWH. Granted that waterways are the national government’s jurisdiction and so must be properly addressed by the DPWH rather than City Hall, why can’t I, as citizen of this city, go to my mayor, air whatever legitimate complaint I have, and expect my mayor to contact the right national agency to fix the problem? Why should I be the one to knock on the doors of the DPWH? Is the DPWH as powerful as my mayor? Certainly not. I elected my mayor. I had nothing to do with that DPWH. 

No wonder finger-pointing is so ingrained in our national consciousness. Even our laws, such as R.A. 95121, help perpetuate such poor values and habits. By excluding the LGU from sharing in the responsibility of implementing the law, the law obviously has less chances of success. I say, let the LGUs do the job! Because it’s their job. 

I have very good reason why I want LGUs to be directly responsible for everything that happens in our cities and towns. I want the lines of responsibility, accountability, and culpability clearly drawn. And if I want my city government to answer for everything, then it is only fair that the city government is given all the power to do everything-and the funds, too! By ignoring the LGU’s influence in educating the citizenry about the environment, R.A. 95121 made a horrible mistake. 

For months now I have been urging our LGU to begin the long and hard process of educating our people. And now, with R.A. 95121, I realize they’re not even empowered to educate their people?*