This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 24, July 24-30, 2005
Environmentalists Junk Gloria
BY DENNIS ESPADA Environmentalists hope so,
thus their decision to use cyberspace to reach out to as many people as
possible. “Using wires and waves, we
are going to tell the world that the call for Arroyo to step down (from the
presidency) indeed reverberates not only in Manila but also across the country,”
geologist Trixie Concepcion, spokesperson of Environmental and Natural Resource
Advocates for GMA's Expulsion! (Enraged!) said last week. Enraged! is a new
alliance of 33 environmentalist groups and individuals. Concerned Citizens Against
Pollution (COCAP); Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan
(LRC-KsK or Comrades in Nature); Bangon Kalikasan Movement (or Rise Nature);
South East Asia Regional Institute for Community Education (SEARICE); People’s
Task Force for Bases Clean-Up (PTFBC); Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan sa
Pilipinas (KAMP or Association of Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines);
Women Education Development
Productivity Research (WEDPRO); SALIKA; Salika Task Force Macalajar; Soljus Pax;
Luksong Tinik Mountaineering Society; Diopin Communities for Mining Concerns;
Center for Cordillera People's Concerns (CCPC); Earth Savers Movement; Care
Foundation; and the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya sa Pilipinas (Pamalakaya,
National Unity of Fisherfolk Movement in the Philippines). © 2004 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
A new alliance of environmentalist groups and individuals is using cyberspace to
call for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The
anti-administration stand is not only a result of the so-called Gloriagate tapes
and the jueteng controversies but also the President’s anti-environment policies
and programs.
Bulatlat
Can chain letters help in unseating President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?
The chain email letter seeks to refute the President’s claim that she still
enjoys the support of the people from the provinces. "Our constituencies on the
ground, affected by the anti-environment policies of this fake President, are
supportive of the public clamor to get rid of her administration,” Concepcion
said With this initiative, she is expecting to get response from officials in
Malacañang.
Arroyo administration not earth-friendly
In a statement, Enraged! stressed that the Arroyo administration has failed
miserably in terms of environmental protection and natural resource management.
The wanton destruction of the country's ecosystems has led to prolonged
ecological tragedies and Arroyo has not been able to stop or reverse the trend,
the alliance said.
They reminded the government's failure to dispense justice and rehabilitation
for the countless victims of Southern Leyte landslides in 2003, Aurora-Quezon
flashfloods in 2004, the U.S. military toxic contamination in Central Luzon and
the Marcopper-Placerdome mine waste spill in Marinduque.
Since 2001, the Arroyo administration has approved 96,141 hectares of mineral
lands under mining agreements and another 166,511 hectares forest lands under
large-scale logging agreements. All of these, according to Enraged!, are mainly
controlled by foreign transnational mining corporations and big commercial
logging firms.
In its unity statement, Enraged! declared, "(Arroyo) has been the primary
proponent of environmental plunder with her globalization policies that promote
massive resource extraction for profit. Her mining liberalization program and
promotion of large-scale commercial logging have displaced hundreds of thousands
of Filipinos and resulted in massive devastation of our forest and mountains."
Environmentalists to join July 25 mass action
Clemente Bautista, Kalikasan-People's Network for the Environment's (KPNE)
national coordinator, told Bulatlat that some Filipino scientists signed
the alliance's unity statement. Among them are: Dr. Romeo Quijano, a toxicology
expert from the College of Medicine in the University of the Philippines (UP) in
Manila who was recently a recipient of the Jennifer Altman Awards for his
commitment to "science for public interest"; Dr. Rowena Boquiren, a professor in
environmental history from UP Baguio; Dr. Milagros Serrana of Miriam College's
Science Department; and Dr. Aloysius Baes, an expert in the field of
geochemistry.
Aside from KPNE, Enraged! member-organizations include Samahang
Nagtataguyod ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Sambayanan (Agham or Association
Advancing Science and Technology for the People); Earth Island
Institute-Philippines (EII); Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng
Agrikultura (Masipag or Peasants and Scientists for Agricultural Development);
Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC); Brigadang Berde (Green Brigade), Sibol
ng Agham at Teknolohya (SIBAT or Spring of Science and Technology);
Other personalities who expressed solidarity with Enraged! are Prof. Ed Aurelio
Reyes of SanibLakas (Joined Strength) Foundation and movie actor Roy Alvarez of
Mother Earth Foundation.
The ranks of environmentalists will wear green shirts as they join the
anti-administration mass action on July 25 when Arroyo is expected to deliver
her State-of-the-Nation-Address (SONA) at the House of Representatives building
in Batasan Complex, Quezon City. Bulatlat