Barking at the Wrong Tree

The Philippines, as in other countries in the world, is currently facing threats of a dry spell, and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is going around telling the people to conserve water to be able to cope with the impending crisis. She is, however, barking at the wrong tree. The dry spell that looms over the country is an offshoot of climate change, which is the result of massive environmental degradation due to industrial pollution of which the biggest economies such as the U.S. are guilty of. This is made worse by their extractive industries, such as mining, which destroy forests and watersheds. And now instead of taking action and calling on other countries, especially the big and powerful ones, to address the problem, the Arroyo administration seems to be doing just the opposite, it has been asking those guilty of polluting the air and destroying the environment to invest here. Instead of preaching to the people about water conservation, Arroyo should take concrete steps to stop the multinational giants from further wreaking havoc on the already heavily depleted Philippine environment.

By Flon Faurillo
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 26, Aug. 5-11, 2007

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