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Vol. IV, No. 25 July 25 - 31, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines

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Bleak Future for the Environment in GMA’s Next 6-year Term

BY CLEMENTE G. BAUTISTA JR.
Posted by Bulatlat

Mountain pine forest in the Cordillera region, northern Philippines, degraded by trampling, grazing, and fire

When Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became a president as a consequence of people uprising in EDSA II, we expected that she would institute progressive programs and reverse the policies of the previous administrations that harmed our people and environment. But we were proven wrong.

After three years in office and laying down of her new Ten-Point Program, we definitely now expect no reversal of the trend of environmental degradation under her new 6-year term.

In terms of environmental concerns, GMA performed, if not equal, poorer than the previous Estrada administration. Here are some of her major prodigious blunders in relation to environment protection:

President Arroyo continues to promote large-scale mining which brought about widespread displacement of our indigenous peoples and threatens the devastation of our protected and high biodiversity areas such as forest parks and marine coastal areas. Her administration continues to ignore demands for environmental justice such as the case of the victims of the minespill of Marcopper-Placer Dome in Marinduque.

After committing to review the entry of genetically modified organisms or GMOs, she immediately allowed the commercialization of these products. Until now, GMOs have not been proven to be safe to the people's health and the environment.

Another is her passing of the Mutual Logistics and Support Agreement which allows the entry of US military forces and the establishment of virtual military bases in the Philippines. This may again cause an environmental catastrophe like what happened in the communities near the former US Clark Airbase and Subic Naval Base. While she easily gives in to the demands of the US, until now she fails to provide justice and compensation to victims of US toxic wastes contamination in Pampanga and Zambales.

Mrs. Arroyo's new 10-point agenda does not contain any clear objectives with regards environmental protection and natural resource development. She continues to cut the budget for environmental protection and prioritizes debt servicing. At the same time she generates the needed dollar revenues by appropriating our natural resources such as the privatization of water and liberalization of the mineral industry to foreign transnational corporations. She also passed the Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002 that allowed the appropriation of our plant genetic materials by foreign and private corporations.

Meanwhile, President Arroyo plans to change the Constitution in order to ease legal restrictions for transnational corporations to fully control and exploit our natural resources.

All of these facts and reasons lead us to believe that there will be a bleak future for our environment and the Filipinos in the next 6-year term of President Gloria Arroyo.

On the 4th SONA of GMA, we, environmental advocates and activists, will go out on street and join the protest actions to show our disgust of Arroyo and our resolve to defend our environment and natural resources. Bulatlat

*The author is the national coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE

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