Alleba Politics

The headline in today’s Philippine Daily Inquirer has expounded on the pending verbal war between DENR Secretary Mike Defensor and Senator Jamby Madrigal. Personally, I agree and fully understand Sec. Defensor’s outburst against Sen. Madrigal’s accusations. Sa totoo lang, as far as I can remember, puro press release lang yan si Sen. Madrigal.

Since the months before the first time she ran for a senatorial seat, she has shown nothing concrete regarding her alleged campaign “Kontra Politika” and her advocacy for education and the environment. She can’t say that she does not thrive in publicizing her achievements because the mere fact that she advertises and raises hell about her so-called advocacies, and the fact that she was running for and is now a Senator, gives the public the unquestionable right to question her achievements. Needless to say, we will only believe what we see.

Personally, I am sick and tired of politicians and wannabe politicians exploiting the environmental cause. It’s so easy to advocate conservation, waste management, no to illegal logging, but we I need to believe their sincerity is proof that they live and breathe to save the environment. And tree-planting and “beautification” projects do not count in my book. The plight of the environment cannot be addressed properly through mere advocacy and lip service. Every person, especially those who supposedly have it intheir political agenda should serve as role models to the rest of the citizenry. This means including the environment in their every decision0making process.

Environmental concerns are never separate from everything else that we do. Hence, to learn that Sen. Madrigal and her fmaily owns logging corporations and mining companies, is hypocrisy of the highest degree. Before she points her fingers towards other people to blame them, she should fist take a good damn look at herself and the people around her. If she cannot even influence her family to change their environmental outlook, how can she influence other people.

On the other hand, I am impatiently waiting for Sec. Defensr’s findings, recommendations and legal actions to solve the multitude of environmental problems our country face. Furthermore, I would like for him to present concrete evidence to support his claims against Sen. Madrigal and her family.

In the end, this verbal war is likely to result to nothing at all. In the end, it will just give bigger publicity to the involved personalities, trivialize the issues and lead to more politicization of the environmental cause, if that is still possible. No matter who wins this tussle, the environment is likely to lose. And we are most likely to lose.

“We do not weave the web of life. We are mere strands of it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”

Mr. Carlito Pizarras was only 12 years old when he started hunting for tarsiers in Bohol. However, several years later, after realizing that the tarsiers population has dwindled by a significant amount, he has started reversing his efforts from hunting towards conservation. In the mid-1990s he went to Metro Manila bringing with him two tarsiers to meet with Prince Charles of United Kingdom in order to get political and financial support for the plight of the tarsiers. His tireless efforts have lead to the illegalization of tarsier hunting and the establishment of a protected park and a foundation to finance the conservation.

The story of Mr. Pizarras change of heart is remarkable in that he does not possess great wealth or remarkable intelligence. He is just a simple man who amde the decision to make the right choice. He chose to do the right thing even if it meant foregoing financial rewards and going against his other community members who made a living out of tarsier-hunting.

He should serve as an inspiration to all of us. For there is little that he can do wtihout everybody’s cooperation. Conservation is something we should all partake in for we are all part of a very fragile balance in our environment. The endangerment and extinction of a single species, such as the tarsier or the Philippine eagle, could lead to effects of catastrophic proportions. Each species serve a role called niche in the environment. The tarsier, for example, is a predator of insects of moths, dragonflies and grasshoppers; and a prey of feral cats and some large birds. Thus, its extinction might lead to the overpopulation of the said insects and the endangerment of the feral cats and birds. Thus, tipping the fragile balance and consequently affecting us in unforeseeable but definitely negative ways. A small disturbance in the balance could lead to a snowball effect which would inevitably affect us.

We all live in the same planet, and unless each one of us strives to save it, we might just be the next species on the endangered or the extinct list.