‘Progress need not be at the expense of the environment’
SEN. Cynthia Villar on Wednesday called on local government units to give greater emphasis on environmental protection as she stressed that progress need not be at the expense of the environment.
“We are at a time when disasters, both natural and man-made, are happening in almost every part of the globe. So, we have to take environment protection seriously, especially
in community or city planning. That by itself is doing the future generation a favor,” said Villar, the keynote speaker at The Manila
Times’ Philippine Model Cities and Municipalities with the theme, “Building Better Landscapes for the Next Generation” held at the New World Manila Bay Hotel in Manila.
Villar, who heads the Senate Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change Committee, said Filipinos should protect the environment for future generations.
“We owe it to them. It is part of our duty to leave this world better than we found it. I am sure many of you have seen or read about the Swedish teenager, Greta Thunberg, who is an environmental activist that has been challenging world leaders to do something about climate change. She feels that the older generation is not doing enough to save their future. We don’t want more Gretas to one day tell us in the face that we failed them,” she added.
Villar quoted Greta’s speech at the United Nations (UN) Climate Action Summit on Monday. “People are suffering. People are dying and dying ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is the money and fairytales of eternal economic growth.”
The senator said government and local officials needed to consider the impact of their policies, programs and projects on the environment.
“So, of all the criteria and considerations we have included in the search for model city or municipality — social development, economic growth and environmental protection — we need to put greater emphasis on the latter. Social development and economic growth should not be at the expense of economic protection,” Villar said.
“Most people want to leave a legacy behind and that is the best legacy we can ever hope for — to leave behind this world better than we found it,” she added.
Villar commended the local chief executives, whose vision, determination and political will paved the way for their municipality
or city to be recognized as a model city or municipality.
“We must emphasize, though, that however efficient and effective our programs and projects are, these cannot be considered successful if not sustained,” she remarked.
She cited as example the river rehabilitation program she led in her home city of Las Piñas when she was a congressman — the UN-awarded Las Piñas-Zapote River Rehabilitation Program.
“Mula noon hanggang ngayon, napakarami ko ng mga proyekto at
mga programa na inilunsad (Since then, I have launched several projects and programs). But that award-winning program remains the cornerstone of my advocacies, especially in livelihood-generation for communities and solving the problem of wastes in our city,” Villar said.
“The garbage that used to pollute our river and block our waterways caused extreme flooding in our communities. Thus, I spent nine years of my public life, as a congresswoman from 2001 to 2010, in saving the Las Piñas-Zapote River and putting in place a working solid waste management program,” she added.
According to the senator, a project or a program would not be successful if it is not sustainable.
“And it will not be sustainable, unless you get the full cooperation of as many people/residents as possible. And you will get their cooperation if there is something in it for them. Otherwise, it will be short-lived and you will not achieve your goals,” she said.
“The families who live in the riverside welcomed the livelihood opportunities we provided them. There is no need for expensive capital because the raw materials of our livelihood projects come from wastes: water hyacinths for the water lily handicraft-weaving enterprise and the handmade paper factory; coconut husks for the coco net weaving enterprise and the charcoal-making factory; kitchen wastes for the organic composting facility; and plastic wastes for the plastic recycling factory that produces school chairs that we distribute free to public schools all over the country” she added.