Nature can’t wait
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, environmental concerns seem to have taken a back seat.
This is understandable though. Many are concerned with issues facing us now – health both physical and mental, employment and income uncertainties, and the upcoming national and local elections. Environmental problems are mostly related with us being stewards for the next generations. And so for some, it is believed that the environment can wait. But there are those who believe otherwise.
San Miguel Corp., for instance, announced that since 2019, its group-wide reforestation initiative, which is aimed at helping mitigate the impact of climate change and at empowering communities, has planted 3.8 million trees. This is in partnership with various local government units, local communities, indigenous people, employee volunteers, and other organizations.
The seedling survival rate has been high, SMC president Ramon Ang says, at 89 percent for upland trees and 91 percent for mangrove saplings. Then there is SMC’s massive river clean-up project.
Mr. Ang said that as of Jan. 19, they have already removed 646,624 tons of waste from Tullahan River since June 2020, and 172,700 tons from the Pasig River since July 2021.
By June, they expect to breach the one million ton mark for the Tullahan-Tenejeros River System. In the case of the Pasig River cleanup project ,which is a P2-billion initiative fully funded by SMC, the goal is to extract three million tons of waste in five years.
Earlier, SMC’s top executive noted that the ongoing Tullahan River rehabilitation efforts has already significantly reduced flooding in Navotas, Malabon and Valenzuela during heavy rainfall.
The group is likewise preparing for major initiatives to clean up polluted rivers and tributaries in Bulacan. SMC said that next will be the rehabilitation and cleanup programs for the rivers of Bulacan, including the MarilaoMeycauayan-Obando river system.
SMC is also engaged in organizing weekly coastal cleanups in Calatagan and Balayan in Batangas, as well as at the Tanza Marine Tree Park area in Navotas City.
Last Jan. 5, the company said that in just five days, they were able to collect 1,340 bags of garbage in Batangas. SMC is teaming up with at least five barangays in Calatagan to put up a materials recovery facility that will manage waste efficiently and responsibly.
Meanwhile, the Tanza Marine Tree Park, a 26-hectare island that is home to the last remaining old-growth mangrove forest in the metropolis, but is polluted with marine trash washing up on its shores, has been benefitting from SMC’s clean-up activities conducted together with volunteers, as well as the DENR and the Navotas LGU.
Mr. Ang pointed out that while these efforts alone will not make the waste problem go away, there is great value in them since it brings public awareness to the threat of pollution, and encourages more Filipinos to do their part.
***** The accumulation of election-related trash is indeed a problem. It has been reported that in 2016, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) collected 206.61 tons of campaign-related materials for the entire election season in Metro Manila. The figures does not yet include other regions.
In the May 2019 polls, the MMDA collected 168.84 tons of election paraphernalia, including those placed outside Comelec-designated areas during the campaign period. A day after the elections, the MMDA collected 23.42 tons more of campaign materials that filled up seven dump trucks, according to news reports.
A massive volume of campaign materials that end up in garbage dumps is likewise expected in this year’s elections, considering that over 18,000 national and local posts are to be contested by over 45,000 candidates.
Even during previous elections, government agencies led by the DENR have been calling on candidates to respect the provisions of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act by opting to either refrain from using wasteful campaign materials or volunteering to clean up their trash post-election.
Environmental groups such as the EcoWaste Coalition, Greenpeace and the Mother Earth Foundation have also called on the Comelec to make a vigorous push for the conduct of `green’ elections by issuing regulations on a ‘zero-waste’ policy in campaigning.
A Pulse Asia survey has shown that 63 percent of the population now have access to social media, which makes it possible to conduct a successful digital-based election campaign this year.
***** It would also be good to hear how others address problems like garbage collection and disposal, dumping of wastes in bodies of water, flooding, irresponsible mining practices, illegal logging, air pollution, flooding, land use, disaster preparedness, among others. We need concrete and workable solutions, not promises.
For comments, e-mail at