Watch for the listing of other regular programs with focus on the environment!
gREENpAGE
GREEN
JUSTICE IMMINENT
vs.
POISON RAIN IN DAVAO?
'Aerial
Spray Ban Constitutional'
--Sol-Gen
Mindanao
News
story by Romeo Braceros
DAVAO
CITY. After the Office of the Solicitor
General (OSG) supported the constitutionality of the
aerial spraying ordinance of Davao City —
emphasizing the police power inherent to the local
government unit—some city officials said they are
confident that the ordinance will be upheld by the
Court of Appeals.
“I
see a victory in the Court of Appeals,” said
Councilor Leo Avila, chair of the committee on
environment and natural resources, the same
committee who aggressively pushed for passage of the
ordinance in the city council.
“The
Solicitor General has affirmed what the Davao City
government has always stood for—the safety of its
people,” Avila said adding that the city council,
with its passage of the ordinance, is the authority
in the immediate abatement of harm on people’s
health and the environment.
The
City Legal Office shares the same view. Lawyer
Melchor Quitain, head of the Legal Office, said
upon reading the OSG comment that “I am in
complete conformity with its content.”
“The
comment of the OSG is an affirmation of the
righteousness of the ordinance,” Quitain said.
The
final report of Avila ’s committee before the
ordinance was enacted stated that aerial spraying is
a nuisance. The same committee recommended the
“absolute and immediate halt to the agricultural
practice of aerial spraying by agricultural entities
in Davao City .”
“Banning
aerial spraying as an agricultural practice is a
valid exercise Police Power. To say that there is no
conclusive scientific basis to warrant the banning
of aerial spraying of pesticides is like courting
danger at the expense of the affected inhabitants
and the environment,” the committee report stated.
“Pesticides
are poisonous, aerially spraying it is a nuisance,
banning its aerial application is a justified
response. Can anyone imagine an urban area being
aerially sprayed with pesticides? What makes the
life and safety of the inhabitants of a community in
nearby agricultural entities where aerial spraying
of pesticides less? To remain indifferent to the
plight of those being aerially sprayed with
pesticides is inhuman,” it added.
After
the CA in Cagayan de Oro sought for the comment of
the OSG on whether or not the ordinance banning
aerial spraying was constitutional, the OSG
recommended that the ordinance be affirmed in toto
as it conformed with the law, evidence on record and
prevailing jurisprudence.
The
CA will come out with its decision on the
constitutionality of the ordinance, after its
legality was questioned by the Pilipino Banana
Growers and Exporters Association, Inc. (PBGEA), on
July 28, six months after it issued an injunction on
the implementation of the ban.
A LARGE COALITION of environment groups yesterday condemned and demanded an immediate explanation from the Davao City-based Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) why its product should cost the health and future of thousands of people who have long been complaining, suffering and unnecessarily exposed to its unabated aerial spraying of toxic pesticides.
Members of the Green Convergence for Safe Food, Healthy Environment and Sustainable Economy, together with the Kamayan Task Force Against Aerial Spraying of Pesticides, said domestic and overseas consumers must be made aware of the human suffering involved in PBGEA's method of producing bananas, including its harmful effects on the
environment.
"Everyone, especially overseas consumers, should know that the cost of an aerial-sprayed banana also includes great human suffering caused by applying pesticides using aircrafts as virtual flying and bombarding death machines," stressed Dr. Angelina P. Galang, the
group's lead convener. She added that communities in and around the plantations attribute their skin, respiratory and nervous disorders to the chemicals that they are bombarded with.
Dr. Galang emphasized the need for consumers to exercise their right to demand from food producers a detailed auditing of their processes to determine if human lives, and the environment on which life depends, have been jeopardized.
Saying that the complaints and sufferings of the affected Davao City residents are not unfounded, she added the city government has prohibited the aerial spraying of pesticides after it was found through scientific deliberations that the age-old procedure on banana
plantations can inflict harm on the residents.
Records show that city government officials have been deliberating on a highly popular clamor against aerial spraying since more than four years ago. In February last year, the city council promulgated the local ordinance banning the procedure, which took effect last March 23, 2007.
Opposing the ordinance, PBGEA immediately filed a civil case against the city government to stop the implementation of the ordinance. On September 22, 2007, the Davao City Regional Trial Court upheld the constitutionality and validity of the said ordinance. But on October 18, 2007, PBGEA filed an urgent motion for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction at the Court of Appeals.
Records further reveal that on November 26, 2007, PBGEA immediately resumed its aerial spraying operations after the appellate court granted its motion for a TRO and preliminary injunction last November 16, 2007 and January 28, 2008, respectively. And on May 22, 2008, the said court also denied the motion for reconsideration earlier filed by the city government.
"The local statute is simply the right thing to do. The people had asked for their protection and the local government was responsive to their demand for their right under the Constitution. The PBGEA is banking on legal technicality as it questions the constitutionality of the ordinance, in the name of profit and at the cost of human
suffering", Galang said.
You are invited!
'A Contaminated World': A Forum on the
Aerial Spraying of Pesticides
(A
Science,Technology and Society Forum on July 10,
2008, 10-12 a.m. at the College of Science
Auditorium, University of the Philippines, Diliman,
Quezon City)
THE LONG-LASTING EFFECTS of pesticides in the environment are known to science and this knowledge has informed environmental movements. This July the Philippine Supreme Court will be taking the case of a local government ordinance to ban the aerial application of pesticides that is being contested by growers of bananas for export. The forum will discuss the documented effects on people of pesticide application by air, the legal arguments, and the role of scientific evidence.
Program
Welcome Remarks: Dr. Fidel Nemenzo
Science and Society Program
College of Science, UP Diliman
Speakers:
Lia Esquillo,
Interface Development Interventions
Ms. Cecilia Moran,
Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying
Councilor Leo Avila III
Chair, Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, Davao City
Dr. Lynn Panganiban
Head, National Poison Control and Management Center
UP Manila
Dr. Perry Ong
Director, Institute of Biology, College of Science, UP Diliman
Atty. Marvic Leonen
Dean, College of Law , UP Diliman
Moderator: Dr. Maria Mangahas
Department of Anthropology
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman
This is a 4.5-minute video showing the effect on community members’ health of the aerial spraying of pesticides on banana crops in Davao City, despite the city ordinance banning the practice.
Our message will be delivered in a full-page Financial Times ad on Tuesday, using the Japanese "Hello Kitty" cartoon to shame Harper, Bush, and Fukuda:
The vast majority of the world's people want urgent, bold action on climate change -- but here at the G8 summit, three politicians stand in the way. Canada's Harper, Japan's Fukuda, and the
United States' Bush are refusing to discuss climate targets for the year 2020.
Scientists agree that the next 12 years will make or break our response to the climate crisis. But if the facts haven't grabbed these leaders' attention, something else might: humour.
Avaaz has arranged a full-page satirical advert for Tuesday's global
Financial Times
newspaper, shaming Harper, Fukuda, and Bush for their climate irresponsibility. The paper will be delivered to the hotel rooms of every G8 delegate. Together, we can make it costly and embarrassing enough that these leaders will think twice before squandering another opportunity for climate progress. Click below to endorse its message and donate to help cover the cost, and then pass this message to friends and family!
Why this last-moment push? Our strategy is based on two important stories--Australia and Bali.[2]
At the UN climate negotiations in Bali, Harper, Fukuda, and Bush were trying to block any reference to climate targets for the year 2020 -- just as they are now at the G8. But a global uproar turned the tide. Negotiators from the global South rose, one after the next, to demand that the spoilers step aside. Citizen groups in every nation raised their voices -- including 320,000 Avaaz members in the final 72 hours. And a satirical full-page Avaaz ad in the Jakarta Post (a remake of the Titanic movie poster featuring Harper, Bush, and Fukuda) made headlines worldwide. A major Japanese paper later reported that this ad was waved at a top-level Japanese cabinet meeting -- leading to a step forward in Fukuda's climate policy.[3]
The second story, of Australia, shows what happens when humour combines with mass political power.
In Australia, former Prime Minister John Howard was as bad on climate as Harper, Fukuda, and Bush are now. Last fall, he chaired a summit global summit, APEC, where he tried to paint himself as a world leader on climate change. But Avaaz and other groups pushed back -- with stunts, marches, and a terrific parody television spot from our friends at GetUp, exposing Howard's charade and demanding real targets for climate emissions cuts. Climate change emerged as the defining issue of the election -- and when Howard lost, the first action of the new government was to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Harper faces a difficult election this fall, and climate change is emerging as a key issue. In the US, the campaign to succeed Bush could hinge on climate policy. And Fukuda's political opponents are challenging him sharply on how to confront the climate crisis.
In short, Our global efforts now can send political shock waves through all three countries. It's up to us to raise a cry once again. Sign, donate, and spread the word:
We can't always be certain of the results of our actions. But in the face of the climate crisis, it's worth trying everything we can. We make green decisions in our private lives. And when the big public decisions are made, if enough of us stand together -- this time, next time, and every time -- then, one way or another, our message will be heard. Our leaders will change ... or we'll change our leaders.
With hope and determination,
Ben, Iain, Alice, Ricken, Paul, Graziela, Pascal, Veronique, Mark, and Milena -- the Avaaz.org team
PS: The climate change ad is one of four full-page ads we're running in the global Financial Times this week, all designed to multiply the impact of member-driven Avaaz campaigns. Look for them in the paper, or find them at http://www.avaaz.org/ads .
[3] Fukuda announced that Japan would adopt mid-term targets for 2020. That was a major step forward -- except that Fukuda now refuses to include these targets in the G8 negotiations. Moreover, though Fukuda has promised 2020 targets, he hasn't actually set them. See:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/09/japan.climatechange
---------
ABOUT AVAAZ:
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.
working for public health, environmental justice and sustainable development, call on the Government of the Philippines to impose a total ban on endosulfan for any use, without exemption. We further urge the authorities to institute a community health and environment monitoring program in places exposed to this synthetic organochlorine pesticide to find out the extent of potential contamination
and to come up with an action plan.
The still unfolding tragedy involving the M.V. Princess of the Stars that capsized off Sibuyan Island in Romblon Province underscores the need to completely ban endosulfan, a bioaccumulative, persistent and highly toxic pesticide, in the Philippines and elsewhere.
Extensive studies confirm that endosulfan bioaccumulates in living things, is extremely toxic to almost all kinds of organisms, is very persistent in the environment and is
transported long distances, far from its source.
These characteristics make endosulfan a notorious global pollutant that has to be eradicated straight away.
Reports confirm that cases of endosulfan poisoning have been linked to reproductive and birth abnormalities, congenital physical disorders,mental retardation, neurological problems, cancer and death among agricultural workers and villagers in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Endosulfan, a nerve poison, causes neurotoxicity and can damage the immune system.
Because of its toxicity and persistence in humans, wildlife and the environment, many countries, including the members of the European Union(EU), have outlawed the production, sale and use of endosulfan. In 2007, the EU nominated endosulfan for a global ban under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which the Senate of the Philippines ratified in 2004. The Pesticide Action Network (PAN), the
International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) and other concerned groups have long been campaigning for a total ban on endosulfan.
We join PAN, IPEN and the rest of the international community in calling for a total ban on endosulfan to lessen the burden of toxic chemicals on the global and local environment. To reduce the unacceptable threat to human health, wildlife and the environment, we ask the Government of the Philippines to ban endosulfan and revoke all exemptions without delay.
We further urge the government and the industry to switch to ecological, non-chemical pest control practices in agriculture for the health and safety of our farmers, workers, consumers and the whole environment.
Signed by:
Buklod Tao
Concerned Citizens Against Pollution
Earth Renewal Project
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Green Convergence for Safe Food, Healthy Environment and Sustainable Economy
Greenpeace Southeast Asia
Health Care Without Harm
Integrated Rural Development Foundation
Institute for the Development of Educational and Ecological Alternatives
Addiction
is a terrible thing. It consumes and controls us,
makes us deny important truths and blinds us to the
consequences of our actions. Our world is in the
grip of a dangerous carbon habit.
Coal
and oil paved the way for the developed world's
industrial progress. Fast-developing countries
are now taking the same path in search of equal
living standards. Meanwhile, in the least developed
countries, even less sustainable energy sources,
such as charcoal, remain the only available option
for the poor.
Our
dependence on carbon-based energy has caused a
significant build-up of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere. Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change put the
final nail in the coffin of global warming sceptics.
We know that climate change is happening, and we
know that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
that we emit are the cause.
We
don't just burn carbon in the form of fossil fuels.
Throughout the tropics, valuable forests are being
felled for timber and making paper, for pasture and
arable land and, increasingly, for plantations to
supply a growing demand for biofuels. This
further manifestation of our carbon habit not only
releases vast amounts of CO2; it also destroys a
valuable resource for absorbing atmospheric carbon,
further contributing to climate change.
The
environmental, economic and political implications
of global warming are profound. Ecosystems --
from mountain to ocean, from the Poles to the
tropics -- are undergoing rapid change.
Low-lying cities face inundation, fertile lands are
turning to desert, and weather patterns are becoming
ever more unpredictable.
The
cost will be borne by all. The poor will be
hardest hit by weather-related disasters and by
soaring price inflation for staple foods, but even
the richest nations face the prospect of economic
recession and a world in conflict over diminishing
resources. Mitigating climate change, eradicating
poverty and promoting economic and political
stability all demand the same solution: we must kick
the carbon habit. This is the theme for World
Environment Day 2008. "Kick
the Habit: Towards a Low Carbon Economy",
recognizes the damaging extent of our addiction, and
it shows the way forward.
Often
we need a crisis to wake us to reality. With the
climate crisis upon us, businesses and governments
are realizing that, far from costing the Earth,
addressing global warming can actually save money
and invigorate economies. While the estimated
costs of climate change are incalculable, the price
tag for fighting it may be less than any of us may
have thought. Some estimates put the cost at
less than one per cent of global gross domestic
product -- a cheap price indeed for waging a global
war.
Even
better news is that technologies already exist or
are under development to make our consumption of
carbon-based fuels cleaner and more efficient and to
harness the renewable power of sun, wind and waves.
The private sector, in particular, is competing to
capitalize on what they recognize as a massive
business opportunity.
Around
the world, nations, cities, organizations and
businesses are looking afresh at green options. At
the United Nations, I have instructed that the plan
for renovating our New York headquarters should
follows strict environmental guidelines. I
have also asked the chief executives of all UN
programmes, funds and specialized agencies to move
swiftly towards carbon neutrality.
Earlier
this year, the UN Environment Programme launched a
climate neutral network -- CN Net -- to energize
this growing trend. Its inaugural members,
which include countries, cities and companies, are
pioneers in a movement that I believe will
increasingly define environmental, economic and
political discourse and decision making over the
coming decades.
The
message of World Environment Day 2008 is that we are
all part of the solution. Whether you are an
individual, an organization, a business or a
government, there are many steps you can take to
reduce your carbon footprint. It is message we
all must take to heart.
WlTH
its economy based on the proliferation of giant,
big, small and miniscule stores, it is not
surprising that thePhilippines emits less than one third of
one percent of carbon dioxide adding to the
greenhouse gases warming up the planet every
year. But we have a big reason to feel concerned
because of the level and accelerating pace of
climate change that is threatening the entire
planet.
Not
only the guilty have sufficient wisdom to
discern that Humanity and the rest of Nature are
menaced by the threat of life-threatening
jeopardy; whatever harm befalls the fate of
Humanity can never be reversed by a clean
conscience. Moreover, small archipelagic
countries like ours, with its very long
shoreline and with a substantial percentage of
human settlements at sea level and even at the
shorelines, have reason to feel intensely their
viulnerability to the effects of even the
slightest rise in sea level due to polar ice
melting caused by global warming.
The
theme of World Environment Day this year is for
the drastic reduction of carbon dioxide
emissions of all countries. We hope this will
make a dent on the practices of those prosperous
countries who spew the the biggest volumes of
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere but are very
reluctant to adjust their lifestyles and scales
of profits.
The
World Environment Day-Philippines Network
(WED-Philippines) calls upon all residents of
the Philippines not to add to the problem even
in the very small 0.3 percent, for the sake of
the planet, let’s reduce even that. Every
little bit helps. The environment conservation
activists and advocates have come out with lists
of big things and little things we all can do to
achieve this and to increase the carbon sinks by
expanding our forests.
This
week, WED-Philippines will start a worldwide
campaign calling upon all the overseas
Filipinos, through their relatives and friends
in the homeland, to campaign among their real
friends and close associates in their respective
host countries to be more active in pressing
their own governments, especially the top
carbon-spewing ones (like the United States,
20.2%; China, 18.4%; Russia,5.6%; India, 4.9%; and Japan, 4.6%) to
drastically reduce their respective volumes of
Carbon Dioxide emissions.
We
have been told that citizens in these countries
are more assertive, and that their governments
are more receptive, than ours. This may be
debatable, but what can no longer be
controversial is that most Filipinos abroad are
well-loved by their friends and associates in
their host countries. More than saving lives
from the gallows in countries where our compatriots
get convicted for capital offenses, we need to
do this more intensively and together. Dozens of
millions of human lives on these islands are now
literally at stake, in real danger of getting
drowned by the rising sea. All Filipinos,
wherever in the world we may have come to work
and live, have reason to be actively concerned.
for Safe
Food, Healthy Environment, and Sustainable
Economy
"GREEN,
not Greed!"
The Green Convergence joins the nation in
denouncing the abhorrent NBN-ZTE deal and
demanding truth, accountability, and reform. At
the same time, what is essentially called for
now is to use what we have learned from the past
and what this scandal is teaching us, so that we
can push beyond actions that accomplish only a
"changing of the guards" and get on the road to
genuine social, political, and economic
transformation.
History teaches us that we must accept
collective responsibility for the sorry state of
our nation and recognize the need to attend to
our own personal conversion. For example, we
have repeatedly learned that in the corridors of
power, a great many people are so greedy that
they will sell us to the dogs to feed their
insatiable lust for money. Has this turned our
people into vigilant watchdogs of government
programs to ensure that these are for the
benefit of the people and not for the greedy who
want to rake in more, more, and more?
Obviously not, or the public would surely
have taken notice of government undertakings
that are even more scandalous than the NBN-ZTE
deal for the far-reaching damages they can bring
to our economy, our environment, and our
people's health, safety and security. Some of
the policies and programs that should disturb
all Filipinos are:
The Japan-Philippines Economic
Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
This treaty is riddled with so many
constitutional, legal, economic and
environmental flaws that the government needs to
prop it up with hollow assurances of "side
agreements," "safety nets," and "conditional
concurrences." JPEPA contains a provision that
clearly allows Japan
to export its toxic, municipal and other wastes
to the Philippines at zero tariff. JPEPA gives
the Japanese national rights to our land, waters
and natural resources. JPEPA bends over
backwards to give better treatment and undue
advantages to Japanese businessmen over Filipino
nationals.
The Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
In spite of historical evidence that
large-scale mining has caused enormous damage to
our mountains, forests, soil, rivers and seas as
well as the brutal displacement of upland
communities, the government relentlessly
promotes large-scale mining by foreign firms,
allowing them 100% ownership of mining projects
and the repatriation of all profits, equipment
and investments. The sell-out includes promises
of priority access to water resources and
removal of all 'obstacles' to mining, including
local settlements and farms.
Promotion of Genetically Modified
Organisms
(GMOs). In spite of
mounting scientific evidence of likely harm to
human and animal health and the ecological
balance, the Philippine government has
aggressively pushed the development and
commercialization of GMOs. This technology
enriches foreign multinationals while
threatening our food safety and the economic
survival of farmers who must purchase GM seeds
at every harvest. Moreover, alien genes and
monoculture faming will deplete the biodiversity
on which we rely for survival, especially during
environmental crises such as the worsening
climate change.
Proposed Laiban Dam Project.
Although large dams have been discredited by the
World Commission on Dams sponsored by the
World Bank and
the United Nations
Environment Program, the government is poised to
build the 113-meter high Laiban Dam near a
geologic fault in Tanay, Rizal. It will submerge
forest, agricultural land, 7 barangays and 3,500
families in Kaliwa Watershed and will threaten
the water supply, the agriculture and the lives
of the communities of Infanta, Real and General
Nakar. The $1.3 billion needed for this
infrastructure will add to the nation's heavy
debt burden.
Where is the national furor over such
programs and projects?
And why, in the face of their actual and
potential harm, does the government persist in
ramming them through? The NBN-ZTE issue may
shed clues to the answer.
Now, the Filipino people are called upon to
examine our role in nation-building. Everyone
has the responsibility to know and understand
the stakes involved in our developmental
thrusts. Individually and in unity, we must
reject frameworks that are skewed to favor
foreign interests, are prone to corruption,
ignore ecological harm, widen economic
disparities, and deprive citizens of their right
to real participation in developmental
decision-making and actions in their own
localities.
We
must work to realize the sustainable development
blueprint of the Philippine Agenda 21 which will
bring socio-economic progress to every Filipino,
while protecting the ecological balance on which
our physical, economic and national survival
depends. GREEN overcoming GREED is the only way
to ensure safe food, a healthy environment and
sustainable economy for our people.
for Safe
Food, Healthy Environment and Sustainable
Economy
The GREEN CONVERGENCE includes many
organizations and the following networks:
Magkaisa Junk JPEPA (MJJ) Coalition,
Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), No to GMOs
Coalition, Anti-Laiban Campaign,
EcoWaste Coalition, Philippine Federation
for Environmental Concerns(FPEC),
Environmental Education Network of the
Philippines (EENP), and Justice, Peace,
and Integrity of Creation Commission (JPICC) -
Association of Major Religious Superiors of the
Philippines (AMRSP).
Buhay, Karapatan at Likas-yaman Ipagtanggol!
Labanan ang Pandarambong sa Likas na Yaman
at Pagsira sa Kalikasan ng Rehimeng US-Arroyo!
April 22,
2008
Kalikasan-People's Network for the Environment
Sa araw na ito, ika-22 ng Abril, ginugunita sa buong daigdig ang Earth Day. Ngunit sa Pilipinas, ito ay hindi araw ng pagdiriwang, kundi paglalantad sa patuloy na pandarambong sa likas na yaman, pagluluksa sa tumitinding pagkasira ng kapaligiran at paghihirap ng mga mamamayan, at paniningil sa mga lumalapastangan sa pambansang patrimonya.
Sa pagkilos na ito, inilalantad natin ang isang kabalintunaan: sagana sa likas na yaman ang bansang Pilipinas ngunit nagugutom ang napakaraming mamamayan. Bukod dito, dinaranas nito ngayon ang napakabilis na pagkasira ng kapaligiran. Pangunahing sanhi nito ang patakaran ng pamahalaan sa paggamit ng likas-yaman at ang sinasalamin nitong oryentasyon ng ekonomiyang nakakiling sa pagluluwas ng hilaw na materyales (export-oriented) habang labis na nakasandig sa pag-angkat ng mga produkto (import-dependent).
Ang nakalulungkot, kaalinsabay ng pagkasira ng kapaligiran ang kahirapang dulot ng maramihang pagpapalikas sa mga mamamayan mula sa kanilang mga lupang tinatahanan at pinagkukunan ng ikabubuhay. Bunga ito ng mga kalamidad na sumisira sa kanilang kabuhayan, at pagpapatupad ng mga tinaguriang 'proyektong pangkaunlaran' na nagtataboy sa mga magsasaka, mangingisda at maging sa mga katutubo.
Sa harap ng animo'y walang humpay na pagkawasak ng kapaligiran, kailangang papanagutin ang isang rehimeng naging lason sa kalikasan at mga mamamayan dahil sa mga sumusunod nitong kasalanan:
Pagpasa at pagpapapanatili ng mga programang nagpalala ng pandarambong sa pambansang patrimonya.
May tuwirang pananagutan ang administrasyong Arroyo sa pagpapasa ng mga batas, patakaran at programang naglalako sa ating likas-yaman. Sa ilalim ng Mining Act of 1995, Minerals Action Plan (MAP) at Executive Order 270, mahigit kalahating milyong ektarya ng kalupaan ng bansa ang inilaan sa 200 proyektong pagmimina ng mga dayuhan. Karamihan sa mga ito ay mapanira sa kalikasan, hindi kapaki-pakinabang sa ekonomiya at ipinapatupad nang walang pagsang-ayon ng mga komunidad.
Samantala, malawakan ang land conversion sa ilalim ng Biofuels Act of 2007 na tugon daw sa climate change ngunit nangangahulugan ng pangangamkam ng lupa, pagkaubos ng kagubatan at kakulangan ng pagkain.
Si GMA din ang nagpasa ng Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) na nagbunga ng pribatisasyon ng sektor ng enerhiya. Nais pa nitong mapasakamay ng dayuhan ang natitirang renewable energy sa pamamagitan ng Renewable Enegy Bill.
Masikhay ding itinulak ng administrasyong Arroyo ang makaisang-panig, at kontra-mamamayang mga kasunduang pangkalakalan tulad ng Japan Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) na magpapahintulot sa pagkasaid ng likas-yaman, pagbagsak ng basura sa bansa at pagdagsa ng dayuhang kumpanya ng langis at pagmimina.
Pagsasawalang-bahala sa mga pangunahing ekosistema sa bansa
Nang maluklok si GMA noong 2000, nasa 16% na lamang ng dating kagubatan ang naiwan. Nasa panganib na rin ang mahigit 60% ng mga coral reef sa Pilipinas dahil sa kumbersyon ng mga bakhawan at polusyon mula sa mga industriya. Samantala, 50 sa pangunahing mga ilog ang naitalang biologically dead, at ang suplay ng tubig-tabang ay nasa kritikal nang antas. Sa kalunsuran, malaking suliranin pa rin ang basura at polusyon sa hangin.
Ang ganitong kalagayan ay lalo pang lumala dahil sa kawalan ng malinaw na programa sa proteksyon ng mga ekosistema at pagtugon sa mga suliranin tulad ng climate change at maluwag na pagpapatupad ng mga batas.
Pagsikil sa karapatan ng mga tagapagtaguyod ng kalikasan
Sa halip na harapin ang mga isyung ito, pandarahas at pananakot ang naging tugon ng rehimeng Arroyo sa mga mamamayang nagtatanggol sa kalikasan at pambansang patrimonya. Sa 900 biktima ng extrajudicial killings mula 2001, 23 ay mga tagapagtanggol ng kalikasan, habang patuloy ang militarisasyon sa mga komunidad na tutol sa mga mapanirang proyektong tulad ng pagmimina at pagtotroso.
Bukod dito, sa ilalim ng panunungkulan ni GMA, tumaas ang bilang ng Strategic Legal Actions Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) bilang panggigipit sa mga indibidwal at pangkat na kumikilos upang ipagtanggol ang kalikasan.
Malinaw na ang walong taong pananatili ni GMA sa Malacañang ay nagbunga lamang ng lalong pagkasira ng kalikasan. Samakatwid, kasabay ng panawagan upang ipagtanggol ang ating karapatan sa likas-yaman at kabuhayan laban sa dayuhang pandarambong at kontrol ng iilan, isinisigaw din natin ang pagpapatalsik sa rehimeng salot sa kapaligiran at mga mamamayan.
Kalikasan at Buhay Ipagtanggol, Arroyo patalsikin!
