Speak Out: Saving Mother Earth - Whose responsibility?

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

EVERY person in our modern society is perhaps aware of what is happening to our planet earth – the calamities, the changes in the world’s climate, global warming, and numerous others. Indeed, technological developments have made sure that everyone plugged to the television or the internet is aware of the environment’s rapidly deteriorating state. In fact, these improvements in technology have become so advanced that human activities such as travelling, communicating, and others have become easier.

Yet ironically, life is becoming harder. Prices of commodities are rising, and yet supplies are quickly declining. More importantly, natural calamities are increasing in their frequency and severity. Why are these things happening?

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As per observation, majority of these ecological problems are man-made. Undeniably, the endless cutting of trees, the induced burning of forests to accommodate farmlands, and the callous disposal of garbage into our rivers, have all piled up to cause massive landslides and floods.

However, as much as these natural catastrophes are caused by man’s actions, they can also actually be attributed to man’s inaction. This inaction is prompted by the deadliest aspect of our nation’s character: the carefree attitude of people towards the preservation of the environment.

Advocates and programs for the environment are numerous, but their growth and progress are stunted by greedy entrepreneurs whose only focus is profit, or by apathetic people who do not care at all. In addition, very good environment laws are drafted and passed all-year round but the question is, are these being implemented? In the first place, are people even following them?

I wonder at times why we can’t look around and see how our actions (and inaction) contribute to the degradation of the environment. We keep blaming the government and its officials for failing to do the duties or responsibilities assigned to them, but did we ever ask ourselves what we are doing to help solve the problems we are facing? Take the case of the Irisan tragedy, the damages caused by Sendong and the landslides at Compostela Valley. The first thing the people did was blame the government and its corruption. Granted, the government has some fault in these occurrences but if we really look at it, we will see that the major cause of all these is our nation’s unconcerned citizens.

Thus, I call my fellow Filipinos: let us stop our indifference before another nightmare forces us to actually care.