Tell it to SunStar: Overlooked environment

INFLATION, oil price hikes, crimes, traffic congestion— these are just some of the topics that have been a constant feature in the news lately. Which also makes us wonder, when will the environment get its own feature? After a typhoon that destroys lives and properties? After a flood submerging houses? Or maybe after a massive landslide burying a number of lives?

Why do we tend to wait for something destructive to happen before we take action? We commonly hear the quote, “prevention is better than cure,” but how difficult is it to walk the talk?

The Philippines has laws to protect and preserve the environment, as well as laws that regulate people’s consumption of goods found in the environment. But there are still many instances when lives and properties are put to danger.

We think this is because the government does not impose strict compliance of the law. Our attention is too focused on national problems such as corruption, unemployment and poverty.

Our indifference towards the environment--abusing the earth’s natural resources and our common thinking that these resources will always be there are the reasons why our lives are in danger.

Oftentimes, people would only start to care once the disaster has already occurred. Afterwards, they wouldn’t bat an eyelash anymore to the continually growing problems of the world we live in. (Kyla Moira Genson and Hannah Vivien P. Coraza, University of San Jose-Recoletos)