OVER 5,000 parish leaders and parishioners, mostly youth, in Negros bannered the battle cry of the church for a clean environment, mainly by showing support for a coal-free island.
They gathered for the culmination of the Year of the Clergy back to back with the launching of the Year of the Youth spearheaded by the Diocese of San Carlos in San Carlos City on Friday, November 30.
Parishioners from as far as Manapla in Negros Occidental and La Libertad in Negros Oriental joined the caravan going to the Bishop’s Home and city auditorium in San Carlos.
They brought with them placards, tarpaulins and slogans like “Coal Off,” “No to Coal,” and “Yes to Renewable Energy,” among others denouncing the entry of any coal-fired power plants in the city as well as in the entire Negros Island.
The delegates of the caravan then converged with the representatives of the parishes along with two mission stations of the diocese joining the walk for the environment.
The latter trooped from the cathedral going to the market, business establishments, houses and schools to the auditorium.
Diocese of San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said the overarching theme of the two celebrations is their collective call to make Negros a clean and coal-free island.
“The caravan within the city hopes to call attention to our cry on behalf of mother Earth and the voiceless,” Alminaza added.
In his homily during the Eucharistic celebration, the bishop underscored “respecting each of God’s creatures and the environment in which we live.”
“Protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, is what the Book of Genesis tells us and Saint Francis of Assisi showed us,” he echoed to the participants.
“Whenever human being fails to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened,” he continued.
The mass was presided by Alminaza and was concelebrated by the diocese’s vicar general Msgr. Eugene Peral, vicar for the clergy Msgr. Jing Baldo, vicar forane of Cadiz City and director of Diocesan Commission on Youth Fr. Erwin Magnanao.
During the activity, the diocese also unveiled the logo of the “No to Coal” advocacy while singing the original theme song for Year of the Youth: Missionaries of Love.
As the church celebrates the Year of the Youth, Alminaza said the youth should be engaged in the call for a clean environment.
He said that the serious and urgent warning was issued by the scientific community as early as 1992, or 26 years ago.
“The struggle might take a long time, it requires energy creativity and dynamism and our youth have them in abundance as we witnessed during the activity,” Alminaza said, stressing that “it is their generation and future that will be greatly affected.”
They are less beholden to anyone idealistic and less tempted to compromise, he added.
Moreover, the Diocese of San Carlos is comprised of parishes in the cities of Canlaon and Guihulngan and towns of Vallehermoso and La Libertad in Negros Oriental.
In Negros Occidental, it covers the cities of San Carlos, Cadiz, Sagay and Escalante, and municipalities of Calatrava, Toboso, Salvador Benedicto and Manapla.
All in all, there are 26 parishes, seven quasi-parishes, 11 mission stations, and one chaplaincy grouped into six vicariates in the diocese.
The Diocese of San Carlos forms part of the four dioceses in Negros which earlier united to push for a coal-free island.
On November 22, Alminaza along with the three other bishops namely Patricio Buzon of the Diocese of Bacolod, Louie Galbines of the Diocese of Kabankalan, and Julito Cortes of the Diocese of Dumaguete signed and issued a collegial pastoral statement strongly opposing coal.
In the statement, the four church leaders called on the people to stand firm together in Negros - with each other and with civic leaders - to oppose any coal-fired power plants and phase out those still in operation.
They urged Negrenses to collectively affirm the message of Pope Francis: “Our desire to ensure energy for all must not lead to the undesired effect of a spiral of extreme climate changes due to a catastrophic rise in global temperatures, harsher environments, and increased levels of poverty.”
In an earlier interview, San Carlos City Mayor Gerardo Valmayor Jr. said they are still weighing the impacts of the proposed development of a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant by SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. in the city.
In the Provincial Government level, while Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. remains firm on his stand against coal, the Provincial Board has yet to consult different sectors before it can finally act on the ordinance proposed by the governor.
The draft ordinance seeks to disallow the exploration, establishment, and operation of any coal-fired power plant in the province.
Negros Oriental, meanwhile, already adopted Executive Order 9, preventing the entry of coal-fired power plants there.