Carvajal: The other way around

Carvajal: The other way around

I cannot yet get myself to write about the ongoing political soap opera as it is still gyrating between wild plots and subplots. It's time, meanwhile, to write about something equally critical to life on earth—the destruction of the environment by human abuse and neglect.

Abuse comes mainly from rich humans’ unrestricted exploitation of earth’s resources, thus preventing it from regenerating itself. Neglect is mostly by poor humans who, from sheer need to survive, often have to step over the regeneration needs of earth that they know little about anyway.

An example of neglect is the indiscriminate way we throw trash anywhere—on the street, into streams and drainage canals, clogging them and killing all life in them. It is not enough to unclog canals regularly. People should be disciplined to dispose of garbage properly.

An example of abuse was recently relayed to me by a friend. His words: “I’ve been living in Marco Polo Residences, Nivel Hills, about six years now. Time to call a spade a spade. I’ve seen enough. Whenever Federal Land Inc.'s (FLI) subcontractors have finished their jobs, the construction waste is recklessly dumped into corners and slopes. Obviously FLI violates its duty of supervision and control over subcontractors in regard to (the proper disposal of) construction waste. It is painful to see how careless and mindless the environment is being damaged. The primary objective of property companies such as FLI is to maximize profit and shareholder value. But this must not take place at the expense of a healthy environment. It cannot be, for instance, in the interest of a city like Cebu that economic progress is accompanied by environmental destruction. I am sure FLI is not an isolated case. Where does this thoughtlessness come from?”

Irresponsibility towards the environment is the inherent product of our skills-to-get-rich education system, forget-earth-get-to-heaven religious system, for-profit-only business system, and oligarchy-controlled political system.

On the positive side, Taiheyo Cement Philippines, Inc. (TCPI) in San Fernando, Cebu has just “banned disposable plastic packaging materials from its premises.” I am not sure but I hope this is also not an isolated case.

Natural calamities like Covid-19 are grim reminders that earth does not need us to survive. Earth could even be healthier without intelligent humans mindlessly (isn’t that ironic?) destroying it.

It is the other way around. Earth does not need man; it is man who needs earth as human life is possible in no other planet. So, how about disposing of trash properly? How about local government units stopping all abuses of the environment? After all, it’s man’s, not earth’s survival that is at stake.

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