Environmentalists hit candidates on campaign trash

As election campaign heads towards its final stretch, environmental advocates hit political candidates and their supporters for the campaign trash the election campaign has generated.

The environmental network EcoWaste Coalition lamented the illegal posting of campaign materials by campaign organizers and the volume of campaign trash littering the environment.

Roy Alvarez, president of EcoWaste Coalition has appealed to candidates to “put environmental conservation and protection at the heart of their campaign.”

“We beg the 50,000 candidates vying for nearly 18,000 national and local positions to stand for Mother Earth,” he said

Alvarez dared pro-environment candidates to remove campaign materials nailed on trees and those illegally posted outside designated places.

They should not wait for government personnel to do it for them, he said.

“Also, we urge them to openly say and assure the public that they will remove all their campaign materials immediately after the election day regardless of the poll outcome,” he added.

The Eco group criticized campaign organizers for defiling trees with all sorts of campaign materials nailed on them, adding that nails could damage and stress out trees.

“We are deeply saddened by the way trees are violated as if they do not matter,” noted Alvarez, who has planted over 50,000 tree saplings since 1997, particularly in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range.

Alvarez reminded political candidates of the various benefits the trees are providing humanity.

“Trees clean and provide us with breathable air. Trees store water and prevent soil erosion and floods. Trees serve as homes for other living organisms as well as provide shade, food, medicine, paper and fuel, among many other numerous benefits,” Alvarez pointed out.

The group also lamented political candidates’ other campaign violations, such as “littering of promotional leaflets in campaign sorties, the use of smoky vehicles in motorcades, the hanging of posters and streamers on electric wires and posts or over walkways and sidewalks, and the use of oversized posters and billboards.”

Urging political candidates to observe an ecology-friendly campaign, the environmental watchdog suggested that political wannabes observe the “5 Rs”, that is, restrain, reduce, respect, retrieve and remove, during the remaining days of campaign period.

The group said candidates ought to restrain from spending beyond what is allowed; reduce campaign trash by using only what is necessary; respect trees by not nailing campaign materials on them; retrieve campaign materials instead of dumping them; and remove materials right away after elections.

Pro Life Philippines to hold seminar on teen sexuality

A training seminar on teen issues that aims to strengthen the ability of those who work with young people on various issues affecting their lives will be held on May 27-29 at Bahay Ugnayan, Good Shepherd Convent in Quezon City.

Organized by Pro-Life Philippines, the three-day session will gather teachers, counselors, catechists, parents, lay leaders and others who deal with teen agers and the issues they face in their daily life.

Titled “Teen Sexuality, Teaching and Counseling Training Seminar”, the three-day whole day lecture-workshop will tackle issues like “suicide and the emo culture” and “pornography and media”.

Through training, organizers hope to reinforce the skills of participants to answer the needs of today’s youth especially in dealing with issues that daily confront them, like human sexuality, marriage, family planning and population education, and act on these issues according to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

A manual of training modules on teen sexuality will be presented to the participants who will be trained on how to apply the module in their work.

The manual titled “Learning to Live and Love” is supplemented with updated reading materials. It has been endorsed by the Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic
Education and the Commission on Family and Life of the Archdiocese of
Manila.

The training seminar is open to anyone who is committed to work with teens. A fee of Php 1,200.00 is required for those who wish to participate. More information on the event can be acquired by phoning 733-7027 or 6923794, telefax 734-9425or email life@prolife.org.ph.

Groups urge voters to elect green leaders in May polls

Environmental advocates have urged the electorates to choose future leaders who have green agenda in the upcoming May elections.

The call was made by Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), a network of more than 80 non-government organizations that advocate environmental and human rights issues, during the Earth Day celebration on April 22.

“We urge each voter to look into the platforms of the candidates especially with regards to their environmental and development agenda for our country,” ATM Coordinator Jaybee Garganera, in a press release said.

“We seek green leaders that possess strong political will to change the system of thoughtless fast-tracked issuance of business permits to the extractive industries and poor regulation of these industries,” Garganera stressed.

On Thursday, more than 200 environmental advocates gathered at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to create public awareness on environmental issues and encourage voters to pick leaders who have green agenda.

“Celebrating Earth Day remind us of Mother Earth’s centuries-old generosity providing humanity the resources we need to survive in this planet. Reality is, we have used our resources beyond our basic needs with our hunger for personal ‘wants’ and development,” Garganera lamented.

Garganera lambasted the government’s misguided development system that has left the environment in critical condition.

The continued extraction of mineral resources has exhausted the earth’s capacity to regenerate or replenish, relentlessly polluted our air, water and land and disturbed our climate due to excessive emissions, Garganera said.

“We call on a system change not climate change! We need to change the current misguided development system that exacerbates climate change. In particular, the aggressive promotion of extractive and fossil-fuel based economy such as logging, mining and coal-fired power, squander what is left of our finite resources,” he added.

Garganera urged the scrapping of Philippine Mining Act of 1995, and batted for the passage of an alternative law on mineral management. He also called for a moratorium on large-scale mining operations.

He said the country’s future leaders should deal strongly with “environmental criminals and implement stricter measures on environmental safeguards.”

Church-based group to hold inter-faith rally for peaceful polls

FEARING the worst scenario that might happen in the upcoming May polls, a church-based group called Circles of Discernment has urged the people to remain vigilant and work together for a credible election.

The group, composed of clergy, religious and lay, will hold an inter-faith rally of prayer and action for peaceful and credible election on April 22, at Plaza Roma in Intramuros, Manila.

“We call on everyone. Let us come together in united, common purpose. Together let us work for credible elections,” the group said.

The group has expressed apprehension on the uncertainty of a peaceful and honest conduct of elections in May because of the many glitches in the electoral system that have remained unaddressed.

“There are fears that it might not push through at all or that there will be a failure of elections as a result of either a breakdown in the first-ever nationwide automated electoral system (AES) or of heightened election violence and massive fraud,” the group stated.

But with people putting their hopes on the political exercise to bring “true meaningful change not only in government but also in their lives”, the group called on electorates to work together to ensure that a peaceful and honest election will be held.

The Circles of Discernment group is led by Msgr. Manuel Gabriel and Fr. Jose Dizon, convenors-Clergy Discernment Group; sr. Maureen Catabian, RGS and Fr. Wilfredo Dulay, MJ, convenors-Religious Discernment Group; and Ms Fe Maria Arriola, convenor-lay Discernment Group.

Bishops issue guidelines for May polls

AWARE of the crisis of credibility that hounds every election in the country, the bishops of the metropolitan province of Tuguegarao has issued pastoral guidelines to the faithful for the upcoming May polls.

Tuguegarao Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan, Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena, Tabuk Bishop Prudencio Andaya, and Ilagan Bishop Joseph Nacua have released a joint pastoral exhortation reminding the faithful to exercise their God-given right of suffrage responsibly.

“The exercise of the rights of suffrage is morally significant for it has to do with our basic search for justice and freedom, and with our nation’s well-being. It is then immoral to sell one’s vote and to treat one’s crucial right as a commercial commodity. More reprehensible yet is the practice of those who seek to thwart the genuine expression of the people’s will by vote-buying,” the bishops exhorted.

The prelates urged the people to pray and discern well in their choice of candidates.

“They must choose God-fearing persons, who are moral, not given to vices, reverent of life and its deserved decency, consistent true friends of the poor, ever protective of the integrity of creation, simple and humble, and good examples of responsible Filipino citizenship,” they stressed.

The pastoral letter urged the faithful to safeguard the sanctity of the ballot and to condemn violence in any form that would undermine the freedom of electorates to vote according to their conscience.

“We must be strong in our protest against the use of influence and other forms of moral coercions that officials and leaders have in offices, schools and organizations for the purpose of gaining loyalty and support for a political party or candidate,” the bishops said.

Highlighting the role of poll watchers and volunteers to ensure a credible election, the prelates said they should be allowed to do their duty without any restrictions.

Parishioners under the leadership of their pastors should join hands with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) in manning the polling centers to ensure that people’s votes are safeguarded, they said.

Commending the youth’s idealism, the bishops also encouraged the young people “to face, with courage and with conviction, the risks to commitment and the trials of involvement.”

“I trust in the idealism of the youth; their vigilance and militancy in our country have been most inspiring,” they added.

The bishops also took note of military presence in polling precincts, especially in areas considered hot spots, saying their presence should not be used as means to support any political group.

With many candidates spending beyond their means during the campaign period, the bishops called on candidates “to demonstrate their trustworthiness and honesty” and submit to “popular will.”

The prelates criticized overspending by some candidates during the campaign period saying that such is “condemnable” when many are suffering.

“Let us remember our lesson in the past elections that excessive campaign expenses do not assure good and responsive governance. Excessive campaign expenses can lead the elected candidate to the vicious cycle of graft and corrupt practices,” they stressed.

The bishops then urged the faithful to pray and ask the intercession of the Our Lady of Piat “for peaceful elections and a unified people before, during, and after elections.”

Filipinos urged to fast, pray for peaceful May elections

A CHURCH group has called on the Filipino people to fast, discern and pray, for honest, peaceful and credible elections in May.

In a statement, the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines said the unfolding events of recent weeks involving the actions of the present administration were all symptomatic of the president’s “desire to cling to power at all cost.”

“We see unfolding before our eyes what we have suspected – GMA’s desire to cling to power at all cost - her running for congress, her manipulation of the law to make her cohorts run for congress, the prostitution of the party list system to enable ridiculous representations like Mikey Arroyo representing the security guards, one of their relatives representing balut vendors, etc.,” the statement partly read.

The statement was signed by Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB and Fr. Jesus Malit, SSS, chairpersons of the associations of major superiors of religious women and religious men, respectively.

The religious body also expressed dismay on the inability of Comelec to act on the many problems hounding the Automated Election System.

It also criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the president to appoint the next Chief Justice even against the Constitution.

“The Supreme Court has done the unconscionable act – allowing Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to name the Supreme Court Chief Justice even against the Constitution and preceding decisions of the SC,” the statement said.

The recent events, according to the group, can lead to “the possibility of failed elections due to various technical causes; failure of proclamation of national candidates; transition government headed by GMA; massive undetectable electronic cheating; Junta; and Martial Law.”

Such possibilities, they said, call for “prayer and fasting, vigilance and commitment” from the people.

“We encourage our communities to undertake fasting and prayer. We call for discernment and action. Now more than ever, our people need the accompaniment of our religious brothers and sisters,” the group said.

Beginning April 9 to July 2, the AMRSP will sponsor consecutive Masses for peaceful elections and turn over, every Friday at 6 p.m. at the La Salle Greenhills Chapel.

They urged all religious communities to join the prayer activity and “light a candle for clean, honest, peaceful and credible elections.”

The major superiors also called on members of communities to vote and serve as poll watchers during elections.

“We must guard against any attempt to frustrate the peoples’ will before, during and after elections,” the group said.

Meanwhile, AMRSP’s Mission Partner, the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), will observe, document and report the entire electoral proceedings through an endeavor called Bantay Eleksyon.

“Though hoping for the best, we should be prepared for the worst,” the religious superiors said. “If any of the above scenarios come to pass, we should be committed to join protest actions that will clearly show that we will not take the frustration of our peoples’ will lying down,” they added.

Group calls on people for united action on May polls

Representatives of the clergy, religious and laity forming a group called Circles of Discernments have called on the people to come together to discern plans for collective action in view of the upcoming May elections.

In an Easter Manifesto titled “A Passover for the Filipino People”, the group urged all Filipinos to look for worthy leaders and support them to replace those “unworthy” ones.

“Let us organize on the grassroots level and affirm the right to vote. Let us move to sustain the fervor of those who want their votes to count so the people’s sovereign will could prevail in this land of the morning sun,” the manifesto stated.

Accusing the present administration of corrupting the moral fiber of the people and of institutions, the group said it holds the Arroyo government responsible for the current state the country is in.

“We accuse her [Arroyo] and her cohorts of unprecedented corruption, enriching themselves by stealing from the poorest of the land—indigenous communities, farmers, peasants, among others. They lie and cheat with impunity. They perpetuate political dynasties that enable a few families to appropriate political and economic powers. They have prostituted our democratic and cultural values. They have betrayed our trust. They have stolen the future of the yet unborn Filipino by squandering at bargain prices our country’s natural resources,” the manifesto read.

The group also held Arroyo accountable for scores of human rights abuses that plagued her administration.

“We hold this regime responsible for the 1,118 extrajudicial killings and 204 enforced disappearances that have taken place from January 2001 to October 2009, symptomatic of the utter disregard this administration has for human rights,” they further said.

Saying that the upcoming May elections could signal a fresh start for the nation, the group called on the citizenry to keep their guard as foreboding signs of a no-election or failure of elections scenarios manifest themselves.

“There are indications that the election will be manipulated to advance the purposes of those in power. Worse, there is evidence pointing to a dastardly plot to bring about failure of election or, the non-proclamation of elected officials on the national level. It has become obvious that the many delays and glitches in the COMELEC’s preparation for the election are not so much a matter of inefficiency, but rather, as they are a part of a grand scheme to make the elections fail,” the group said.

The group also noted that a failed election scenario can be used as an excuse for the imposition of martial law and the continuation of the Arroyo government in a hold-over capacity.

Or, Arroyo, who is running for Congress could easily gain a majority that can pave the way for a parliamentary government and her being chosen as Prime Minister, they said.

Recalling the observance of the Holy Week, the group said Filipinos have in reality, shared the passion and death of Jesus.

“In real life, in this our beautiful and dangerous land, we have accompanied Him bearing our own pain and suffering in the hope of resurrection,” they said.

Just as Jesus in Gethsemane urged his apostles to watch, stay and pray, in the same manner, he is asking us to do the same today, the group said.

“The call of the hour is prophetic vigilance. In one prophetic voice we must denounce this orgy of betrayal, name the Judases of our times and unmask them. We have what it takes to thwart the diabolical wiles of the Arroyo administration in its attempt to degrade our standing as people within the international community of nations,” they added.

They said the Filipinos’ capacity to bear the cross of suffering will lead them to their own resurrection, with God leading the way.

The group forming the Circles of Discernment is composed of clergy, religious and lay people who took the initiative to get together to discern the current national situation in response to the call of the bishops to form “communities of faith-discernment and action.”

Change must begin within us, prelate says

NATIONAL transformation is possible to happen even in a country like ours but change has to happen first within oneself, a senior prelate said.

In his Easter message, former CBCP president and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said that by his resurrection Jesus has triumphed over the evil of sin, injustice, violence, war and death.

But this victory of Jesus over the power of evil must first begin in our life before it can spread in the community, in society and country, he explained.

Lagdameo then reminded the faithful that the betterment of the country does not depend on politicians but on the citizens who are “renewed, regenerated and reformed witnesses” of the resurrected Christ.

“Beyond the promises of the many political candidates who want to deliver our country from its many social and political problems, we must not forget that the resurrection of a new Philippines is founded on each of us…” he said.

With a touch of optimism, Lagdameo said Filipinos should look at the past “with all its tragedies, disappointments, regrets and sins” as important components in the work of renewal.

He said just as Holy Thursday and Good Friday served as the backdrop of Easter Sunday for Jesus, so we view the past and all its disappointments in the same manner.

“Easter provides us with new eyes, mind and attitude in dealing with these realities,” Lagdameo said.

The prelate noted that people sometimes get the misleading notion that life’s difficulties and other social ills disappear all at once at the coming of Easter.

“We tend to cultivate the illusory and fantastic idea that in the blink of an eye, tomorrow, after Easter, there will no longer be pain, sickness, social tragedies, injustice and war… instead there will be fraternity, community, peace and disarmament. But it does not happen that way, instantly,” he said.

Instead, Lagdameo said, Easter must be experienced within the framework of life’s realities that include pain, sickness and problems.

“The message of Easter does not take away the world’s suffering,” the prelate said.

“The joy of the Resurrection should not be disconnected from the cross which preceded it, in forgetfulness of the scourging and crucifixion,” he added.

Easter does not cancel the paschal mystery as if these did not happen, instead it helps us believe in the mystery of life and love that comes forth from it, he further said.

CBCP head: There’s hope amid difficulties

DESPITE mounting problems of poverty and other social ills in Philippine society that can push any individual in a state of misery, the triumph of Easter joy brings renewed hope in the heart, said the head of the Catholic Bishops hierarchy.

CBCP president and Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar, said in his Easter message, that the radiant triumph of Jesus’ resurrection should prevail over feelings of doubt or hopelessness amid difficulties that the country is facing.

“However dark the horizon may seem, today we celebrate the radiant triumph of Easter joy. We are now children of resurrection! Let no one yield to dismay and lack of trust! We hold in our hearts the very foundation of Hope,” the CBCP president said.

Odchimar noted how the current state of the country has left many Filipinos cynical on whether progress and development can possibly happen in the country.

“With the ascending rate of poverty, electoral deceit, crime and violence, graft and corruption, abuse of natural resources and other forms of social evil, naturally only a few can speak of hope for a better Philippines,” he said.

“Electoral processes are manipulated by some influential politicians. Suffrage is curtailed by vote-buying-and-selling, various forms of threat, and erratic understanding of Utang na loob,” added Odchimar.

With a big percentage of Filipinos living below poverty line, this poor segment of society fall easy prey to devious politicians who resort to vote-buying during election time.

The CBCP head also pointed out other social evils that the government has failed to address, like extrajudicial killings and destruction of environment that in the past have led to loss of lives and properties.

“These are but only some of the gruesome faces of evil leaving the nation in dire misery and hopelessness,” he said.

But with the risen Christ, “the journey through life gets brighter, not darker. People going through great crisis find comfort in His presence. He comes to us as answer to our tears over death,” Odchimar said.

Quoting the Pope’s Annual Easter message, Odchimar said: "By his rising, the Lord has not taken away suffering and evil from the world but has vanquished them at their roots by the superabundance of his grace.”

“By his death Jesus has crushed and triumphed over the iron-clad law of death, eliminating its poisonous root for ever,” said Odchimar.

He then urged the faithful to also “become rays of hope for the despairing, lighted candles amidst darkness, and show compassion [to] the abandoned” even as they experience themselves the same life-giving hope, light, and love from the Resurrected Christ.

“In this season of Easter, as we continue to contemplate the Lord’s resurrection, we let the Holy Spirit bring us to that glorious event where we may encounter the risen Lord again and relive the joyful hope of Easter,” he said.

Easter, a call to a renewed life – Cardinal

FOR a true Christian believer, the resurrection of Jesus is a challenge to leave the past and live a renewed life.

In an Easter Message, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said the resurrection is Jesus’ triumph over sin and evils human beings have done and still do, and “after the Resurrection, it can never be ‘business as usual.’ ”

“After the Resurrection no more shall there be compromising with deceit, dishonesty, and the worship of money and power,” the cardinal said.

Rosales said Jesus’ resurrection is a challenge to all Christians to make a complete make-over of their life from what they used to.

By his resurrection, Christ has proclaimed “a new way of behaving, a new way of loving, a new way of serving and how we could all be bound by Peace,” the prelate said.

The cardinal also noted that it is significant that the celebration of Easter always comes before a national election “because the lessons of the Resurrection lead to new life and a new encouraging service.”

He then called on all Filipinos to choose their leaders wisely in the coming elections.

“Discern with prayerful judgment as to who the nation should entrust with the task of new and inspiring honest leadership that leads to unity and peace,” he said.