Senator Cynthia Villar has called for responsibility and passion in doing one’s part to help heal Mother Nature.
Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, issued the call in line with the global observance of the 49th World Economic Day on Sunday (June 5).
The senator gave assurance that the people’s collective efforts would make a difference in the protection and conservation of our environment.
Speaking during the installation of Verde Island Passage (VIP) Marker on the occasion the of the UN World Environment Day organized by environmentalist lawyer Tony Oposa, Villar noted that the United Nations has warned that the earth faces a triple planetary emergency.
She identified these challenges as: the climate heating up too quickly for people and nature to adapt, continuing habitat loss and other pressures resulting in estimated one million species threatened with extinction, and pollution continuing to poison the air, land and water.
“Due to this, the United Nations finds it fitting to adopt the “Only One Earth” slogan as a reminder for us, earthlings, that while there are billions of galaxies, planets and stars, the Earth is just our one solitary home and we should take care of it,” Villar said.
“All of us are being encouraged to be more connected to it, focus on living sustainably in harmony with nature, and shift our lifestyles from harming the Earth to healing it,” she added.
The invitation of Oposa, the senator said, has brought into her consciousness the need to accord the appropriate protection status to VIP, the channel that cuts through the Philippines by the south of Luzon.
The marker is right at the center of the Coral Triangle that is considered an area of extreme ecological importance.
It was reported in the 2005 study led by marine biologist Dr. Kent Carpenter that the VIP has the highest concentration of marine shorefish biodiversity on the planet.
Because of this, Villar said it has been labeled as “the epicenter of marine biodiversity”.
“Even with this little information I gathered, I am a little bit why up to now it seems that no protection status “by legislation” has been accorded to VIP that could ensure its sustainability,” said Villar, who has been espousing on environmental protection.”
Villar also related she was one of the many that was inspired by Oposa’s brilliant work in instigating the continuing mandamus for the clean-up and rehabilitation of Manila Bay.
“The continuing mandamus has provided the needed justification that helped in boosting my very own continuing efforts that I have started way back in 2002 to clean up two (2) rivers in my hometown, namely the Zapote River and the Las Pinas River, and even my more recent efforts of cleaning up as well the neighboring Molino River in Bacoor City.
All of these rivers directly flow into Manila Bay,” she related.
“To finally witness a clean and pollution-free Manila Bay that is fit for recreational swimming (just like in the old days) is indeed an aspiration worth pursuing for the benefit of the living and future generations,” she further stated.
