MANILA, Philippines—Fast forward to July, when a new President shall have been installed. What’s on the environmental agenda during his/her first 100 days in office?
Environmental groups Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Ecowaste Coalition recently organized the 2010 Green Electoral Initiative (GEI) as part of their campaign to push the environment as a mainstream issue in the elections.
In a questionnaire, the 2010 GEI challenged the presidential candidates to present their positions and plans of action on key environmental issues such as climate change and energy, solid waste, water, sustainable agriculture and genetically modified crops, forests, mining, nuclear power and urban environmental challenges (smoke-belchers, huge billboards).
Nicanor Perlas (independent) scored the highest total of points, with Jamby Madrigal (independent) and Richard Gordon (Bagumbayan) trailing behind him with almost equal rankings.
Eddie Villanueva (Bangon Pilipinas), Benigno Aquino III (Liberal Party) and Manuel Villar (Nacionalista Party) and De los Reyes rounded up the green-to-gray ranking system.
An independent panel of evaluators assessed the candidates’ responses based on agreed criteria with specific points assigned per question and issue. (For the full results and the candidates’ responses, visit www.greenpeace.org.ph/elections.)
Not all the presidential candidates took part in the GEI.
Joseph Estrada (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino) and Gilbert Teodoro (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) did not submit their response and therefore landed at the bottom of the overall ranking. JC de los Reyes (Ang Kapatiran) preferred to let his party’s general platform speak for him.
Corruption in DENR
Here’s a sampling of the interesting responses from the candidates (with the responses edited for brevity).
• If elected President, what would be your first environmental act during your first 100 days in office?
PERLAS: Remove all smoke-belching vehicles in Metro Manila. Appoint a person of the highest integrity as environment secretary and support him/her in the campaign against corruption in the Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR).
Task the new environment secretary and his/her team to reexamine all the controversial environmental compliance certificates and questionable logging permits issued and revoke these if they violated the law.
MADRIGAL: Assume the environment portfolio and order an immediate review of all mining permits and agreements issued by the DENR, and suspend further issuances.
VILLANUEVA: Impose a moratorium on large-scale, open-pit mining until after a policy is set in place whereby Filipinos can make their own finished products from their own natural resources under a mining program that protects the environment.
VILLAR: Promote green-collar jobs—very important if we are to help the environment and at the same time generate livelihood.
Move people into pursuing recycling and reforestation efforts, cleaning of estuaries and organic farming, while earning a decent salary and making a difference in their communities.
Put people to work in green jobs, like the construction of solar farms, manufacture of hybrid cars, installation of solar panels, production of wind energy, and the like.
Carry out MTDP
GORDON: Demand the inclusion of sustainable development and climate change adaptation in a Medium Term Development Plan, and carry out the plan.
Integrate disaster risk management with land use planning. Prioritize and fast-track the use of renewable sources energy to address the current energy shortfall, and order the review of current pending power project proposals involving coal and petroleum.
We have $1 trillion worth of mineral resources under the ground. We can use that to jumpstart the economy. But we should rationalize incentives for mining, require mining companies to invest more in the human development of the host community, set aside large sums of money as guarantees of proper environmental compliance, and royalties should go directly to boosting national education and health care.
I am not against mining per se. But every mining project has to be studied in its particular environmental context and geared toward uplifting the host community and the rest of the country.
We should also look at processing minerals instead of merely mining, creating instead of simply excavating. Given the prices of commodities today, mining companies can make a profit with just the right amount of incentives.
AQUINO: Certify as urgent for the legislature to enact a law, as mandated by the Constitution, to delineate once and for all forest lines in the country, as a clear basis for the crafting of a comprehensive national land use policy, as well as for the definition of watersheds and fragile ecosystems.
Integrity
• What qualities would you want in your environment secretary?
PERLAS: My No. 1 quality is integrity. He/she would also be someone with expertise in ecology, environmental conservation/management and/or environmental law, as well as a track record in consensus building, working at the grassroots, and working with civil society.
Like me, he/she must have zero tolerance for corruption and the courage to go after environmental criminals and violators.
MADRIGAL: My principal criterion for those who will join me in the DENR is that they must not be armchair environmentalists. I intend to appoint men and women with activism and courage to stand up for the environment.
VILLANUEVA: He/she should have an undisputed track record of honesty, zero corruption and absolute political will to protect and uphold environmental integrity. Neither he/she nor his/her immediate relatives should have private interests in business corporations that derive profit, directly or indirectly, from environment-related industries.
He/she should have a high level of competence in creating and executing policies that will promote the preservation of our environment and public health and safety.
Passion
VILLAR: I am looking for an environment secretary who has genuine passion and concern for the environment, who fully understands our environmental priorities, who is proactive, and most importantly, whose competence, expertise and leadership have been evidenced by results.
GORDON: He/she must be respected for his/her credentials and track record by both environmental advocates and private enterprises. He/she must be prepared to make hard decisions.
Of course, it will be impossible to please all the stakeholders, but they must ultimately trust in his/her integrity that the best choices, the best balancing of interests, are being made.
He/she should understand that the genuine human welfare and development of the Filipino can only be attained by the proper stewardship of our natural heritage, and should lead others to believe in the same and to conscientiously work toward the goal.
AQUINO: He/she must be at heart an environmental advocate, trained and experienced in the technical, educational, legislative/policy aspects of environmental work. He/she must be given to reasoned debate and judgment more than just polemical argument.
He/she must be passionate about the environment but open to listen to as many, if often conflicting, interests and schools of thought, and in the end be unswervingly clear in the positions and principles of conservation, ecological balance and sustainable development
Political will
• Why has smoke-belching in the metropolis not been effectively curbed despite numerous campaigns?
PERLAS: This is a matter of political will and corruption.
My administration will clamp down on smoke-belching not only in Metro Manila in a period of 100 days but also in other highly urbanized areas where air quality is deteriorating. The latter will be done within a year.
MADRIGAL: It was established that vehicle emission is the primary cause of air pollution in the country. For this reason, the Clean Air Act mandates that a vehicle pass emission testing as a precondition for registration.
But it was admitted by the association of private emission testing centers during the hearing of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Clean Air Act that there was not a single vehicle that failed the emission test.
We need to review the current permit and standard system being used in the registration of vehicles.
VILLANUEVA: Motor vehicle emission standards through roadside inspection and apprehension of violators must be intensified. This requires the increase of enforcement units and skills training for the enhancement of the Metro Manila Development Authority’s enforcement capacities.
It is also time to promote alternative vehicles and conduct R&D in cooperation with foreign experts on new modes of nonpollutive transportation.
VILLAR: The solution is simple: There must be a vigorous and sustained implementation of the antismoke-belching campaign. We must show the public that when we implement our laws, we mean business.
GORDON: Leadership by example… I will regularly go out into the streets with an emission tester in hand, and stop the erring vehicle myself. My environment and transportation secretaries and police chief will do the same, to drive home the point that we have a law, and we are dead serious about implementing it.
AQUINO: We only have to enforce the Clean Air Act. Again, this is about enforcement and the rule of law. Environmental management and governance still return to the core principle of honest, trusted leadership.
