While I was taking stock of Saturday’s forum on the Cordova reclamation project to make it the subject of today’s column, sad and shocking news dampened an already dark and rainy day. Whitney Houston and Svitlana Kravchenko passed away. Both were icons in the fields of entertainment and environmental law, respectively. Their God-given gifts enriched lives and the world. There is no one like them.
Whitney Houston was a phenomenal artist whose music touched the depths of our souls. My favorite of her songs, “Greatest Love of All,” is timeless as it is about loving one’s self, maintaining dignity and independence and empowering our children to be strong and proud of themselves.
The lines below culled from the song hold special meaning to advocates fighting the lonely battle for societal transformation:
“And if by chance that special place
That you’ve been dreaming of
Leads you to a lonely place
Find your strength in love”
With record-breaking album sales and popularity, the sensational Whitney Houston reached the pinnacle of what is considered by society as “success.” However, reports of drug abuse and soured marital relations pulled her down. She tried to bounce back, but she never recovered the lost glory.
Her life and downfall find strong parallelism in the disconcerting developments in our country. The abundance of natural resources, many of which could not be found in other places, has tragically become a magnet for investors who want more of them – minerals, timber, fisheries and wildlife. Laws were, and still are, mere “suggestions.” The culture of impunity flourished. The hunger for riches and power became an addiction. Sustainability for present and future generations was never a factor in policy and decision-making. Public participation was almost nil. Our rich and unique resources had become a global curse.
Scientists and conservationists shudder at how we have allowed the continuing plunder of our natural treasures. “The destruction of our original forests, freshwater and marine ecosystems have led to an unmatched biodiversity crisis” in our globally significant country. (Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Priorities, 2002)
In Cebu, a looming controversy involves a reclamation project in Cordova town, which hosts a significant area of diverse and rich ecosystems of sea grass, corals and mangroves. The devastating impact on food security, ecological integrity and human rights cannot be downplayed as do legal issues surrounding the implementation of the project without the approval from the Philippine Reclamation Agency and genuine public consultation and access to information.
How long will we allow the sad state to continue? When it is too late to reverse the tide of disasters?
In an interview, Houston described herself as “her best friend and worst enemy.” Is that not particularly applicable to our relationship with Nature? Al Gore pointed this out accurately: “The struggle to save the global environment is in one way much more difficult than the struggle to vanquish Hitler, for this time the war is with us. We are the enemy, just as we have only ourselves as allies.”
Unlike Whitney whose search for personal happiness was seemingly an unfulfilled dream, Prof. Svitlana Kravchenko was a lively, stimulating personality and blissful with her life as environmental law professor, diplomat, author, and wife to an equally outstanding global citizen, John Bonine.
Svitlana (‘Swit’ to her Filipino friends) was the Director of Oregon University’s LLM Program in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. The author of 12 books and numerous scholarly articles and book chapters, she taught environmental law for more than 25 years at Lviv National University, Ukraine, before joining the UO School of Law. She worked as a “citizen diplomat” in the international negotiation of the Aarhus Convention, and she served as an elected member and vice chair of its compliance committee. She was the founder and president of Environment- People-Law, the first public interest environmental law firm in the Ukraine. She was also co-founder and co-director of the Association of Environmental Law of Central and Eastern Europe.
Swit was honored last year with the Senior Scholarship Prize from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Academy of Environmental Law, announced at the academy’s 9th Annual International Colloquium, held in Eastern Cape, South Africa. The prize recognizes excellence in research, articles and books produced during the past five years, as well as contributions to the academy’s goals. The criteria for the award included the originality, intellectual influence and international significance of her publications in environmental law.
In accepting the award, she said, “We face a world of onrushing disaster, fueled by carbon and greed. We also face a world that still contains great beauty and that is populated by humans capable of great acts of generosity.” She urged other scholars to move society “toward beauty and generosity.”
Swit’s (and John’s) great imprint especially in developing countries include mainstreaming environmental rights as a distinct category of human rights. She co-authored with John Bonine the books, Teacher’s Manual to Human Rights and the Environment: Cases, Law, and Policy (2010) and Human Rights and the Environment (2008), among other scholarly publications on human rights and environment. When both were in Cebu last year, they extensively discussed our human rights to access information and participate in decision-making. Their visit became the subject of my column (globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view/20110124-316289/Memorable-moments-with-John-Svitlana).
Our condolences and prayers to John and their bereaved family. Swit made a tremendous mark in this world, and for which we are most grateful. As we celebrate her most meaningful journey in this life and dedicate our advocacy to her and John, Tony Oposa has this to say:
“Lumalabay ang tanan. Sama sa lusay nga gibanlas sa bawod sa baybayon, motunga, magpabilin kadali, dayon pagbalik sa balod, kuhaon pag-usab. Mao kana ang sugilanon sa atong kinabuhi. Apan samtang ania pa kita sa baybayon, katawa, hudyaka, a smile, a kind word and a good deed make life worthwhile.”