Priests, group warn voters: Beware of fake green warriors

EARLY BIRD Melchor Romero, 76, the first voter in line as precincts opened in Dagupan City for the nationwide mock polls on Saturday, casts his vote. WILLIE LOMIBAO / INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

LUCENA CITY — Don’t fall for “pseudo-environmentalists.”

This was the message of environmentalists, including two Catholic priests, to voters in Quezon province, referring to candidates who introduce themselves as green advocates and dangle their concerns for the environment to win their support.

In an online interview on Tuesday, Robert Reyes, the “running priest,” said voters should shun “those with glib green tongues, desperately concealing dark and thoroughly polluted hearts.”

Reyes, who has been raising awareness on environmental, social and political issues around the country through running, said a true environmentalist, in the word of Pope Francis, “avoids words and prefers the hidden and subtle power of contemplation.”

A genuine environmentalist, whether a politician or an ordinary citizen, “is contemplative, speaking in silence, speaking with his life of witness,” he said.

Voters should not be deceived by the candidates’ “colorful fakery,” said another priest, Pete Montallana, who is known for his advocacy in protecting the Sierra Madre mountain ranges from loggers and poachers.

SOLDIERS watch over seized lumber from the Sierra Madre mountain ranges in Quezon province in this 2005 photo.
DELFIN T. MALLARI JR./INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

“These candidates will introduce themselves using publicly appealing tags as ‘green warriors,’ ‘environment protectors’ to [get votes],” Montallana said.

He said: “We all have to vote for candidates with a sincere concern in the protection of [what remains of our] fragile environment. Enough of fake environmentalists in the government.”

The priests urged voters to look beyond the candidates’ promises and examine their motives.

“Let us choose wisely. Don’t just listen to rhetoric. Look at track records and previous positions [of politicians] on critical environmental issues,” said Glenn Forbes, area director of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Luzon.

Forbes urged them to study the candidates’ positions on how to address deforestation, destruction of corals and mangroves, destructive mining and displacement of communities, pollution, poaching, and illegal trade of wildlife, among other environmental problems. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon