Climate change now serious matter for Church, military

DAVAO CITY – Religious, military and government leaders are one in saying that Filipinos should now be more proactive in caring for the environment to combat the ill-effects of climate change.

“We now have to pay attention to climate change,” Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in the aftermath of Tuesday’s flashflood that killed at least 30 people in four villages here.

“Some people don’t believe it’s coming. The balance of the environment is now disturbed and so we have flashflood, tornadoes,” Capalla said.

The prelate said he would write a pastoral letter encouraging people to plant trees “because our survival depends on it.”

“Even the rich will not survive if we don’t have environmental protection,” he said.

He also appealed to subdivision developers to refrain from cutting trees, which help absorb water.

While admitting that the city is helpless against flashfloods, Mayor Sara Duterte said residents living in low-lying areas should now start “to fortify their houses and even elevate these” against flooding.

She said the local government was addressing the problem of flooding but would need the cooperation of the community.

Major General Jorge Segovia, chief of the 10th Infantry Division of the Eastern Mindanao command, said soldiers who have been active in tree-planting activities have now shifted into “tree-growing.” Dennis Jay Santos, Inquirer Mindanao