CHIZ CHIDES GOVERNMENT ON EMPTY 'GREEN PROMISES'

Senator Chiz Escudero yesterday chided the Arroyo administration for its failure to implement a genuine environmental management program as he called for a comprehensive national policy to preserve the country's fast-dwindling natural resources.

"This government has been making one empty promise after another in supposedly preserving the environment. But the sad fact is our environment is in a sorry state of degradation," Escudero said.

He said the indiscriminate granting of mining permits and logging concessions has resulted in deforestation, erosion, and siltation.

In the last 100 years, the country's forests have dwindled from 270,000 square kilometers to just 8,000 kilometers. Despite this, the Arroyo government has yet to implement a genuine and comprehensive reforestation program.

"We lose about 100,000 hectares of forests every year to deforestation which forces us to import about $50 million worth of forest products annually. The government has failed to address the root causes of this situation, choosing instead to address the problem through semantics rather than solutions," Escudero said.

Massive deforestation is one of the major causes of marine degradation as well since siltation has polluted the waterways which drain into coastal areas and has led to the loss of coral reefs and mangroves which has impacted on wildlife and biodiversity.

The opposition senator said that while the liberalization of the mining industry has given the economy a boost, the ecological impact has been negative because the government has failed to oversee the massive mining activities that ensued.

The Arroyo administration has so far approved 359 mineral agreements covering 514,949 hectares, mostly in forests and mountain ranges. The acceleration in granting mining permits has not been matched by strict enforcement of environmental laws, Escudero said.

"Today, mining continues to be practiced even in watershed and protected areas," he lamented.

The senator also said the government has failed to adequately address the waste problem. Studies indicate that less than 40 percent of solid waste is collected. The uncollected waste finds its way into rivers and streets, contaminating more than half of groundwater.

"There seems to be a lack of political will when it comes to enforcing our waste management laws. The environment is compromised by too much politics, and with it the health and well-being of the Filipino people," Escudero noted.

The senator also wondered if the government was monitoring the compliance by the oil firms of the Biofuels Law which mandates a minimum five-percent ethanol mix for unleaded gasoline and a 10-percent mix for diesel.

"The government cannot continue paying lip service to the environment. The threats to the environment are real, and so must government's response. Global warming, loss of biodiversity, and loss of habitat are very real problems as they impact directly on the livelihood of Filipinos, especially in the countryside. These require very real solutions, not empty promises," Escudero said.