Year: 2022

Quezon City, Philippines – Pollution watchdog EcoWaste Coalition raises alarm on the proposed  Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) bill on plastic packaging waste and asks President Rodrigo Duterte to scrap said proposed bill.

“Institutionalizing EPR mechanisms is a welcome development in our push for a plastic-free Philippines. Sadly, the proposed EPR bill by congress promotes greenwashing and false solutions allowing plastic polluters to just continue their wasteful business practices at the expense of the environment and our communities,” said  Coleen Salamat, Plastic Solutions Campaigner of EcoWaste Coalition.

According to the group, a genuine EPR follows the concept of ‘polluters’ pay principle’ that  puts greater responsibility on those who pollute more, such as the plastic industry and producers of fast-moving consumer goods.

“The current trend on the initiatives of consistent top polluters like Nestle, Procter and Gamble, Unilever, Coca-Cola, still heavily rely on cement kilns, chemical recycling, and other false solutions that burn or melt single-use plastics. These false solutions are not just a threat to the environment but also a public health concern. Schemes like these do not reduce or prevent waste but also contribute to worsening of air pollution,” said Salamat.

“The current EPR bill is not a precedent that polluters will be held accountable since it does not penalize producers for prohibited acts on the production, use, distribution, and importation of non-environmentally acceptable products and packaging,” added Salamat.

In 2019, a research by Nature Climate Change found that if plastic was a country, it would be the fifth largest emitter in the world.

“We urge President Duterte to stay true to the Philippines commitment of 75% reduction of domestic emission by 2030. We are in a defining moment for our climate, we need lasting zero waste solutions that do not further contribute to the warming of our planet,” said Salamat.

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For more information, please contact:
EcoWaste Coalition
info@ecowastecoalition.org

LAIKO Conversation on the Pentecost:

Rev. Fr. Benjamin Alforque, MSC

Prior to the May 9, 2022 elections the mechanisms for deception, cheating, fraud and usurpation of People’s Power in favor of the tandem of dictatorship and tyranny were already in place.

The Structure of the Cheating Machinery:

1. Imee Marcos chaired the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation.

2. The COMELEC was staffed with commissioners identified with the present Malacañang occupant as classmate, or schoolmate, co- provincianos from Davao and a former Marcos lawyer.

3. COMELEC printed more than 40 million ballots and configured SD card for the Smartmatic machines without any party representative or watchers present.

4. F2 Logistics, a company of the crony of the Malacañang occupant handled the transport of ballots, voting machines, SD cards, election returns and other election paraphernalia from the COMELEC to the precincts and back.

5. One presidential candidate boasted of having met governors and local executives, asking them to count the votes correctly and assuring them of help in their programs for their constituents.

In Philippine electoral realities, it is common knowledge that governors, representatives and local officials have mastered the SOPs of cheating, such as, but not limited to: (a) changing of COMELEC officers not favorable or beholden to them; (b) filling up of ballots and stuffing the boxes with these pre-shaded votes; and (c) even using the Sangguniang Kabataan officers and members to do these tricks by quarantining them for days prior to election day.

6. Red-tagging and creating fake public scandals were tools to discredit and destroy candidates, discourage their supporters and weaken their political machinery. The first target has always been the Left, and then the opposition, by linking the Opposition with the Communists.

7. The Coup-Martial Law-No Elections Options: there was a move to prevent a LeniKiko and Tropa victory, at all cost. This time politicians and the military came up with a fake excuse of a communist violent disruption of the electoral process which could force government and the military to postpone the elections, or declare no elections, until 6 months to a year, from May 9, 2022. In fact, massive opposition rallies were tagged as rehearsals for a new People Power Revolution, instigated by the Left.

Behind the scene was the huge army of trolls in the social media that were paid cultural apparatus tasked to glowingly paint the son of the dictator and the daughter of the tyrant as positive campaigners for unity, that Martial Law was the golden age of the Philippines and that the present Malacañang occupant picked up the progress of the country neglected by succeeding presidents after Martial Law.

A the same time these aggressively demonized most especially the LeniKiko tandem, the Tropa and Makabayan candidates with the most vile language, most hateful charges and lies ranging from the most laughable and degrading commentaries to the most immoral concoctions and demeaning sexual gossips. This use of social media included the mind- conditioning surveys that must be proved by the “results of the actual canvassing of votes, so quick and so massive, so that these results would appear unassailable and acceptable that, confused, the opposition and the masses would have no room to suspect and complain but be sad and lick their defeat in sorrow and grief and powerlessness and utter defeat!”

Greetings of peace!

We are forwarding you the attached Solidarity Statement against Tampakan Mines from the Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace (ECSA-JP) /Caritas Philippines asking for support and signatures of the bishops and dioceses.

You may send your reply/consent through email or via text message to:

Ms. Jing Rey Henderson
Head of Communications and Partnership Development Office
ECSA-JP/Caritas Philippines
email: caritasphilippines@gmail.com / mjrhenderson@outlook.com
mobile: 0905-5469-977

Sincerely in the Lord,

Msgr. Bernardo Pantin
Secretary General

As we celebrate Laudato Si’ Week, we join with the people of South Cotabato and the surrounding provinces in expressing our strong opposition to the decision of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of South Cotabato to amend the ban on open-pit mining.

This decision threatens the ecological integrity of the place that for years provided and sustains all forms of life; putting in danger the watersheds of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, and Davao del Sur.

Lifting the ban on open-pit mining in Tampakan will hugely affect the long-term viability and sustainability of the watersheds that provide ecological services to the people of South Central Mindanao, now amplified by the effects of climate change. There is no such thing as development at the expense of the poor and the earth.

We unite our voice with the people of South Cotabato and the different sectors of civil society in appealing to Governor Reynaldo Tamayo, to veto the amendments, listen to the people, and ensure the constitutional rights of the people to a healthy and balanced ecology. 

To the people of South Cotabato, to the indigenous people who participated in the public consultations, rallies, and protests against the lifting of the ban, and to those persecuted and humiliated  for their stand against open-pit mining, may you find consolation with these words from Pope Francis in Laudato Si”:

“I want to recognize, encourage and thank all those striving in countless ways to guarantee the protection of the home which we share.” LS 13

This statement is inspired by the latest pastoral letter of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines in 2022, “A Call for Unity and Action amid a Climate Emergency and Planetary Crisis”,  which states that the “church commits not to support any activity that leads to promoting destructive mining, recognizing the suffering it has brought and continues to bring upon the environment and affected communities.”

In this time of pandemic and climate disaster, protecting the ecological integrity that sustains and provides for all forms of life is an indispensable action to ensure the future generation.

Contrary to popular belief, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” is not a Church doctrine.

Yes, we are told to respect authority and public officials. Yes, we are told to follow the Law and to work for the Common Good of our respective communities and nations. And yes, we are also taught to value democracy and all its fruits: the recognition of human rights and dignity, and the power of the ballot, among others.

But there are times when the Voice of the People – even if they speak in astounding unison – cannot be mistaken for the Voice of God. There are times when people are misled by lies, or threatened by force, or rewarded for believing what they know to be untrue.

I think this is very relevant today as we reconcile ourselves with the outcome of the recently-concluded elections. Not merely because I am disappointed with its results, but rather because I am concerned with what they mean for us as a country moving forward.

What I find most concerning is our relationship with truth. The advent of social media has made the spreading of information easier and more convenient, but it has not made the information more reliable. Throughout these elections, many problematic opinions and downright false news and information have proliferated in order to attack certain people and lift up others.

Of course, this is nothing new. Studies from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APFC), and other reputable academic institutions have noted the prominent role of Youtube, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter in increasing the media reach of national politicians, most notably the presumptive President in providing “alternative facts” related to the history of his family and his own alleged misdeeds.

I am also no stranger to the fact that many relationships have been fractured by debates and discussions on what is true and what should be believed, and the actions which historical facts should entail. I feel the frustration in every person who, upon wholeheartedly trying to convince the other to not fall for lies on the internet, was just met with a dismissive plea to “respect” the other person’s “opinion.” But I also understand why people find some truths hard to accept.