Ano Naman?

Fishermen of Rapu-Rapu town in Albay have to sail past municipal waters just to catch fish due to toxic sludge in waters caused by mining spills. Lafayette Philippines Incorporated (LPI) operated the Rapu-Rapu polymetallic project. LPI is the first mining company allowed by the Philippine government to operate in the country following the enactment of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995. The mine spans a contract area of 4,610.8 hectares, and has copper, zinc, gold and silver deposits.
Rapu-Rapu had been losing residents ever since mining spills/leaks reached the seas where fishermen catch fish, and the majority of the residents of Rapu-Rapu are mostly consisted of fishermen. But because of the damage caused by the LPI operations, fishermen of Rapu-Rapu are now forced to either sail past municipal waters just to catch fish, or leave Rapu-Rapu in hopes to find new seas to fish or find new jobs. Another fisherman (Martin Bola), said that it will take decades for the destroyed corals to show signs of life, for more than 10 years occurrence of toxic spillage, the corals hit by chemicals from LPI mining operation are still lifeless. It will take 10 to 20 years per one coral alone to regenerate it again. He also stated that the government seems clueless on the long-term impact of the mining operations in their town.
Environment advocates have cited the Rapu-Rapu experience as the best example of their case against mining. In the case of the Albay town, which was promised wealth and development for hosting the mining operation, the mining project turned Rapu-Rapu into a wasteland. Though the mine was suspended for just six months, damage still has been done when torrential rains caused separate toxic spills in the LPI mill site and mine tailings dam. The spills were laden with cyanide, causing massive fish kills that extended to coastal communities in Albay and Sorsogon. The suspension of the government towards LPI for six months is not enough, the government failed to monitor the incidents of the mining leaks which caused damage to the seas and left fishermen with a low income.
Written By Dricco Parducho
Source :

Fishermen in Rapu-Rapu face bleak future due to mining woes Fishermen of Rapu-Rapu town in Albay have to sail past municipal waters just to catch fish

According to a study, even short-term exposure to low levels of air pollution can increase risk of cardiac arrest. The researchers identified 249,372 cases of out-of-home cardiac arrest between January 2014 and December 2015. Cardiac arrest is the result of electrical disturbances that cause the heart to suddenly stop beating. One cause of sudden cardiac arrest is a heart attack. About 98.5% of cardiac arrest cases studied occurred while PM2.5 concentrations were lower than the Japanese and US standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter. Nearly 92% took place while PM2.5 concentrations were lower than the standard of 25 micrograms per cubic meter established by the World Health Organization.
It is very alarming for all of us for example, when we breathe in polluted air, it affects the amount of oxygen we have in our body at a given moment and that, in turn, can lead to a reduced "good air" that goes into our brain. It can also irritate our nose, throat, and cause headaches all of which may reduce our concentration. We must reduce pollution now. We must conserve energy-everywhere. There are many ways reducing pollution. Using public transport, you must use your car much less often. You can also carpool and rideshare when you have the opportunity to do so and start using public transportation rather than walking; that way, you don't contribute to all the problems that the weather is already struggling with before you add your vehicle to the mix. You must also drive smart: if you drive regularly make sure you drive smart instead of wasting gas. Drive within the speed limit, make sure there aren't many things in your car that will weigh it down, and do everything you can to preserve the amount of gas you'll use on a regular basis. Other ways is plant a garden: you establish a garden that will give the air the nutrients it needs to be cleaner. There's so many plants out there that the atmosphere will eat up the junk. Do your research and see what you can easily grow, and help the world around you. You may also do the 3Rs, it is the reduce, reuse, and recycle: recycle as much as you can to allow it to be later reused in other products. That way, by adding additional items to the mix of what is going on, you are not adding to the problem.
If we do these things we can reduce the risk of cardiac arrest. But for the people who have it always remember to live a healthy lifestyle: regular exercise eats healthy foods, keep a healthy weight and avoid smoking. Be smart on what you will do next because it may affect all of us.

By Gerson Devoma
Source:

www.cnnphilippines.com

Back in 2015, the Aquino administration extended its reforestation program called the national Greening program the administration extended it until 2028. In 2019, The national greening program failed to meet its 80% of its goal according to the 117-page report of COA. Is the NGP of administration Aquino was useful or it's just another program to entice the environmentalist?

The national greening program aims to plant in degraded forestlands, denuded and unproductive land. The administration also said that the Philippines have 7.1 hectares of land that can qualify for the NGP. The extension was a response in the Paris Agreement or the climate change conference. In 2015 it was already scrutinized because of their inaccurate reports and alleged corruption within the program. In 2019 based on the COA report it the NGP failed to meet 80% of its target and it’s because of many reasons but it all boils down to poor planning. Before we get into the whole idea od the program, let dive into why the NGP failed.

Based on the COA report the target of NGP for the last five years was to cover 1.50 million hectares but they just cover 177,441. Now let's do some math, in one hectare of land you can plant a 2500 sampling, per sapling it will take 30 minutes to plant, which means to cover a hectares of land it will take 75,000 hours of work if the NGP group was consist of 15 experts in tree panting it will take them at least a month to finish. We can say they can hire more say like 100 it will take them roughly 4 days to complete the project, but we cannot say how efficient the planters will be. The cost of labor should also be considered. We can say that the real problem was the ambitious target, right? Okay, that’s another factor. But the truth is like I said earlier it is just boiling down to poor planning.

The NGP has a lot of potentials, not just in the environment sector but also in the labor sector. The Aquino administration, based on the articles I read, did not distribute or coordinate with the local LGUs to execute their plan. I believe that 7.1 million hectares of land are distributed all around the Philippines, if we distribute it to the LGUs they can give jobs to the workless Filipino, they can teach them how to plant trees and invites experts to oversee the whole project. Not only we help the environment but l we help our flow Filipinos to have a job.

Another factor can be The NGP has failed because it was a project f the Aquino Administration. Now, my point is, the NGP failed because there is a chance it is given a less budget, or it was less prioritize but the Duterte Administration, To be fair Duterte Administration is not a guilty administration or politician, that kind of practice has been going since I had interest in politics and it became a norm in our political culture. The current administration suppresses the last administration of ongoing projects if that administration was not their party mates. Our current Administration may suppress the program because if it became successful, they will remember the Aquino administration, not the Duterte administration. Then again, it’s just a synthesis. I am going to take about the whole idea of NGP like said earlier NGP was a response of the Philippines after the Climate change conference in Paris. To solve or help lessen the impact of climate change. First of all, reforestation or planting of trees is a good solution but it is kind of a shallow one. You see planting trees is good in reducing carbon emission in the earth's atmosphere but the real solution to a problem is eradicating the source of the problem. Like I heard in a documentary about trash, solutions in that kind of problem are like gathering the water in a leaking faucet but instead of focusing on how to get a bucket big enough to gather all the water we should focus on the broken faucet. The real problem was our carbon emission in our atmosphere, our problem is poor implementation of clean air act or creates laws that will force big companies to be an environmentally friendly company.

NGP was a god idea to help fight with climate change and prevent soil erosion, landslide and flash flooding. The poor ex*****on and planning of NGP was the reason why it failed. But that kind of program was nothing if the government or we are not looking at the real problem.

Written by Rench Michel C Basilio

other sources(:https://www.rappler.com/science-nature/environment/114152-national-greening-program-expanded-2028)(https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/we-cant-just-plant-billions-of-trees-to-stop-climate-change)

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/720323/gov-t-reforestation-program-failed-to-meet-80-of-its-targets-coa/story/

Gov't reforestation program failed to meet 80% of its targets – COA The Philippine government’s National Greening Program (NGP) or reforestation program failed to meet its 1.50 million hectare target by 88 percent, with forest cover only resulting in a paltry increase of 177,441 hectares in the last five years, according to the latest report from the Commissio...