Will You Rape Your Own Mother!

This probably is the most despicable thought that even the most callous criminal mind will find too difficult to execute! It is definitely beyond the imagination of the ordinary...the most condemnable act that only the one possessed by a demon will be able to perpetrate!

What only a few of us realize is that today, all over the globe, people have been abusing, raping, and choking to death their own Mother.....Mother Earth!

On April 22, 2008, we shall be celebrating Earth Day. The celebration was started in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson to raise awareness and appreciation for Mother Earth.

It is the aim of this celebration to make people realize that we are slowly 'choking to death' the very planet we live in. Forest denudation, industrial pollution, overused of its resources... these are some of the forms of abuses we have knowingly and unknowingly perpetrated on Mother Earth.

Let us care for the very planet we live in. Let us be aware of the abuses man has for generations bestowed on mother nature. April 22, 2009 Earth Day's celebration is the start of a two-year Green Generation Campaign designed to spread awareness and concern for Mother Earth. Let us participate and join local community activities. At the very least, let us not do anything that will further hurt mother earth. Let us make everyday an Earth Day!

In the Philippines, one commendable everyday Earth Day activity worth emulating is the "Kapit Bisig Para Sa Pasig" project launched by Gina Lopez of the ABS-CBN foundation in conjunction with some government and non-government agencies. The project is aimed at reviving the dying Pasig River  and bring it back to life.

This is how Pasig River looked like in all its grandeur in the 1930's. 'The river, which stretches for 25 kilometers from Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay, serves as a major transport route, source of water, and lifeline of Laguna de Bay (one of the biggest freshwater lakes in the world) as such it is a vital ecosystem and an irreplaceable natural resource.'
 

This is how Pasig River looks like today. For decades, the river has been overused, abused and neglected. With more than 300 factories and 10,000 families lining its banks, Pasig River has been turned into a perennial waste bin. The river has been declared a critical water body with more than 300 tons of  industrial and domestic waste being dumped on it everyday.

'Until recently, little has been done to protect the river system. Past efforts to rehabilitate Pasig river were unsuccessful because they failed to take into account the larger context of the urban environment of which Pasig river is a part of.'

The Public and Private Sector Initiatives

In December 1989, the government began working on a comprehensive rehabilitation program for Pasig with Denmark. The Pasig River Rehabilitation Program (PRRP), was an integrated effort to bring back ecological health to the river system.

On January 6, 1999, President Estrada signed Executive Order No. 54 creating the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) to manage the rehabilitation efforts for the river and regulate the dumping of untreated wastewater and solid waste on this waterway. It also involves resettling squatters along the Pasig and the development of parks by the riverside. The Belgian government has also offered help by way of a P20 million grant for dredging.

Yet, all these seemed to come to nothing as the river continued to be the dumping ground of informal settlers who live along the banks of the river and its tributaries, as well as by almost all industrial and commercial establishments surrounding it.


A hundred years ago, renowned American urban planner Daniel Burnham compared Manila Bay to the bay of Naples, the Pasig River to the winding river of Paris and Manila’s esteros to the canals of Venice.   Today, Pasig River is no more than a ghost of itself with hardly any life form able to survive in its murky recesses.

This scenario of a Venice-like Pasig River  may still be a reality if Gina Lopez"s 'Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig'  project launched through her ABS-CBN Foundation succeeds in its objective. (It must be remembered that it was also Gina's Foundation which successfully reforested the La Mesa Dam Watershed.)  Launched on February 24, 2009, the project hopes to bring back Pasig River into its old grandeur ... and perhaps transformed like the 'canals of Venice". This will only be possible through the concerted efforts of everyone.

With the new enthusiasm generated by the project, this is how the river looks now!

And, with more effort and cooperation, this is how it will look in the future!

 

Make everyday an Earth Day! Find Earth Day events or actions around the globe. Join, participate, donate!

For the "Kapit Bisig  Para Sa Ilog Pasig"  you may visit the ABS-CBN Foundation Website  or,

For more information, you may visit http://www.ilogmoipatrolmo.multiply.com

You may help in the Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig initiative by texting: (For Philippine Residents)
GIVE [space] ILOG
Then send to 231 for Smart & Talk N Text or 2366 for Globe, Touch Mobile, and Sun Cellular.

You may also donate directly to the KBPIP Banco de Oro account:
Branch Name: BDO Scout Albano
Account Name: AFI-BK Pasig Project
Account Number: 393-0078222

Related articles by Zemanta

• Earth Day a time for getting your hands dirty (calgaryherald.com)