[asia-apec 1072] Earth Day statement

[Roberto Verzola]

The following statement will be sent to President Joseph Estrada of
the Philippines. Philippine groups who want to be included among the
signatories are welcome to sign up. Please email me the full name of
your organization and other contact details. (The final version might
contain slight stylistic changes or may be laid out differently.)

Signatories are welcome to join the march-rally which environmental
groups will spearhead on Earth Day, April 22. Assembly is inside the
Quezon Memorial Circle, 2-3pm. March to DENR will start 3pm; rally
will end 5pm. A festival of Green advocacies will be going on at the
QM Circle Apr. 22-25.

The Philippine Greens will also launch their book "Society, Ecology
and Transformation" (A program for transforming Philippine Society
based on the Green worldview), 1:30 pm Apr 22, at the Philippine
Greens' booth.

Obet Verzola
Philippine Greens
(Tel. 921-5165)

PS. Addresses outside the Philippines may get the book (83pp) by
sending a carefully-wrapped five-dollar bill and your mailing address
to:
Roberto Verzola
108 V.Luna Road Extension
Sikatuna Village 1101
Quezon City, Phils.


A Letter to President Joseph Estrada and the Filipino people:


               PROTECT OUR COMMUNITIES, HEAL THE EARTH!


     On the occasion of the last Earth Day of this millennium on April
22, 1999, we the undersigned declare our deepest concern about the
destruction of our communities and our environment. Under the guise of
"utilization of natural resources," "industrialization," and
"globalization," such destruction has gone from bad to worse under
previous administrations. It continues unabated under your
administration, Mr. President.

     With little regard for the views of local folks, government and
corporate projects have trampled on the rights and livelihood of these
people, displaced entire communities, and opened forests and
watersheds to destructive commercial exploitation. They have converted
prime agricultural lands into golf courses, plush subdivisions and
industrial enclaves, thus jeopardizing our food security. They have
brought in industries which release highly toxic by-products.

     This blind pursuit of profits and so-called growth is not only
impoverishing our people; it is also destroying or poisoning the very
basis of life on earth -- the air, our water sources, our food farms,
the social fabric of our communities, and the ecological fabric of
nature.

     This madness must stop. It must not be carried over to the new
millennium.

     We, the undersigned, commit ourselves and our organizations to
stop this madness. We pledge to:

     1. Reduce our use of private cars, walk short distances, and use
bicycles or public transport more often.

     2. Support small municipal fisherfolk in their struggle for
aquatic reform.

     3. Reduce our use of metallic and other mineral products (like
using earthen instead of metallic cookware) to minimize the need for
mining.

     4. Reuse lumber and to use timber products sparingly to minimize
the need for logging; those of us who dwell in the forests pledge to
guard them with our lives.

     5. Phase out pesticides and other poisons in our homes and farms,
prefer local over imported food products, and support the farmers'
struggle to convert to sustainable agriculture.

     6. Boycott all genetically-engineered food.

     7. Segregate waste, do home composting, support local recyclers,
and avoid products with toxic components.

     8. Use energy more sparingly.

     9. Campaign against the return of U.S. troops and their highly
toxic and radioactive weapons, equipment and vessels on Philippine
soil.

     10. Recognize and support honest and dedicated government
officials.

     We in turn ask you, Mr. President, to heed the following demands.
They represent the beginnings of a sincere program to start healing
the life-threatening wounds created by centuries of colonial and
corporate despoilation of our environment and our peoples.

     1. CLEAN AIR: Ground government vehicles that don't meet
anti-pollution standards  *  Enact and implement without delay a Clean
Air Act with the ban on incinerators  *  Expand pedestrian walkways,
bicycle lanes, and public transport facilities.

     2. COMMUNITY WATERS: Stop commercial fishing in the 18
environmentally-critical bays and gulfs identified by the Bureau of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources  *  Involve fisherfolk organizations
in fishery area management  *  Adopt community-based tenure systems
like ancestral waters, stewardships and lease agreements by fisherfolk
groups and communities  *  Develop riverbank communities on-site

     3. NO MINING DESTRUCTION: Close down all Marcopper/Placer Dome
operations and all open-pit/open-cut mines  *  Repeal the 1995 Mining
Act  *  Stop mining permits processing and mining operations and
exploration in watersheds, forest reserves, natural parks,
agricultural valleys, and ancestral lands and dwelling places of
indigenous peoples  *  Provide for the compensation of communities
affected by mining-related damage

     4. PROTECTED FORESTS: Cancel all four remaining Timber Licensing
Agreements (TLAs) * Adopt a total ban on commercial logging and timber
exports * Prosecute without exception all big illegal loggers  *
Reorient reforestation towards community-based approaches that harbor
life and restore ecological balance through indigenous species

     5. FOOD SECURITY: Adopt sustainable agriculture in place of
chemical agriculture * Stop the conversion of agricultural and forest
lands  *  Reject patents on life  *  Accelerate the land-to-the-tiller
program

     6. NO ENGINEERED MUTANTS: Stop the field-release of
genetically-engineered crops and other organisms  *  Require labels on
all genetically-engineered food products and ingredients  *  Promote
organic farming

     7. ZERO-WASTE: implement waste segregation, local composting and
recycling as a national policy  *  Stop the entry of banned chemicals
and imported wastes (like old ships for scrapping)

     8. SUSTAINABLE ENERGY: Give priority funding to energy
conservation, energy efficiency and self-reliance, and community-based
renewable energy projects  *  Stop building huge dams  *  Phase out
coal plants *  Ban nuclear power plants

     9. NO U.S. TROOPS: Insist on the U.S. responsibility for the
cleanup of Clark and Subic toxic sites  *  Reject the Visiting Forces
Agreement based on environmental grounds and the very poor
environmental record of the U.S. military

     10. A CLEAN DENR: Free the Dept. of Environment and Natural
Resources of corrupt officials, syndicates and big business interests.

   That we may attain our demands and meet our commitments, so help
us, God.

                                *****

April 22, 1999


Signatories: