‘Green’ org drafts 20 environment agenda for 2010 elections

AN environment advocacy group has drafted 20 agenda for the environment of Misamis Oriental which candidates should act upon once they are elected into office for the good of the environment and future generations of Misamisnons.

Carl Cesar Rebuta, team leader of the Cagayan de Oro City office of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth (LRC-KsK/FoE), also listed at least four characteristics of candidates who have a heart for the environment.

Rebuta said, voters should choose candidates who are “aware of the worsening state of our environment; recognized that the poor particularly the workers, farmers, fisherfolk, women, children and indigenous peoples are especially vulnerable to the effects of environmental degradation; acknowledged that a healthy environment is a basic right that should be enjoyed by the present and future generations; and ever mindful that the responsibility to be stewards of creation is a responsibility of each and everyone of us.”

But beyond all these characteristics, the ideal “green” leader should also be “heedful of the need to defend Mother Nature from being desecrated, contaminated and destroyed by apathy, greed, crass materialism, toxic wastes and chemicals, and the unsustainable use of the earth’s dwindling resources,” Rebuta said.

The 20-point environment agenda are: (1) Enact the Misamis Oriental Water Code, (2) implement the Clean Water Act (Republic Act 9275); (3) Enact a Coastal Resource Management Ordinance; (4) Enact a Rainwater Harvesting Ordinance; (5) Implement a Comprehensive Drainage System to avoid flooding; (6) Support CdO Watershed Bill and Come-up a Mis. Or. Watershed parallel bill; (7) Support Organic Agriculture and farmers engaged in the practice; (8) Support the expansion of diversified farms and not monoculture farms; (9) Implement vegetative buffer zones around plantations; (10) Protect Mis. Or. forest lands.

Aside from the above, Rebuta said leaders should also (11) Relocate communities in hazard prone areas; (12) Strictly implement waste segregation; (13) Implement national Clean Air Act and the Anti-Smoke Belching Ordinance; (14) Help contain global warming; (15) Enact Ban Aerial Spraying Ordinance; (16) Enact the Environment Code of Misamis Oriental/CdO; (17) Develop and institutionalize a comprehensive environmental health program for Misamis Oriental/Cagayan de Oro City; (18) Respect the rights of Indigenous and Moro Peoples; (19) Promote good governance and active partnership between government and civil society groups; and (20) Promote community-based management of resources.

Rebuta said he was prompted to draft the environment agenda after hearing all the nice plans, suggestion and comments of candidates to various elective positions but have not really lifted a finger to give concrete action for the good of the environment.