The Philippine Environmental Situation

THE PHILIPPINE ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION

by Antonio C. Antonio

September 17, 2014

The Philippines, being an archipelago of 7,104 islands, is a unique country with an abundance of marine and terrestrial life.  The Philippines is said to be one of the countries that exemplify biodiversity...  in fact, the Philippines is often referred to as a “mega diversity”.  The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) defines “biodiversity” as “the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part and consists of variety of species, their genetic make-up, and the communities or population for which they belong.”  There are also a considerable number of endemic (meaning: found only in a particular ecosystem) species of flora and fauna in our country.  These told, the Philippines could very well be considered the proverbial “paradise on earth”.  This, however, is steadily becoming a myth or a thing of the past.

In spite of the natural resources bestowed on the Philippines by our Divine Creator, our country is considered one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world.  Why?... simply because the Filipino has not been caring and paying too much attention to his environment.  Part of the Filipino culture is obliviousness; that so long as an issue or event doesn’t affect him, he would brush it aside as mundane and trivial.  Environmental issues and concerns are exactly these: mundane (meaning: dull; lacking interest or excitement; or of this earthly world rather than a heavenly or spiritual one) and trivial (meaning: details, considerations, or pieces of information of little importance or value).  This is the environmental folly (meaning: foolishness or lack of good sense) of the Filipino people.

It is therefore important for us to seriously consider increasing the level of environmentalism before things deteriorate further for the worst.  Our present situation is not that bad but we could make it better.  Let us leave a healthy planet legacy as the Philippine environmental situation.

Just my little thoughts…

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