DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 02 May) - The question on the local politicians’ sincerity on environmental concern was again raised by residents of Davao City’s 2nd District who attended the Green Vote 2007 candidates’ forum.
Local candidates were asked to lay-down their environmental agenda; ironically, two recipients of the infamous Kalabasa Awards -- Councilors Danilo Dayanghirang and Diosdado Mahipus -- signed the Green Vote covenant agreeing to prioritize the agenda should they be put to office again.
Friday’s forum was the last of the series held here. Both Dayanghirang and Mahipus proclaimed themselves as environmentalists, something that the public doubted knowing how the two councilors became very vocal about their bias for business more than the environment.
“We are doubtful and at the same time dismayed over what we heard from them. They claim to be friends of the environment and the people when we know for a fact that they have been consistently blocking efforts to protect the environment as they protect the interest of the business sector,” said John Tagab, of the village of Tigatto.
During his speech, Mahipus said he has always been one of those who were in the frontline of protecting the environment. “Many times I have been criticized for my position on certain issues about environmental protection. I was the one who first stood against businesses who planned to establish in the aquifer,” Mahipus said.
Mahipus also admitted that he has always thought about a solution to the controversial aerial spraying ordinance other than stopping the practice. “But because I am a supporter of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, I am also for the banning…I supported the ban. I will abide by the decision of Duterte because I am an advocate of democracy,” he said.
But villagers criticized Mahipus, saying, he should decide independently and not because he is supporting the mayor.
“Doesn’t he have his own decision? Good that we have a mayor like Duterte whose concern for the people is unquestionable. But what if Duterte is someone who doesn’t have a heart for us and who doesn’t care for the environment?” said one mother from the village of Agdao.
Dayanghirang, on the other hand, said he has already read the 20-point agenda well and that he is agreeable to everything stated there including the implementation of the ordinance banning aerial spraying and the support for the expansion of diversified farms and not monoculture farms.
Dayanghirang is also known for working as consultant to a banana company. Cathy Gordo, coordinator of the Hugpong Dabaw, a network of social housing non-government and people's organizations, said the statements of some of those who attended the forum were not believable.
“Some of them did not mean what they say. They were talking like real trapo (traditional politicians), as if they can fool the people into believing that they are good leaders,” Gordo said.
Bill Martin, president of Davao Federation of Subdivisions and Homeowners Association, Inc., said he was dissatisfied with what he has heard from the candidates.
“I would rather cast my votes to the neophytes than waste it to the trapo,” Martin said.
The other candidates who attended the last forum were Councilors Arnulfo Cabling, Nenen Orcullo and neophyte candidates Mikee Aportadera and Doming Lopez.
Organizers of the event, however, said that it was still good that the candidates attended the forum and signed the covenant. They said that they are looking forward to their full support for the implementation of the environmental agenda. (Jeff Tupaz, Special for the Mindanao Examiner)
Showing posts with label Green Vote 2007. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Vote 2007. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
All Set For Davao Green Vote Forum
DAVAO CITY - At least nine city council candidates have been invited to the first of the series of political forums in line with the Davao City Green Vote 2007, the campaign of various schools, non-government organizations, people’s organizations and other civil-society groups aimed at making environment a political issue in the coming elections.
The candidates, all of them from the 1st District of Davao, will be given their chance to present to the public their own environmental agenda with the current worsening environmental condition and a chance for the voters to ask concrete questions to the candidates.
Lia Jasmin Esquillo, one of the convenor of the Green Vote 2007, said the forum can become the candidates’ way of making public their specific environmental priorities should they be put into office vis-à-vis the importance being given by the public to issues concerning the environment.
“There is growing public awareness and concern for the environment and this will definitely become one of the things that the public will consider in choosing their future leaders,” Esquillo said. The April 16 forum will be held at 2 p.m. at the gymnasium of the Ateneo de Davao University at Jacinto St.
Invited for the said forum are incumbent council members Nilo Abellera, Maria Belen Acosta, Leo Avila, Pilar Braga, Peter Laviña, Bonifacio Militar, and Angela Librado. Of the neophyte candidates, invited are Edgar Ibuyan and Randy Ponteras.
The response of the candidates to the invitation, Esquillo said, will be an important yardstick of their political will and desire to remedy the worsening environmental crisis confronting the world today. “We also invite the residents of District 1 to attend the forum and participate.
This is a very important event and should never be missed. The people should do something about their awareness of the problem. This awareness must be translated into action by choosing the right people to lead us,” Esquillo said.
In Davao City, various environmental problems have recently been on the limelight—widely discussed and debated publicly.
The passage of the anti-aerial spraying ordinance also became a litmus paper to test the political will of the leadership of the current city government. Also currently, only a handful of the local legislators are known for being environmental activists.
The Green Vote 2007 is aimed at sustaining the awareness of the public of the environmental issues in choosing leaders in the coming elections and providing voters with relevant information on the environmental platforms of candidates as their bases for selecting leaders.
After every forum, the candidates will be invited to sign a covenant with “ecologically-minded candidates for the implementation of a priority agenda to be implemented in the next three years.”
On April 19, the same forum will also be staged for the candidates of District 3 at the Holy Cross College of Calinan and on April 28 for District 2 bets at Vicente Hizon Sr. Elementary School at Lanang. (Jeff Tupaz, Special for the Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Search For The "Green Idols" Is On
DAVAO CITY - Environmentalists here are now on the search for the ultimate “green idols” as they launched the Green Vote 2007 Thursday, a public awareness-raising campaign with the aim of making environment an election issue.
Jesuit Priest Albert Alejo, executive director of the Mindanawon Initiatives for Cultural Dialogue Center of the Ateneo de Davao University, said the green idols will be the politicians who will be put to office because of their environmental agenda which will specifically address the concerns of various sectors of the society particularly the marginalized ones.
“People will decide who among the aspiring public leaders will survive the environmental challenges being raised by various sectors. The people will judge these candidates based on their specific environmental agenda and their commitment to keep their promises,” Alejo said.
Alejo said they will not endorse particular candidates but their campaign will only elevate the awareness of the people about the candidates who will most likely become their allies.
He said they will be presenting to the public the candidates’ profiles and records of statements, passed ordinances regarding environmental issues in Davao City.
The priest also emphasized the need to carefully select leaders who are not corrupt, saying corrupt leaders are naturally the number one destroyers of the environment.
“We will only put our lives in grave danger if we entrust our future to corrupt leaders by putting them in office. Only few people have really benefited from logging. Only few lives were bettered by mining and plantation,” said Alejo who is also active in the nationwide anti-corruption movement Ehem!
“The effect is really clear. A wrong choice can leave devastating effect on our lives and the environment,” Alejo added.
Through Green Vote 2007, the candidates will also be invited to different community forums where they will be given the chance to lay down to the public their environmental agenda.
A brainchild of various groups of non-government organizations, people’s organizations, medical professionals, and the academe, the Green Vote 2007 grabs the elections in May as an opportunity to raise environmental concern for the people and the politicians running for office into a level characterized by what they call a Green Culture.
The campaign primarily wants the public aware of the importance of the coming elections and choosing high-quality leaders who would address the people’s deepest concern for a healthy environment.
It also aims to provide voters information on the environmental platform of candidates as bases for choosing leaders and to come up with priority environmental agenda to be implemented in the next three years.
The Panaghoy sa Kinaiyahan-Coalition for Mother Earth (also known as Panaghoy), a broad agrupation of different environmental NGOs, the people deserves ecologically-minded candidates who will secure their future.
“We will not dwell on the personalities because we do not want to be branded as a political machinery of a particular political candidate. The issue here is their agenda and their platform and we do not want to hear from them motherhood statements but concrete and specific statements which will answer the concerns of the fisher folk, women, farmers, children, among others,” said Lia Jasmin Esquillo, chairperson of Panaghoy.
Dagohoy Magaway, spokesperson of the group Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Alliance against Aerial Spraying) or Maas, said they do not want to be fooled again by candidates who will be promising them roads, schools, and basketball courts.
“Enough of leaders who constructed for us basketball courts and donated trophies…we want someone who will assure us of a safety environment,” Magaway said. “However, we have to be very careful because these people can very well deceive us with their ‘sugar-coated’ promises. Lami kaayo ni sila mubatbat nga pati mga patay mabuhi.”
Geraldine Catalan, member of the broad coalition of women’s group called Kolos Neng Bi Libo (a lumad Dyangan group term for Empowered Women), said the candidate must realize that the farmers and the poor whom they have deceived in the past have already tasted the bitter taste of the consequence.
“Dili na mga bugo ang mga tawo karon. Kini kinahanglan nilang masabtan. Ang mga mag-uuma, ang mga babaye, na-edukar na ug dili na mga bugo. Kinahanglang masabtan sa mga kandidato nga among kinahanglang makita nga lider nga adunay paglantaw sa among kahimtang isip mga yanong tano ug mag-uuma,” Catalan said.
As a mother and member of a women’s group who practices organic farming, Catalan said they want to see leaders who will be legislating specific laws which will support and provide security to organic farmers.
Also part of the campaign is to conduct community-based discussions on the elections and environmental issues and to forge a covenant between the groups behind the campaign and candidates for an environmental agenda which will be done during different candidate forums.
The group said the covenant will be used as a tool for “paniningil” (payback time) from the candidates. “Kini aron dili sila basta-basta mubiya kanamo,” Catalan said.
A paper on the Green Vote 2007 says more drastic actions must be done to reverse the tide of environmental degradation and secure the future of the children.
“The city has its own share of environmental problems. Studies have shown that by 2013, our groundwater considered as one of the best in the world, will be insufficient to meet the needs of the populace,” the paper says.
In 2001, however, the city council passed the Davao City Water Code, the first of its kind in the Philippines and recently signed into law of the ordinance that banned aerial spraying in the city’s banana plantations and Watershed Code.
This, aside from the existing Trees for our Children Project and the efforts to enact an Environmental Code and a Coastal Management Code. (Jeff Tupaz)
Jesuit Priest Albert Alejo, executive director of the Mindanawon Initiatives for Cultural Dialogue Center of the Ateneo de Davao University, said the green idols will be the politicians who will be put to office because of their environmental agenda which will specifically address the concerns of various sectors of the society particularly the marginalized ones.
“People will decide who among the aspiring public leaders will survive the environmental challenges being raised by various sectors. The people will judge these candidates based on their specific environmental agenda and their commitment to keep their promises,” Alejo said.
Alejo said they will not endorse particular candidates but their campaign will only elevate the awareness of the people about the candidates who will most likely become their allies.
He said they will be presenting to the public the candidates’ profiles and records of statements, passed ordinances regarding environmental issues in Davao City.
The priest also emphasized the need to carefully select leaders who are not corrupt, saying corrupt leaders are naturally the number one destroyers of the environment.
“We will only put our lives in grave danger if we entrust our future to corrupt leaders by putting them in office. Only few people have really benefited from logging. Only few lives were bettered by mining and plantation,” said Alejo who is also active in the nationwide anti-corruption movement Ehem!
“The effect is really clear. A wrong choice can leave devastating effect on our lives and the environment,” Alejo added.
Through Green Vote 2007, the candidates will also be invited to different community forums where they will be given the chance to lay down to the public their environmental agenda.
A brainchild of various groups of non-government organizations, people’s organizations, medical professionals, and the academe, the Green Vote 2007 grabs the elections in May as an opportunity to raise environmental concern for the people and the politicians running for office into a level characterized by what they call a Green Culture.
The campaign primarily wants the public aware of the importance of the coming elections and choosing high-quality leaders who would address the people’s deepest concern for a healthy environment.
It also aims to provide voters information on the environmental platform of candidates as bases for choosing leaders and to come up with priority environmental agenda to be implemented in the next three years.
The Panaghoy sa Kinaiyahan-Coalition for Mother Earth (also known as Panaghoy), a broad agrupation of different environmental NGOs, the people deserves ecologically-minded candidates who will secure their future.
“We will not dwell on the personalities because we do not want to be branded as a political machinery of a particular political candidate. The issue here is their agenda and their platform and we do not want to hear from them motherhood statements but concrete and specific statements which will answer the concerns of the fisher folk, women, farmers, children, among others,” said Lia Jasmin Esquillo, chairperson of Panaghoy.
Dagohoy Magaway, spokesperson of the group Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Alliance against Aerial Spraying) or Maas, said they do not want to be fooled again by candidates who will be promising them roads, schools, and basketball courts.
“Enough of leaders who constructed for us basketball courts and donated trophies…we want someone who will assure us of a safety environment,” Magaway said. “However, we have to be very careful because these people can very well deceive us with their ‘sugar-coated’ promises. Lami kaayo ni sila mubatbat nga pati mga patay mabuhi.”
Geraldine Catalan, member of the broad coalition of women’s group called Kolos Neng Bi Libo (a lumad Dyangan group term for Empowered Women), said the candidate must realize that the farmers and the poor whom they have deceived in the past have already tasted the bitter taste of the consequence.
“Dili na mga bugo ang mga tawo karon. Kini kinahanglan nilang masabtan. Ang mga mag-uuma, ang mga babaye, na-edukar na ug dili na mga bugo. Kinahanglang masabtan sa mga kandidato nga among kinahanglang makita nga lider nga adunay paglantaw sa among kahimtang isip mga yanong tano ug mag-uuma,” Catalan said.
As a mother and member of a women’s group who practices organic farming, Catalan said they want to see leaders who will be legislating specific laws which will support and provide security to organic farmers.
Also part of the campaign is to conduct community-based discussions on the elections and environmental issues and to forge a covenant between the groups behind the campaign and candidates for an environmental agenda which will be done during different candidate forums.
The group said the covenant will be used as a tool for “paniningil” (payback time) from the candidates. “Kini aron dili sila basta-basta mubiya kanamo,” Catalan said.
A paper on the Green Vote 2007 says more drastic actions must be done to reverse the tide of environmental degradation and secure the future of the children.
“The city has its own share of environmental problems. Studies have shown that by 2013, our groundwater considered as one of the best in the world, will be insufficient to meet the needs of the populace,” the paper says.
In 2001, however, the city council passed the Davao City Water Code, the first of its kind in the Philippines and recently signed into law of the ordinance that banned aerial spraying in the city’s banana plantations and Watershed Code.
This, aside from the existing Trees for our Children Project and the efforts to enact an Environmental Code and a Coastal Management Code. (Jeff Tupaz)
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