Illustration by Lyle Dela Madrid
Written by Cathylene Bulado, Aljim Kudarat
A set of LGU Executive Orders and Memoranda became the new harbinger for the month of February, as series of unprecedented weather events struck the land of promise, Mindanao. With a month ahead of the Fire Prevention Month, February is supposed to be a month of sandos and slippers; however, what happens right now is that we are always in the middle of class suspensions because of inconsistent and unpredictable weather conditions. Perhaps, this manifests a more serious environmental problem and calls for concrete actions towards a collective environmental intervention.
Statistically, February has a moderately warm climate with an average temperature standing at 29°C. However, this seems not to be the case in Mindanao as the whole region experiences localized rain showers reaching to a 4.5-7.5 liters/meter² per hour. In fact, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services and Administration (PAGASA) has issued thunderstorm and landslide advisories to certain areas in Davao and Soccsargen. This is due to the heavy rainfall since the fourth week of January, leading to General Santos City Mayor Lorelie Pacquiao suspended in-person classes on February 1-2, and even including LGUs within and outside Region 12. However, it is still uncertain who is the main culprit of whether the unpredictable climate is due to easterlies entering the country or due to Mindanao being more embracing on industrialization.
Although both are plausible, it is no longer a question that industrialization is a catalyst for economic and technological advancements. Clearly, it has made the living of the people more comfortable and accessible. But as congruently beneficial as the former, advancing forward while blindsiding the repercussions it intertwines will surely put every single thing to doom. Behind the alluring facade of this advancement, there is pollution to the environment caused by industrial activities, deforestation that drives destruction to habitats, causing ecological harmony to tremble, and greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change, which serve among the corrosive effects of industrial revolution.
In a severe controversy in 2022, the P295 billion Tampakan open-pit mining project in South Cotabato, the largest of Southeast Asia's copper-gold minefields, has attempted to operate since the ban served in 2010 was lifted, thereby making an estimated 10,000-hectare area to be dug a hell in a hole. Potentially, an average of 375,000 tons of copper and 360,000 ounces of gold will be yielded annually in the coming years. However, the current status quo tells us that the open-pit mining in Tampakan is a genesis of people digging their own graves, and we are now facing the grave consequences of our actions.
In fact, a study by R.T. Wadanambi and its team found out that anthropogenic activities have more claim to climate change and that the world's climate is naturally varying; however, it is largely altered due to the concentration of “greenhouse gasses," thus leading to an unalterable climate change to penetrate.
Besides, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2023 was the warmest year since 1850, at 1.18°C (2.12°F) above the 20th century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F). Such factors contribute to rapid glacial melting and polar ice caps receding at an alarming rate, hence intensifying storms and looming changes in precipitation patterns.
Let the real problem speak for itself: it is never the climate's aggressive changes, but rather our ignorance and egocentricity to not listen to the call to stir up initiatives on protecting the environment. Planting realizations in people and authority should be on the frontlines as the admonition of scientists who rallied and got arrested for debunking the detrimental side of industrialization in 2022 was true. We must not, all over again, ignore the cry of the environment for love until we realize that, in the end, the environment that used to love us eventually dies, and so we are doomed to follow.
It is true that industrialization and global advancement are both an inevitable and irreversible phenomena. However, the unregulated boom has caused us to be at the mercy of Mother nature, as it reciprocates the damage we have induced. Thus, the irony of love this February lies in the paradox of the people's selective affection. While we embrace the benefits of progress, we simultaneously neglect the environmental consequences, leaving the environment to forcefully induce a sense of realization through the consequences of our actions.
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