Legarda Renews Call for Continued Protection of the Environment

June 30, 2015

On the last day of observance of National Environment Month, Senator Loren Legarda called for continued protection of the environment, stressing that it should be a way of life.

“Even as the observance of Environment Month ends today, we should sustain efforts to protect our environment. It should be part of our daily life,” said Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committees on Environment and Natural Resources, and Climate Change.

“As stewards of the earth, we are responsible in keeping our planet healthy, clean and safe for future generations,” she added.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says that half of the seven billion human population live in urban areas and account for 75 percent of global energy consumption as well as 80 percent of global carbon emissions.

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is the world’s biggest environmental problem. About eight million people worldwide die each year because of poor air quality.

In the monitoring of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in the National Capital Region between January and April 2015, the total suspended particulates (TSP) in the air was at 130 micrograms per cubic meter. The international standard for TSP is 90 micrograms per cubic meter.

Meanwhile, the Philippines is the third top contributor of plastic debris entering the ocean with around 0.28-0.75 million metric tons of plastic marine waste annually, next only to China and Indonesia.

“These facts should be enough to make us realize that we are going against our duty as custodians of the environment and natural resources. We have to strictly enforce our environmental laws like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, and Renewable Energy Law, among many other laws. We also have to strengthen information and education campaign so that citizens would be aware of the negative impacts of environmental degradation and be encouraged to make environmental protection a way of life,” Legarda stressed.

“We are all responsible in ensuring that succeeding generations will continue to enjoy a balanced and healthful ecology. We can make environmental protection part of our daily living. It only requires both individual and collective effort and we have to take that first crucial step of actually taking action,” Legarda concluded.