Environment and Development Defined

Caring for the Environment has become a by word – such that we have “environmental” related shows, articles and what not where ever we go.

Today we relate the word ENVIRONMENT to planting trees, protecting sea turtles, global warming, La Niña – El Niño, and solid waste management. Being “Environmental” in a sense has come to mean caring for planet earth and nature.

So being an Environmentalist automatically means some one who cares for nature. As popularly defined, “Environmentalists” are people who desire to protect and preserve nature to ensure that future generations get to enjoy the benefits that nature has bestowed on us today.

Environment as commonly translated into Cebuano is “Kinaiyahan”, in Pilipino – “Kalikasan”. The way the word is translated into our very own language connotes the “natural physical environment”.

These common translations –Kinaiyahan and Kalikasan - have narrowed the usage of the word Environment to the natural environment.

Since we see only see the natural environment that surround us, we attempt to come up with measures to preserve and protect the natural environment, to maintain its current status or to bring it back to what is used to be in the past.

Conflicts arise when protection, preservation, conservation; of the natural physical environment; gets sidelined by “Development”.

The word “development” is popularly translated in Cebuano as “Asenso” and “Pag-angat” in Pilipino, implying betterment of living situations through increased incomes.

A least used synonym of environment is surroundings. This is translated as “Palibot in Cebuano and Kapaligiran in Tagalog”. When we use “Palibot – Kapaligiran” as our translation of “Environment” our awareness and understanding of the natural environment gets a broader perspective.

The use of surroundings would then have an effect on the definition of development.

Development would then mean – an improvement on quality of life and not just an increase in income.

When we look into the quality of life as a definition for development, our actions on how we increase our incomes become more meaningful. The way we treat our surroundings becomes more integrative and wholistic in its approach.

So “asenso nga kinabuhi” – improved quality of life would mean a “haruhay nga palibot” –harmonious surroundings.

While “matahum nga kinaiyahan” – beautiful surroundings, would imply “makanunayong pag-asenso” – continuous development.

Now the question – How do we attain continuous development while maintaining beautiful surroundings?

I’m no Jungle Ape, so I don’t have the “experiential” exposure to preserving and protecting lush forests and jungle while at the same time having that quality of life humans envy so much – like sleeping on a tree all day, without any worry at all.

I’m an Urban Ape. I’ve been exposed to so much “development”.

But I might have learned a few lessons from my Jungle cousins, so keep me company. I might just share a few tricks on how to attain “development” from a Jungle Apes perspective.

Urban Planning For All

Laws exist to guide human behavior and set limits to what can and can't be done. Plans are created to set the direction to a destination. Houses are necessary for shelter and protection, a very basic necessity of Modern Human Civilization.

With out houses, we would all be living in rocks, caves at worst on top of trees – just like Apes.

The demand for houses grows in direct proportion to the population growth. This demand is felt acutely in all growing urban areas of the world today. Without proper planning, living conditions in urban areas become similar to stone age shelter conditions at worst, or likened to living in crowded isolation – so many houses grouped together but lacking access to basic community services.

As a discipline or profession, urban planning is so misunderstood, that upon mention of the phrase “urban planning” to the average layperson, they end up just nodding their heads pretending that they understand.

When the phrase is mentioned in so called professional circles like engineers and the like, they end up with the curt reply – “We can't afford that. That is a very expensive service that is best left for affluent countries and the rich.” Even some functionaries government planning and regulatory agencies shun the profession like the plague.

The Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board is one such agency mandated to look into Housing Development plans and this agency is tasked to look into the manner that land is being used by developers and local government units. The agency is tasked to assist local government units in promulgating land use and zoning policies that local legislative bodies may promulgate.

The housing industry is considered as a multiplier industry. Players in the industry are supposed to be regulated and guided properly by the HLURB in their site development plans.

But what has happened in reality.

We have subdivision projects where in home buyers end up with the short end of the stick. Their subdivisions are located in flood prone areas. Social service facilities so lacking. Garbage disposal a problem and the presence of security personnel, like the police next to nothing. To top it all some subdivisions end up located in areas that are not serviced by the regular public transport service; like public utility jeepney's.

When subdivision projects get fully occupied and problems start to crop up, home owners end up being passed around from one government agency to another, and then the local government unit, when all of these problems would have been anticipated at the level of the HLURB.

It would be best if HLURB does its job properly at best by providing the necessary guidance to local government units and developers so families who sacrifice hard earned money get their money's worth. Imagine paying a monthly amortization on a house when your house gets flooded every time it rains, or your monthly transportation budget is three times your monthly amortization.

When residents living in subdivision projects start experiencing problems that have a negative impact on their quality of life – there is a failure in the Urban Planning process. And this is being experienced by a lot of subdivision residents.

Mind you, Urban Planning is not just for the rich or highly urbanized cities. Urban planning must be implemented properly much more for the poor and even more so in rapidly developing urban areas like Davao.

Or else... the Apes in the Jungle might end up living a much better life that us urban citizens.

--------

This appeared on the 29 July 2006 issue of Mindanao Times

OF WATER AND CAUSES

The campaign to protect Davao City’s watersheds to ensure that the quality and quantity of our water supply is maintained has been around for almost a decade now.

Call it intransigence, call it bullheadedness, call it by any name that you want, this cause needs to go on, and keep on going while people living in Davao need water.

Groups advocating for the protection of Davao City’s water resources have continually called for the wise utilization of the upland areas. These areas lie within the Talomo – Lipadas watersheds and the Tamugan River Watershed.

Consequently, large scale Cavendish Banana plantations that have expanded in these areas in a very short time became the focus of the campaign. The whole issue was brought to the attention of the Davao City Council way back in 1997. The campaign has kept on for almost 10 years now.

In the meantime, the plantations have kept on expanding. What have been gained over the years have just been tokenisms that would not really ensure the protection, sustainability and maintenance of the quality and quantity of Davao City’s water supply.

It is easy to fall into the trap of drawing a line in the sand and concluding that this campaign is similar to a battle where it would be convenient for an observer to tell who the protagonists are. It is even more dangerous to say that the triumph of one side would mean the defeat of the other.

This cause needs to be re-examined and understood clearly for what it has become now.

We all need our water today and in the days to come. We need to protect our water from all types and sources of contamination. This is the line advocacy groups have taken.

The Cavendish banana plantations support the regional economy. With out it, Davao City’s progress would be hampered. The plantations create work in the uplands and earn dollars for our economy. This is the line Banana companies take anywhere they go.

The whole affair seems to be the proverbial immovable object meeting an irresistible force.

The Davao City council has been the arbiter in this ongoing discourse, dialogue, argumentation and debate.

The whole affair can go on and on… ad infinitum till the angels and demons fight their final battle.

But what has been accomplished so far?

Countless committee hearings have been called. The Davao City Sanguniang Panglunsod Environment Committee chairpersons have gone through the musical chairs process. Reams of reports have been made. Length upon length of newspaper space, radio air time and television broadcast slots have been allocated on this issue. Yet, we do not see any thing concrete happening on our watersheds.

The efforts exerted by the Davao City Council to look into this matter are laudable. The work that Councilors Cabling and Avila have done contributed a lot. The passage of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Davao City Water Code can be considered landmark legislation in protecting our water sources. The ongoing hearing’s to enact an aerial spraying ordinance in Davao City is also concrete evidence of a concerted effort to initiate reforms on plantation production methods to safeguard the environment.

The companies operating Cavendish banana plantations on our watersheds need to be honest enough to admit that indeed they are using very toxic chemicals in their crop protection and pest management practices, that has been found to affect the quality of water in other countries where these are used. Case in point – the nematicides that are being used to combat the spread of nematodes. This can directly affect the quality of the water that is being used by households near plantations. Do we have to wait for 5 years for the companies phase out the use of these chemicals?

Advocacy groups on the other hand need to realize that concessions and compromises have to be made, and the only way to achieve that is to bring the banana companies to a dialogue based on mutual trust and confidence.

The banana companies have actually more to lose when this whole campaign gets to be raised to its next logical level – an international campaign and expose’ on their current production practices – which would consequently affect many farm workers and contract growers.

In the event the watersheds are left unprotected and continually abused, our generation of Davaoeños won’t be the losers, it will be the next generation at the losing end.

While Enforceable and Concrete measures need to be put in place, it is obvious that banana companies need to initiate operational reforms from within themselves. They may have contributed a lot to the economy, but their negative effects on small communities seem to offset their gains.

There is that simple case of rainwater run off from large Cavendish banana and pineapple plantations that affect adjacent small farms. Plantations should be responsible enough to install rain water runoff management measures.

The City council needs to ensure that the legislation they enact are enforceable.

Out of curiosity, I’d just like to pose this scenario – in the event and aerial spraying ordinance is passed and the ordinance says that aerial spraying is a no-no in Davao City, what will the city do if the spray planes keep on flying? Or because of the ordinance, the companies will demobilize their plantation operations in the city and move out.

And the advocacy groups need to take on other pressing issues on the watershed to ensure the quality and quantity of Davao City’s water is maintained.

URBAN APE was once connected with IDIS Inc., a lead advocacy group in the watershed protection campaign. This SPIDER sees the watershed campaign as a lifelong personal advocacy.

Museums Point the Future By Way of the Past

Change is the only constant in this universe. Those who fail to anticipate its effects suffer its consequences.

As a growing city, Davao needs to find ways to project itself into the future so residents living within its confines get to harness the advantages its rich resources offer. Davao’s rich cultural heritage and the peaceful melding of different cultures are strategic psychic resources.

Efforts to establish the Davao Museum at the old Court of First Instance Building in Magallanes Street is timely. The construction of a museum building by the Philippine Women’s University at University Avenue at Juna Subdivision is another laudable initiative. These two museum projects are indeed very fortunate developments for Davao City.

These parallel efforts are evident of an emerging awareness and concerted agenda to put together a showcase of THE Culture and History that permeates Mindanao in general and Davao in particular.

Museums have very long incubation periods before one can say the museum has a functional role in community development. Doing research and archiving collections are gargantuan efforts that will need a lot of resources which need to be sustained through time. The tasks of doing research and unifying divergent ideas will be daunting. Yet, only museums can do these tasks.

By collecting artifacts, chronicling events and archiving stories these museums encourage the present generation to participate in setting the future direction of Davao City so different options are explored and discussed and Davao’s future potentials are taken into full consideration.

By retaining the façade of the old Court of First Instance building Davaoeños would be reminded that the building was once a court house where judgment was rendered on numerous judicial matters that had a lot of bearing on what Davao and Southern Mindanao is today.

It would be tragic for Davao City if the façade of the old building would be taken down too (This column is being written as the building is being demolished, with the façade still there).

It would be more tragic if these two museums would just end up as bodegas of native artifacts – old tools, clothes, pictures and what not – where in school children are required to see and pay an entrance fee because it is a school requirement.

Or the museum becomes a shrine of some persons’ personal effects, completely disjoint from the present except for the fact that that person played a political or whatever role in the city’s past.

And these museums would become a farce if they would eventually be established for the consumption of foreign tourists who have no real stake in our cultural past and future potentials.

Culture frozen in time, dried, preserved and put out for local or foreign pedestrian observation loses relevance. Exerting a lot of effort and spending large sums of money to archive artifacts - clothing, instruments, beliefs and tradition -, without understanding the forces that caused the demise of their use and relevance in the life of the community, will become an exercise in futility.

Many institutions set up museums with the unexpressed hopes of preserving culture and earning a profit. That is - their collection will inspire school children to love the “culture” on display and foreigners would willingly pay a nice sum to see the “cultural” collection.

These worn out, rut filled directions taken by museums ought to be abandoned.

Museums need to be vibrant centers of culture and citizen involvement to be relevant in the life of a city. To achieve such roles, discourse and debate about past events and the anticipated directions that the city will take need to be encouraged. When museums involve the community and enhance its present life and culture, it easily gains much needed community support.

When museums allow the present generation to gain awareness and understanding of the forces that caused dramatic changes in the past, its role as a repository of the past as a guide into the future is fulfilled.

Let us all hope that both museums would take Davao City’s future potentials into consideration as their organizers find ways to archive the past. And not just duplicate each other :-(!

========

Published on Mindanao Times July 20, 2006