Diverting Pathless Environmental Politics

“How do you see our environment in 10 years, and why?”

A typical beauty pageant question that should be answered by the senatorial aspirants ahead of the 2025 Midterm Elections.

Blood, lives, and tears are the prices Filipinos pay for enduring the wrath of the destroyed environment. With only less than a month left for the upcoming elections, it is crucial to recognize the aspirants who are championing environmental justice because after all, there is no country to lead if all that lives faces demise. 

One common denominator of the senatorial front runners and parties is that they lack advocacies for the environmental sector. With PDP Laban’s constant vague promises, to the Liberal’s focus on West Philippine Sea conflict, and the other independents who are advocating for human rights, education and others, the Filipinos are yet to witness a genuine environmental representation in the senate. 

This leaves us with the question: What will be the future of the Philippine environment in the hands of these candidates once they assume office? 

Constant visitor yet unprepared 

Suffering from consecutive typhoons last year, the Philippines saw devastation in the lives and properties of its people in certain regions. Most notably, Typhoon Carina, which according to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) have affected 4.5 million Filipinos and reaped a death toll of 39.

Natural calamities like typhoons are inevitable. Therefore, we have to recognize that there are possible interventions and precautionary measures that could lessen its casualties. Naming Flood control projects is one, however, it raises skepticism on its implementations, as it is either outdated or incomplete. 

According to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), 70% of Metro Manila's outdated drainage system is clogged with debris and silt, obstructing flood management efforts. The country also lacks a comprehensive national flood control plan, with only 18 incomplete and outdated plans for major river basins.

It is time for us to demand a calamity program that focuses on prevention rather than cure. The government has been feeding us with relief goods, temporary shelters, and various aids or “ayuda”. While these are arguably good, they have been failing in recognizing and solving the systematic problem of why the casualties of typhoons continue to be high. 

The other side of the calendar

On the other hand, the suffering of Filipino citizens does not end once the typhoon season is over. A whole different conversation arises once the summer season arrive. In the recent months, many Local Government Units (LGUs) have been implementing class suspensions due to high heat index. 

The government has done nothing so far but offering us temporary band aid solutions that are unsustainable. Will we just keep on suspending classes? Instead of doing such a thing that jeopardizes the broken educational system further by lessening their school days, we need to trace the underlying causes of why students are struggling to attend their classes, and few of these are lack of proper ventilation in public school classrooms, and not heat-friendly transportation systems are just a few aspects to consider. 

Through identifying these causes, the state must consider regulating policies that will meet the current and modern demands of our climate. 

Who is on the greener side? 

Filipinos have been victims of natural disasters for many decades. We cannot just shake the repercussions off by saying, “It is what it is.” In this upcoming election, we should be critical on who we vote for and examine their stance on environmental protection and even question them if they do even have one. 

According to this year’s green groups’ Envibe Check, a fact-checking based assessment of senatorial candidates on environmental rights and climate justice, the candidates rated as the "greenest" consistently advocated for pro-environmental policies, backed grassroots movements, and pushed for laws that safeguard environmental rights. Many of these candidates were from the Makabayan Coalition, Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), Workers Party of the Philippines (WPP), and several independent candidates. 

The senatorial aspirants should stop serving us with vague and unclear advocacies like “handang tumulong, may malasakit, maaasahan” and those same old narratives we usually hear. What the country needs is a specific, detailed, and objective-oriented platform while maintaining moral consideration on how they can aid the struggles of the Filipinos. 

​If we fail to elect leaders committed to environmental justice in the upcoming midterm elections, we could end up following the same harmful path taken by the United States under President Donald Trump. Trump's tenure was marked by actions such as withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, rolling back over 100 environmental regulations, and dismantling climate research initiatives within agencies like National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  

These measures not only hindered global climate progress but also prioritized short-term economic profits over long-term environmental sustainability. Without proactive environmental policies, communities, especially those in vulnerable regions, may face increased pollution, health risks, and the exacerbation of climate-related disasters. Therefore, it's crucial to elect representatives who will champion environmental justice to safeguard our planet and public health.​

Our environment will not survive by just theory alone. It needs execution. You cannot just tell people to practice the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and call it a day. While the citizens play a huge role in maintaining our environmental protection, we cannot pass all of the burdens to them. We have the liberty to choose politicians and leaders that would ideally do everything in their power and exhaust all of their means to alleviate our lives, and we cannot achieve this by inhabiting a deteriorating environment. 

This May 12, choose someone who will let us breathe—literally, and figuratively.

Article: Justin Capistrano

Cartoon: Jamie Rose Recto