There is no problem with BINHI, a greening program of Oscar M. Lopez, chairman of the Lopez Group, Inc. and which is being implemented by the Energy Development Corp., according to Fr. Burton Villarmente, director of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Dumaguete.
However, Fr. Villarment said the problem is when the implementers will use the project to justify cutting of trees at the geothermal reservation areas in Negros Oriental.
Villarmente told a crowd of more than 500 who joined the climate walk over the weekend here that the BINHI project of EDC is good because it focuses on the prime endangered Philippine tree species. But the big problem is when they’re using it in their application to cut another set of century old trees for their expansion program.
He said that it only takes a few minutes to cut the trees that are very precious to the environment and vital to the watershed areas of the province while it takes centuries to grow these trees.
Villarmente said advocates of the environment will continue to oppose efforts to cut additional trees as he lauded moves to plant and grow trees.
The climate walk was participated in by victims of several floodings in Dumaguete, to include typhoon Sendong victims from Caritas Phase I and Caritas Phase II in Bajumpandan, from the tent city in Junob, the Little Children of the Philippines, students from Silliman University, representatives from the diocese and advocates of the environment who called themselves the FENOR.
The children were bringing placards which read, “protect our watershed”, “our future matters”, and “our survival is non-negotiable”, among others.
According to Fr. Villarmente, the climate walk was in solidarity with the whole world in echoing the call of Pope Francis to hear the cry of the poor and to hear the cry of Mother Earth.
He stressed that every time there is a calamity, it is always the poor who are affected the most and they are the most vulnerable. The priest appealed to world leaders to really address this problem of climate change during their UN conference in Paris.
Meanwhile, the San Isidro Labrador parish, headed by parish priest Fr. Villarmente, launched on Saturday a backyard tree growing project in the two Caritas villages so that every family will make sure the planted tree is grown, unlike when the trees are planted in the mountains with nobody monitoring their growth.
These trees are being planted just for the sake of compliance, especially when they are planted by students. (PNA/JFP/Juancho Gallarde)
