Php 70.00 Vol. 44 No. 1 • JANUARY 2010 - IMPACT Magazine Online!

If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation
way that immediate benefits do not have a negative impact
on living creatures, human and not, present and future; that
the protection of private property does not conflict with the
universal destination of goods;[18] that human activity does
not compromise the fruitfulness of the earth, for the benefit
of people now and in the future. In addition to a fairer sense
of intergenerational solidarity there is also an urgent moral
need for a renewed sense of intragenerational solidarity,
especially in relationships between developing countries and
highly industrialized countries: “the international community
has an urgent duty to find institutional means of regulating
the exploitation of non-renewable resources, involving poor
countries in the process, in order to plan together for the
future”.[19] The ecological crisis shows the urgency of a
solidarity which embraces time and space. It is important to
acknowledge that among the causes of the present ecological
crisis is the historical responsibility of the industrialized
countries. Yet the less developed countries, and emerging
countries in particular, are not exempt from their own responsibilities
with regard to creation, for the duty of gradually
adopting effective environmental measures and policies is
For the celebration of the World Day
of Peace at the beginning of the
Year 2010, the message of Pope
Benedict XVI focuses on the theme: “If
You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect
Creation.” The Holy Father makes a
plea for “ecological awareness” and
calls attention to “the relationship between
the Creator, human beings and
the created order.”
“The environment must be seen
as God’s gift to all people,” the Pope
stresses, “and the use of it entails a
shared responsibility for all humanity,
especially the poor and future generations.”
These words of the Holy Father
ring out in sharp contrast to recent events
that took place in a remote forested area
of Northern Mindanao.
On Christmas Eve 2009, a Higaonon
tribal leader, Alberto Pinagawa,
54, was waylaid and killed in Barangay
Minalwang on the Gingoog-Claveria
upland area of Misamis Oriental. Berting
was walking along a remote road with
his son on his way home early morning
to Barangay Kalipay in Anakan Parish.
He was a lay minister and was preparing
for the community’s Christmas worship
services later that day when he was
brutally shot at least twenty times in
the face and other parts of the body by
M-16 rifles.
Berting was a vocal leader of his
tribal community. Since July, he had been
gathering petition signatures from local
residents on the upland areas to stop the
logging operations of Southwood Timber
Corporation which had been granted an
Industrial Forest Management Agreement
(IFMA) by the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR). The IFMA
permit would cover 11,476 hectares and
would allow the company to develop and
utilize forestlands for 25 years. But instead
of cutting only second-growth forest
trees and re-planting in the former logging
concession of Anakan Timber Corp., local
residents reported that the company was
involved in the logging of old-growth trees,
like the lauan.
Indeed the designated IFMA area
encroaches on the wider watershed area
along the Bukidnon-Agusan-Misamis
Oriental borders which protect the head
waters of the Pulangi River to the south and
other major tributaries like the Odiongan
River to the northern coastal areas. During
the January and November flashfloods,
Gingoog residents were well aware of the
destructive consequences of deforestation
in their upland area. Nearly 8,000
residents were displaced by the January
2009 floods alone. It is in this light that
a spokesperson representing at least
20,000 signatures presented to Gingoog
City Mayor Ruthie Guingona claimed that
the IFMA would be “detrimental not only
to the environment but also to our lives,
livelihood, homes, families and entire
communities.”
At the Gingoog city council special
session on Dec. 28, held simultaneously
with an outdoor indignation rally attended
incumbent upon all. This would be accomplished more easily
if self-interest played a lesser role in the granting of aid and
the sharing of knowledge and cleaner technologies.
9. To be sure, among the basic problems which the international
community has to address is that of energy resources
and the development of joint and sustainable strategies to
satisfy the energy needs of the present and future generations.
This means that technologically advanced societies must be
prepared to encourage more sober lifestyles, while reducing
their energy consumption and improving its efficiency. At
the same time there is a need to encourage research into,
and utilization of, forms of energy with lower impact on
the environment and “a world-wide redistribution of energy
resources, so that countries lacking those resources can have
access to them”.[20] The ecological crisis offers an historic
opportunity to develop a common plan of action aimed at
orienting the model of global development towards greater
respect for creation and for an integral human development
inspired by the values proper to charity in truth. I would
advocate the adoption of a model of development based on
the centrality of the human person, on the promotion and
If You Want Peace, Protect Creation
By Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, SJ
by the grieving relatives of Berting, the
city councilors themselves were told
that the local communities and LGU of
Claveria were not asked for their “free,
prior, and informed consent” – despite
the fact that the greater part of the
logging operations, 8,000 of the 11,
500 has., was within the municipality
of Claveria.
By the end of the extended session,
eight of 10 city councilors voted for a
resolution asking DENR for the immediate
cancellation of the IFMA. Concerned
environmentalists have pointed out
that the IFMA area constitutes part of
the remaining 12% forested area in the
Philippines. Instead of deforestation,
they stress, the government should
engage in extending the forest cover
of the country.
Berting Pinagawa before his death
would tell his fellow advocates for environment
that he was gathering the
anti-logging signatures not so much for
his upland community, but for the sake
of the lowland communities, especially
in Gingoog, that would be affected – at
present and in the future – by the continued
logging operations.
This is echoed by Pope Benedict’s
plea for promoting peace through intergenerational
solidarity: “Future generations
cannot be saddled with the cost
of our use of common environmental
resources.” “As we care for creation,” the
Holy Father notes, “we realize that God,
through creation, cares for us.” I
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