The Philippine Online Chronicles

There was a storm that seemed to linger and follow us from UP-Los Banos to Sto Tomas Batangas. We had a fine beginning at the UP-Makiling Botanical Garden. DENR personnel and UP Forestry Officials saw a handful of runners off on a four-day run around the foot of historic, ecologically and spiritually vital Mt. Makiling. The next three days were wet and exhausting. We ran, not in a drizzle but under an angry downpour. The heavens seemed to understand the urgency of the message and so constantly gave us a generous dose of heavenly blessings through the incessant heavy downpour.

Each day over the next four days, we ran, stopping in schools and parishes to speak about the mountains and the interdependent structure of nature. It was convenient to talk about a specific mountain, Mt. Makiling which we were circumnavigating by foot. Every day, we saw the mountain either before or behind us. It was an assuring giant presence that constantly reminded us of the meaning of the word environment, “kapaligiran” in Pilipino. According to one dictionary, environment means the following: 1) surrounding or being surrounded; 2) something that surrounds; 3a) all the conditions, circumstances, and influences surrounding, and affecting the development of, an organism or group of organisms; 3b) all of the conditions, circumnstances, etc. that surround and influence life on earth, including atmospheric conditions, food chains, and the water cycle. (cf. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, p. 476)

Mt. Makiling seemed to surround us; follow us; run ahead of us and on occasion disappear and re-appear. Since we were for the most part running, we were quiet. Our silence made us gaze out and in. We would look ahead and see vehicles, people, shops, offices and homes. We saw some empty spaces as well as rice paddies.

From time to time giant buildings would suddenly appear on the horizon. The buildings stand on what used to be orchards and rice land. Now, instead of stalks of rice or fruit and forest trees, there are giant concrete structures housing shops selling anything and everything that money can buy. I always felt a certain sadness and even anger whenever I saw these buildings called Malls. Sometimes, they even block the view of Mt. Makiling. They are so big that sometimes they give the impression of being even bigger than Mt. Makiling. But really, they are small both in size and value compared to the mountain which quietly embraces them all.

Aside from Malls, huge factories and industrial estates, high end subdivisions, golf courses and the like have taken over the land.

On the last day of the run, farmers from the 7,100-hectare Yulo property in Canlubang came to join me in SM Calamba. Some of these groups have been tilling the soil in small farms in Canlubang for over a hundred years. Their work has fed not only themselves but many others. The value of the work of farmers compared to the value of the land to be sold to developers is not equally valued by the landowners. The land will fetch instant cash, while the work of farmers seem more innocuous. The government also seems unclear about what is more valuable.

We also visited lake Taal and went for a quick dip in its waters to expressed solidarity and support for the efforts to liberate the lake from fish pens that have breached the lake's holding capacity. People who supported us in the run along lake Taal recounted the days when they as children used to swim and even drink from the clear and clean waters of the lake. Now, hardly anyone swims in the lake, and no one would dare drink its contaminated waters.

In and through the ritual that I presided over in every stop, I spoke about the little-understood concept of the environment. As I asked students to lift up small seedling bags with soil, I said a prayer about and for the earth. Then I would ask the students holding the seeds of forest trees in their hands to raise the hand with the seed. I'd say a prayer of blessing for the seeds and underscore the value of the trees that would grow from these little seeds. The students, teachers, public officials, indeed all of us are also seeds planted into the earth of society, of the world that would grow into vigilant protectors of the environment. Finally, those who held the seeds approach those with the plastic bags, and plant the seeds in the earth. With the same water, I then feed the seeds and bless the people.

We are earth. We are seed. We are water. We are human beings. We are all creatures of one God who created one world, one nature for all to share, protect and now, heal. The life of nature, of the environment, is our life. The death of nature, the environment, is the death of all. The blatant disconnect between many Filipinos and nature is one of the fundamental causes of environmental destruction and degradation. This disconnect is the cause of landslides, mudslides, flash floods, etc. that continue to claim lives and property. Unless this disconnect is addressed and solved, the destruction and death will continue.

Takbundukan has begun to spread this basic concept to some parts of Laguna and Batangas. Indeed, the rest of the land needs to be reached, where people’s lives need to change according to a newer and more profound understanding and attitude towards nature and the environment.