IWMF Launches First-Ever Environmental Reporting Program in the Philippines

Dino Balabo at Angat Dam.

Washington, D.C. – In its inaugural reporting program in the Philippines, the International Women’s Media Foundation will partner with news organizations to transform coverage of environmental issues.

Myriad environmental problems – such as pollution, deforestation, and climate change – directly threaten quality of life in the Philippines, yet these issues receive inadequate news media coverage.  In addition, much of the reporting being done lacks depth and excludes the voices of those most affected by environmental degradation, especially women.

To address this critical coverage gap, the IWMF will offer its first-ever Environmental Investigative Reporting Fellowship.  The IWMF announces the new program today on World Environment Day.

During the year-long fellowship, 10 journalists will receive advanced training and coaching to produce innovative reports about environmental problems and solutions, incorporating women’s role in and perspectives on environmental issues.  Each will complete 3-4 investigations for their news organizations.  Through the IWMF fellowship, these journalists will become environmental reporting specialists.

Selected fellows include: Kristine L. Alave, contributing writer for GMA News Network and reporter for the Philippine Daily Inquirer; Keith Bacongco, a journalist for MindaNews; Bernardino Balabo, host of a program on 90.3 FM Radyo Bulacan and correspondent for the Philippine Star and Pilipino Star Ngayon; Riziel Ann Cabreros, producer for “PIPOL on ANC,” a news magazine program on ABS-CBN News Channel; Rouchelle Dinglasan, a producer for GMA News; Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, a journalist for Interaksyon.com; Marilou Guieb, writer for the BusinessMirror and the Women’s Feature Service; Purple Romero, reporter for Rappler, a social news network; Anna Valmero, assistant producer with LOQAL.ph, an online magazine; and Rhodina Villanueva, reporter the Philippine Star.

Read more about the fellows here.

Funded by Dole Food Company Inc., the environmental reporting program will draw on the IWMF’s proven training model, which features long-term, transformative training, empowerment of women journalists and a commitment of institutional support from top management of local media companies.

Founded in 1990, the IWMF is the only nonprofit organization working exclusively to strengthen the role of women in the news media worldwide.  The IWMF has conducted programs in 25 countries, and its network includes women and men in the media in more than 130 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.iwmf.org.

Environmental journalists group marks its 2nd year on World Environment Day

This day is an important milestone for the Philippine Network of Environmental Journalists (PNEJ) as it celebrates its second year of existence in empowering local journalists to increase the quality and quantity of environmental reporting.

PNEJ believes that World Environment Day (WED) 2012 is the right time to imitate solutions on environmental issues and to advocate partnership which will ensure our society enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

For the past year, PNEJ has proven its special role as communicators to make the public better understand issues climate change, destructive large-scale mining, illegal logig, biodiversity extinction, coral reefs destruction and over-fishing, pollution, water and waste mismanagement and other pressing environmental issues in the Philippines.

PNEJ would like to thank its supporters for believing in its thrust and mandate in drumming up critical environmental issues as well as empowering local journalists to report on various issues.

For the years ahead, PNEJ hoped to bring environmental causes into the national spotlight through producing more in-depth reporting, trainings for local journalists, learning trips for journalists to come up with stories that tackles solutions, connecting with experts, the academe, local government units and the businesses to promote sustainable and equitable development.

Happy World Environment Day 2012 and Happy 2nd Anniversary PNEJ!

CMFR's call to oppose Angara and Rep. Velasco's bills

FOR PRESS FREEDOM AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION:

OPPOSE HB 5835 AND SB 2965

Certain members of the 15th Congress apparently have no knowledge of, or have chosen to ignore, the fact that freedom of information is a human right, and that

It would not matter were these individuals not charged with the task of legislation.  The fact that they are, together with their antipathy to freedom of information and a free press, constitutes a mix lethal for free expression and freedom of information in the Philippines.

Two bills, one in the initial stages of the legislative process, and the other on the brink of approval by both houses of Congress, are illustrative.

In the House of Representatives, Congressman Lord Allan Jay Velasco of Marinduque has filed several bills, including House Bill (HB) 5835 which would increase the fine for each count of libel. 

Velasco notes that the Revised Penal Code provisions on libel are 82 years old and are outmoded. Indeed they are—but in the sense that the penalties they mandate, including imprisonment, are antithetical not only to press freedom but also to the democratic need of citizens for information on matters of public interest. Rather than increase the penalties for libel, an enterprise that can only be described as retrogressive, Velasco’s energies are better spent decriminalizing it.

Senate Bill (SB) 2965, the reconciled version of three House and Senate bills now entitled  “The Data Privacy Act”, would create a National Privacy Commission with the power to monitor the processing of personal information in all forms and media of communication, to halt the process in the name of privacy and national security, and to penalize violators, including private entities, government officials and agencies  as well as the media, for obtaining, or causing the release or publication of,  “personal information”.

Section 31 mandates that “The penalty of imprisonment ranging from two (2) years and four (4) months to five (5) years and a fine not less than Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php 500,000.00) but not more than Two Million Pesos (Php 2,000,000,000.00) shall be imposed in case of a breach of confidentiality where such breach has resulted in the information being published or reported by media. In this case, the responsible reporter, writer, president, publisher, manager and editor-in-chief shall be liable under this Act.”

SB 2965 defines  “personal information”  as “any information whether recorded in a material form or not, from which the identity of an individual is apparent or can be reasonably and ascertained by the entity holding the information, or when put together with other information would identify an individual.”  The definition would therefore include information vital to the imperatives of transparency and accountability in both government and those sectors of the private sector whose work has a bearing on public interest. SB 2965 is also contrary to the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill that has been submitted to the Congressional Committees on Public Information.

Not only media and journalists’ organizations must oppose SB 2965 and HB 5835. Human rights  organizations and accountability and transparency watch groups—every organization concerned with freedom of information, government accountability and with the right not only to disseminate but also to receive information-- must unite in preventing these and similar bills from passing the legislative mill, which, in contrast to the speed with which it has processed SB 2965, has failed to act on the FOI bill despite the painstaking efforts of its stakeholders, which include no less than the free press, free expression groups, and the entire Philippine citizenry.

PPI oppose Angara's proposed Data Privacy Act

The Philippine Press Institute objects to the proposed

. . .ACT PROTECTING INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL INFORMATION IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS IN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR, CREATING FOR THIS PURPOSE A NATIONAL PRIVACY COMMISSION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

because it violates the constitutional freedoms of expression and the press.

We are not, however, closing our minds to any discussions –  with your sector and any other that may want to involve itself in them  – about matters involving those freedoms, especially where they become a potential subject of any legislation.

Execs allay quarrying fears on Angat Water Park

Bustos Dam

MALOLOS CITY—Bulacan officials allay fears on possible resumption of rampant quarrying in the province with the construction of the planned Angat Sports Water Park that will rival similar facility in Camarines Sur.

This came as Governor Wilhelmino Alvarado and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) Chief Operating Officer Mark Lapid led the groundbreaking ceremony in Angat town earlier this week.

Officials also made assurance that the water park will be safe as water related activity will only be held on summer days, and not during the wet season when Angat Dam release water into the river.

However, they noted operation of other facilities in the planned water park, like restaurants zip lines and others will continue even during the wet season.

“There is nothing to fear, “Alvarado said yesterday, “while there will be quarrying along the river, it will be monitored and regulated.”

As an eco-tourism project endorsed by TIEZA, Alvarado said that part of the proposed three hectare water park will require quarrying to even the depth.

He said that based on preliminary design, depth and width of the river were predetermined.

“The river bed is un-even, so, there are parts that will be quarried, but only based on the required depth,” he said adding it will be regulated in order to protect the embankment of the river and prevent possible erosion.

Alvarado added that Angat Water Park can rival similar but man-made facility in Camarines Sur due to its proximity to Metro Manila.

Concern over possible resumption of rampant quarrying along the Angat River was raised by local residents after Alvarado and Lapid led the ground breaking ceremony for the Angat Sports Water Park early this week.

Residents cited in the 2000, similar project was proposed by the local officials, but they said it was used by some officials as an excuse for rampant quarry operations.

A resident who asked not to be identified said quarrying was partly to blame in the killing of the former municipal administrator of Angat town who was gunned down by New Peoples Army rebels in 2003.

It was followed by torching of quarry equipment and other machineries in 2004, an incident whose responsibility was also claimed by the rebels.

With regards to the safety of the water park, Alvarado said water related activities like rowing and dragon boat competitions will only be held during summer.

The same was echoed by Mayors Feliciano Legazpi of Norzagaray and Arnel Mendoza of Bustos.

But Mendoza added that they are also working on safety measures for water related activities during the wet season.

Earlier, Lapid asked the town mayors of Angat, Norzagaray, Bustos and San Rafael to come with their own tourism packages related to the planned water park.

This due to the fact that the water park is not only concentrated in Angat town as the river spans all four towns.

Mendoza said that as early as January, they initiated a rowing and kayaking exhibition on Bustos Dam at the lower part of the upstream of Angat River.

“At present, we can actually hold such activities even before the completion of the Angat Water Park, but of course, it will be better if we have Waterpark,” Mendoza said.

For his part, Mayor Legazpi said that during summer, parts of the Angat River in Norzagaray town have been drawing thousands of local tourists.

“It is like a poor man’s resort especially Sitio Pugpog and Sitio Bitbit,” he said.  (Dino Balabo)

DENR intensifies monitoring of sash factories

MALOLOS CITY—Sash factories in Central Luzon are now under intensified monitoring by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources due to reports that have accepting deliveries of illegally sourced lumber.

This came as the DENR anti-illegal logging task force seized about  P70,000 worth of illegal lumber in the City of San Jose Del Monte City, Bulacan on Monday afternoon, May 7.

Following the seizure, the task force said they are now preparing charges against a hardware operator and three other unidentified persons for violation of the Presidential Decree 705 or the Forestry Code of the Philippines.

The law which was amended by Executive Order Number 227 in 1987 not only prosecutes timber poachers and illegal loggers, but individuals involved in the trade of illegally sourced lumber.

Joseph Mendoza, the intelligence officer of the DENR Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force they have been monitoring sash factories in the province and other parts of Central Luzon and Rizal province.

This is due to reports that sash factories and other wood enterprises has been accepting delivery of illegally sourced lumbers.

“Our monitoring paid off,” Mendoza said in vernacular and added, ”reports are now confirmed  and we have more reasons to further intensify our monitoring on sash factories.”

Among those under the monitor of the task force is Sureluck Wood Enterprises located along the Quirino Highway in Barangay Gumaoc, City of San Jose Del Monte.

Around 4PM on Monday, they monitored men monitoring freshly cut lumber from an Isuzu closed van with license plates CSL 394.

The said vehicle is marked “Fruit and vegetable dealer” and is said to be registered to a certain “J. Jimenez.”

“The driver and helper fled immediately when we introduced ourselves,” said Mendoza in a telephone interview.

A total of 1,498.67 board feet of lumber worth P67,410 were seized upon verification that it was not backed with any permit, including the one for transport.

Mendoza said they are still verifying the source of the lumber but sources said cited three possible places, namely Isabela; Minalungao in Nueva Ecija and Donya Remedios Trinidad town in Bulacan.

He said that the lumbers were cut by “carabao loggers” or timber poachers.

“Timber poaching destroys our watershed especially the Angat Watershed,” Mendoza said noting that it has been categorized as one of the most highly critical watershed in the country.

The same was affirmed by Bro. Martin Francisco of the Sagip Sierra Madre Environmental Society (SSMEES) based in the City of San Jose Del Montte.

Francisco explained that the Angat Watershed not only serves as the main source of Metro Manila’s potable water supply, it also generates electricity for the Luzon Grid through the Angat River HydroElectric Power Plant (ARHEPP).

“What is sad is the fact that there is a logging ban, and yet, there are people who continue to act with impunity against the environment,” he said but stressed that SSMES is happy with the seizure of illegally sourced lumber.

He said that it should serve as reminder to other timber poachers that the government is serious in its campaign to protect watersheds.

Meanwhile, Mendoza said they are preparing charges against the the driver and owner of the closed van, along with the operator of Sureluck Wood Enterprises.

He said that while Sureluck was given permit by the DENR, they have received reports that it is receiving illegally sourced lumber, but the task force has not luck until Monday.

 Mendoza said that in the past, they checked with deliveries at Sureluck and found no discrepancies in documentations.  (Dino Balabo)

Cardinal Santos honored in an exhibit

Ramon Efren R. Lazaro

MARILAO, Bulacan --In celebration of the National Heritage Month and annual feast of St. Michael, the Sining Marileño Inc. in cooperation with SM City Marilao launched “Abito: Pamanang Kasuotan ng mga Pari ng Marilao,” a week-long exhibition that will end today (May 11).

 The exhibit kicked off with folk singing and theatre play replicating the re-enactment of events during the Colonial Era at the event center of SM City Marilao and features 20 antique piece collection of liturgical vestments worn by the parish priests of Marilao.

The “abitos” documented the beauty of embroidery and intricacy of the different Philippine hand-woven holy garments made from indigenous materials and highlighted the legacies of the past and the town’s identity.

Details of the exhibit exuded the indigenous practices and classical artistry wherein Filipino altar vestments are more than a colorful and fine needlework garment used by the priests. They are treasures of Filipinos' unwavering faith, rich culture, heritage and deep rooted traditions.

"Vestments or abitos are important aspect of our culture. They are the narratives of our faith and our glorious past. They are enshrined to bring us closer to the Creator", explained Jaime Salvador Corpuz, a Bulacan historian and added "I am glad that SM Supermalls was able to accommodate this kind of exhibit. It helps to educate the public on our rich history and our strong faith in God."

Most of the garments featured in the exhibit were selected ecclesiastical garments of priests in the town of Marilao from 1920 to 1950.

Highlighting the exhibit was the ceremonial robe of Father Rufino Santos, the first Filipino Cardinal of the Catholic Church in 1932.

Also featured were some garments by Father Roberto de la Cruz (1934- 1938), Father Marcelino Fajardo (1938-1939), Father Gabino Baluyot (1939- 1945), Father Florentino Fuentes (1945- 1954), Father Angel Pengson (1954- 1956) and Father Avelino Santos (2001-present).