Blogs
Our sister country was the Philippines. We spoke to a school called St Josephs and this war their third consecutive year participating in the Decarbonized Decolonised. The Philippines consists of 7641 islands and they get 8-9 tropical cyclones pass them each year. St Joseph’s brought forward many different environmental issues including, how high the rate of greenhouse gas emissions released each year, how high the rate of deforestation is, how scarce there water resources are and how majority is not safe to use. They also have the 3rd largest ocean pollution in the world and the 2nd highest country for environmental death in the Asia Pacific. The issues they presented us with is the use of dolomite.
3500 tons of dolomite has been placed along 500m of the Manila Bay to beautify the bay. This process involved ripping out the mangroves, which has then impacted when the cyclones hit Manila as there is very little protecting the beach when they hit. The dolomite is mined in Alcoy, Cebu and then transported over to the mainland for the placement on the beach. Corals within 500 meters of seawater in Barangay Pugalo, Alcoy, Cebu have been killed because of heavy siltation from the dolomite mines. Workers have developed respiratory issues due to the prolonged exposure to the material. Dolomite contains heavy metals which has ultimately contributed to the pollution and acidity of the water.
Unlike our issue with unconvential gas exploration, the government has done very little to support the closing of the operation, the president even openly praising it. The vice president showed a little support, saying the funds should’ve been spent on poor during this pandemic. However all hope is not lost for Manila Bay. The University of the Philippines proposed to rehabilitate mangroves in the bay. The Living Laudato Si’ Philippines, created a petition to stop and investigate the dumping of crushed dolomite in Manila Bay along with other non-government organizations. A progressive group even took the case to the Supreme Court on September 24th. As of now there has been no response.
Talking to the Philippines has really opened my eyes to what other beautification could be happening in the world. It was such a good experience and I am so honoured to have been a part of it.
