Bishop Baylon calls public officials to moderate greediness
Bishop Joel Bong Z. Baylon of the Diocese of Legazpi called on the leaders in Albay to moderate greediness and to do away with all the misuse and the abuse of the environment.
The prelate blamed the greediness, misuse, and the abuse of the environment specifically the uncontrolled quarry operations, cutting of trees due to massive road construction in the mountains across the province that triggered and worsened the flooding in Albay during the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine last October 22, this year.
“It’s about time that we work together. It is not just the church’s job, as the church is the conscience of the people. We all have a conscience. And I hope we still have a conscience. That when we destroy nature, let us not assume that the next generation will take care of it because you need money to survive,” he told The Manila Times during the press briefing.
“Second, the government should be on our side. That should be the government’s job because it serves the people, it serves us. Who is going to be responsible for all these disasters? When the water tumbled from the mountains, we blamed it on climate change. But let us also be acknowledged that climate change is partly due to man’s irresponsible use of the things that we have. It’s a human misuse and abuse of what God has given us,” he said.
The prelate lamented how some influential personalities in the province pursue their “hunger for power and money” at the expense of people’s precious lives and the environment.
“Let us regulate our greed because it is greed that is running the show,” Baylon said when asked what they feel regarding the massive environmental degradation and uncontrolled quarry operations in the province. “We can simply call on the conscience of the leaders, of the people. It’s about time to work together. Do away with all the misuse and abuse.
Let us regulate our greed. It’s not just digging up land and quarrying. Let us regulate our greed because greed is the one running the show. They are hungry for power, money, wealth,” he said.
The prelate along with the clergy of the diocese of Legazpi issued an open letter of appeal asking President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to investigate the “uncontrolled” quarry operations and other forms of environment abuses in Albay province read before the Sunday masses across the province.
The Church officials narrated the adverse impact of recent typhoons Kristine and Pepito that unmasked the substandard infrastructure projects and the misuse of public funds. Baylon called on the accountability of government officials from governor, lawmakers, mayors, and government agencies here.
Baylon also appealed to the public, civic organizations, and other religious organizations to issue and join their call for “accountability of public officials and action from the President following the ill effects of substandard projects in the aftermath of the calamities.
Baylon hopes to generate bigger support from the Albayanons shouting ‘enough of the misuse and of the abuse of environment and of substandard government projects. The diocese’s proposed measures to create a Provincial Mining Regulatory Board that will regulate quarry operations.
Days after the open letter read before the Sunday masses in Albay, acting Albay governor Baby Glenda Ong-Bongao heeded the call of the prelate and of the clergy of the Diocese of Legazpi.
Ong-Bongao guaranteed the Diocese of Legazpi to take urgent measures and necessary action regarding the environmental impact of uncontrolled quarrying in Albay.
Ong-Bongao said that she discussed it with Engr. Dante Baclao, APSEMO officer-in-charge to look into a comprehensive rehabilitation plan and concrete measures regarding the controversial quarry operations before submitting the final data to the office of the President.
She said that the office of the governor wrote a letter to Engr. Guillermo Molina Jr., MGB-Bicol regional director requesting to convene the provincial mining regulatory board to look into the policy compliance of all quarry applications for next year.
Similarly, Mayor Cenon B. Volante of Malilipot town strongly supported the call of the diocese of Legazpi for accountability and action following the devastation caused by Typhoons Kristine and Pepito.
Volante said that the LGU Malilipot has formally requested the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB Bicol) to conduct a geological survey and hazard study of the Bulawan River quarrying area.
In a letter addressed to Engr. Guillermo Molina, MGB-DENR Bicol regional director, Volante said that the series of strong typhoons that recently besieged our area in the Municipality of Malilipot in the province of Albay have reinvigorated the growing clamors from the officials and residents of Malilipot to be wary of the existing quarry operations in our area. More specifically to the quarry sites in the Bulawan River area.
He said that aftermath of the recent typhoons, especially typhoon Kristine and super typhoon Pepito, the Local Government Units and the constituents near the quarry area, have raised concerns and alarms regarding the safeness of the conduct of these quarry operations.
“From our non-expert point of observation, the condition of the noted quarry sites would require immediate governmental intervention to avoid possible serious damages in the future, which could be loss of lives, damages to properties etc. Thus, we believe that timely preventive measures and action shall be made by the local government to mitigate, if not to avoid the unforgiving devastation in the future,” Volante said. – BY RHAYDZ BARCIA