environmentalists-from-the-philippines

"Faith-based groups in various churches have always been close to the poorest. During this pandemic, churches have combined efforts and resources to help those in need. The health crisis caused by the Covid-19 outbreak challenges all Christians and churches to find ways to act and make a contribution to dealing with humanitarian crises."

"We must raise children who will love and work for peace, not ones who are desensitized to violence and will continue to perpetuate this vicious cycle. Our children’s future is at stake."

"The Philippine Army engineering battalions say nahihirapan ‘yung backhoe at ‘yung mga gamit nila para sa mga bombang kasinglaki ng tao. Pero you know, we remind [them] na kasingbilis ‘nyo binomba ‘yung location ng Marawi, the Islamic capital of the country of the Philippines, ang tagal ba naman alisin. So it was easy to decide bombing but you cannot de-bomb the area?” asked Gutoc. (The Philippine Army engineering battalions say they find it difficult to use their backhoes and other equipment to remove bombs as big as humans. But you know, we remind them that the speed by which they decided to bomb the location of Marawi, the Islamic capital of the Philippines, is contrary to their slow pace in removing these bombs. So it was easy to decide bombing but you cannot de-bomb the area?)"

"Hindi po ito pagtatraydor sa prinsipyo na ni-lay out naman ng iniina ko sa pulitika na--aminado po ako... na maraming nagtatampo sa akin ngayon, talagang hindi po ako magkakaroon ngayon ng, how do you call it, future po sa political awareness ng tao kung wala po si (Vice President) Leni (Robredo).” (This is not a betrayal of the principles laid out by the one whom I consider as my mother in politics—I admit... that many seem to be bearing grudges against me now. I acknowledge that I wouldn’t have a political awareness in the minds of people if not for VP Leni Robredo.)"

"But while we are in this body, let’s be healthy, and contribute in whatever way we can to a world that runs on love. I have no doubt that that’s the way."

"It gave me an exposure and appreciation of how poor people live and survive,"

"You cannot love God without loving the environment. God is everywhere. You can see his hand in everything. From the plants to the stars,"

"It’s an awakening of the people."

"There is no such thing as responsible mining in an island ecosystem. Companies should not break the beauty of agricultural places. Why don’t they clean up the mess they left in abandoned mining sites first? They have to prove to us that they are capable of rehabilitating those areas."

"For all these billions, what do we get in return? Think about the damage done by mining corporations to our biodiversity, to agriculture, and to the health of those living in the area. They don’t pay for these damages"

"Wherever large-scale miners go, the communities are damaged. They remain poor. The so-called economic benefits do not benefit the people. Mining does not translate to community development. We don’t need these investors. They only rape the country."

"What the miners do to nature is very gruesome. I visit mining places and I see huge holes everywhere and red liquid flowing to the sea. Awful!"

"At the end of the day, they have to face the reality. What difference are these mining companies causing them?"

"I am in a position to make a difference."

"We have a beautiful country. Let’s not allow greed and selfishness to rape it."

"My inner self had a thirst that was not being quenched."

"Then I met someone in Harvard who recommended I go to an ashram that taught meditation. When I entered the ashram, apart from the meditation, they had some singing. I had an experience. I felt something deep. Tears rolled down my cheeks, I felt something I had not felt in church or in school. I had a feeling of Divine Love. That changed my life forever."

"I became a full-fledged yoga missionary. I went to Portugal, India, then Africa."

"Like all institutions, one has a goal, but often what happens is something else. As I implied earlier, I grew up in a bubble where people were good and loving and true. This results in a naïveté about people and life."

"I lived for six years in Kenya. Two of those years were in a slum area where we had to stand in line for water, and the toilet system was pathetic. It was there that I learned to value water. I had one pail, and that was it: for bathing myself and using the last bit for washing my underwear. When one doesn’t have much, one treasures every little bit. I lived as the poor lived, so I learned how not to be wasteful—a trait I carry to this day where I use every bit of everything. I learned how to value empty containers, because they can be of use eventually."

"It is in Africa that I learned the quality of persistence. Hardship has its value."

"I am well and happy. I discovered a meditation school more than 10 years ago, which has and continues to help greatly in life. My passion is to take care of the environment and address the poverty in the country. I remain convinced that we can have a country without poverty if we take care of the environment and institute mechanisms wherein the community around benefits. I have been able to do it in a few sites where the communities are able to send their kids to college in the second year, so I know it can be done."

"I’m going to do the right thing and let the dice fall where it may. And I am going to hope that maybe these politicians, even if they’re funded by mining money, must have love for God and country in their hearts."

"What a waste. Everyone would have benefited from the management and care of the environment."

"I got really popular [when I was] rejected from DENR, so I’m riding on a crest and I’m maneuvering all the support into building green models on the ground."

"One of the biggest mistakes of humanity is to foolishly think we are these physical bodies and life ends when this physical body deteriorates. The truth is that we are spirit. Living now gives us the opportunity to ‘hone’ our spirit so that it is more aligned with higher forces of truth and light."

"Life is what you make of it. The experience of life is how you see it. You can see it negatively or you can see even the seeming failures as a positive opportunity to grow. If we take on this positive bent, everyone around benefits. My consistent experience in life is that as long as one commits to integrity and service, there are Divine Forces that help. I feel it every day, when I meditate in the morning, as I do my work. Life is a challenge. There are also negative forces that exist, and they are within one’s self. One needs to be keenly aware of them."

"Eventually I left home. Not because things were not good, but because I had this urge to do something. Looking back at it now, I still marvel at how I did all that I did. Leaving home, renouncing everything, having two to three sets of clothes, and taking a vow of celibacy—at 18! It’s almost like a segment of my life was cut dead."

"When one doesn’t have much, one treasures every little bit. I lived as the poor lived, so I learned how not to be wasteful—a trait I carry to this day where I use every bit of everything. I learned how to value empty containers, because they can be of use eventually."

"Integrity, public service and common good are the key deciding factors for any decision that will be taken,” Lopez had said upon her appointment. “Any industry must bear in mind that the common good is paramount in their operations and not the money they make."

"I have a deep resonance with the environment. My spiritual practice is feeling the divine, entering stillness, then feeling the Higher Worlds. When one does this, one develops a very keen affinity with nature. Divine Energy is in Nature."

"If we in this country dream and hope the common good and commitment to integrity, I have no doubt in my heart and in my mind that our country will see the light of day."

"We are a country of beautiful volcanoes, mountains, rivers, and corals. It's absolutely spectacular."

"Putting these open pits in a place as beautiful as the Philippines is disgustingly horrible. If you have any sense of aesthetics, how can you do that! And when you learn that there are communities there whose lives have been disadvantaged, your heart breaks."

"And all of these open pit mines are near rivers and streams. All of them. They are going to be there for all eternity. They will have to be detoxified on a regular basis, otherwise they will turn acidic. And all of these open pits will be a financial liability to government for life."

"I would go around with the media and take footage myself. People were shocked at the pictures."

"You are stepping on very big business toes."

"God has put me in a place and I feel that I am responsible."

"What I do is I follow my heart and right now, my heart wants to do this."

"I felt something I had not felt in church or in school. I had a feeling of Divine Love. That changed my life forever."

"I was constantly looking for money to survive and take care of the children I was responsible for."

"It is much better to live according to principle than according to rules, because situations in life change."

"In areas where I’ve cleaned up the creeks and made the place more beautiful, 97 percent of the people have more peace of mind, 97 percent of people are happier."

"When you’re stressed, you go to a place which is beautiful and healing and peaceful."

"A good way to have new beginnings is to move from one phase to the next in grace. Bring closure. Smooth out the rough edges. It feels so much better."

"Any kind of mining operation in a watershed, that’s like saying that the gold and the nickel are more important than the water that our people drink."

"If I had calculated and maneuvered, I would never have forgiven myself."

"How can it be responsible to do open pit mining in a country that is most vulnerable to climate change?"

"If there is responsible mining why is it that wherever there is mining, there is poverty? The poorest sites in the country are mining areas."

"We have the most beautiful country: 7,000 islands with coral reefs, mountains, rivers and forests with rare medicinal plants. We have the highest biodiversity on the planet. But our people are not benefiting from it. It is being destroyed because someone wants gold or nickel."