How green is the next President?

Ecowaste Coalition made its call to ten Presidential candidates to set aside their political platforms and disclose their positions and solutions for dealing w? climate change, for the imminent 2010 Election campaign period.

The group has denounced its Presidential forum as it held its general assembly at the University of the Philippines which drew more than 100 civil society leaders.

"It is not enough for the candidates to profess their concern for the environment. Voters need to know where the candidates stand on key challenges, as well as their plans and respective track records in the environment field", Calonzo said via PDI.

The group will showcase a survey on the candidates' environmental agenda, like the one it did last national election.

The survey will be composed of questions that deal with zero waste, water protection, climate change mitigation, chemical safety, renewable energy and other various environmental issues.

Ecowaste will conduct the survey as it launches the Green Electoral Initiative (GEI) to relinquish the environmental agenda of the 10 Presidential candidates.

A scale from "green to gray" will be graded to the candidates after analyzing their answers by the panel of evaluators.

Jerold Anthony F. Dalmacio

Man Made Forest By Dianne Lynn A. Dulgach

Environmental issues are very common today, because of calamities and environmental disasters that the world is experiencing right now. Because of these reports about water pollution, deforestation, illegal logging and other ways of ruining nature, who would believe that there is still a place where you can imagine paradise? I’ve seen it myself when I went to the one of the hottest tourist spots in the Philippines also known as the Island of Paradise, Bohol. Along our way to chocolate hills, we passed by in a town of Loboc and what the Boholanos call the “tina-i sa manok” (chicken’s intestines) which refers to the winding road up the mountain of Loboc going towards Bilar where a forest with thousands of Mahogany trees planted in it was located.
The forest was called “The Man-Made” forest because the Mahogany trees were planted by Boholanos after ten years of deforestation. Lino Chatto, a former Filipino governor, implemented a reforestation program. Under the plan, mahogany trees were cultivated in the surrounding areas of Billar and Loboc. The reforestation program stretched 857.4 hectares. This reforestation program in 1960’s showed the Boholanos’ labor of love for our nature. The Man Made Forest is notable for its very orderly structure. The trees are uniformed in height and in many other ways including the leaves’ design.
The man Made forest is basically a two-kilometer rainforest where you can only see mahogany trees. When you enter the forest, you will feel the sudden change in temperature, especially during summer or hot season. It is hot outside the forested area, but once you are inside the forest, you will be refreshed by the cool breeze. This mountain area seldom sees the sun shine and most often, it rains here. The man-made forest stands out because of its uniformity in height of the big trees, the spread of its branches, thickness and design of leaves. Seedlings thrive around the older trees. Trunks, some thick and others just a few months old, grow straight up towards the sky which is covered by the branches and the thick leaves.
Man Made Forest is one of the famous tourist spot in Bohol because of its cool and very unique history. It is highly recommendable for nature-lovers who love to commune with a secluded environment.
It was very delighting to see that in spite of the carelessness of other Filipinos for our nature, there are others who are concerned. Man Made forest was very well preserved that only proves Boholanos’ love of nature. If only everyone would know and has the initiative on how to protect and save our environment then maybe calamities and disasters can be prevented.