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ECOLOGY MASS ON TV STARTS EARTH DAY RITES IN QUEZON CITY
David Cagahastian
Manila Bulletin
April 20, 2008
A special Ecology Mass ushering in the week-long global observance of Earth Day will be held today starting at 4 p.m., telecast live over the TV program "Sining Gising (Ugnayan ng NCCA at DepEd sa Bayan)," at NBN 4, concelebrated by past and current awardees of the Fr. Neri Satur Award for Environmental Heroism.
President Arroyo, who will be a special guest at the Mass, has issued Presidential Proclamation No. 1276, calling on the public to celebrate Earth Day by doing its share for the protection of the environment, especially now that the world is experiencing food crisis brought about by global warming and climate change.
After the Mass, the 2008 Father Neri Satur Award will be handed out to six individuals and groups who have been selected for being “champions of the environment,” said former Senator and Environment Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez, event organizer as founding chair of the EarthSavers Movement.
This year’s awardees are:
1. Dipolog Bishop Jose Manguiran, who was nominated by former Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president, Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, for being a true “earthsaver and a farmer,” advocating responsible mining;
2. Nueva Vizcaya Bishop Ramon Villena for advancing the rights of indigenous peoples;
3. Father John Couvreur, CICM, Parish of Saint John Evangelist in Quirino, Isabela, who is also chair of the Ecology Desk of the Diocese, was nominated by Laoag Bishop Sergio Utleg for running after illegal loggers and timber poachers in his hometown;
4. Ecology-friendly business firm SM Group of Companies, through SM Vice Chair Tessie Sy, has been selected for innovative eco-programs such as SM Waste Markets, SM Greenbangs, participation in Earth Hour and the free showing of the documentary film “Inconvenient Truth,” in partnership with EarthSavers Movement.
5. Kongreso ng Komiks chairman and film and TV director Carlo J. Caparas is being recognized for media advocacy and for partnering with the EarthSavers Movement and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in holding a comics competition in climate change and the UN Millennium Development Goals.
6. Scientist-artist-educator Prof. Tomas Ongoco, president of Quezon City Academy, will be honored for environmental education. His book, “Ambon sa Tagtuyot,” contains the popularization of scientific data through drama and poems, including the ills of smoking, and a unique “Balagtasan on Climate Change.” Prof. Ongoco has also done the Filipino translation of the film “Inconvenient Truth” by former US Vice President Al Gore, a colleague of Alvarez in the Global Parliamentarians for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE).
Alvarez has asked Gore’s permission to translate his film into Filipino and several local dialects for wider dissemination and understanding in the Philippines.
Earth Day was first commemorated in the US in 1970, led by then Wisconsin Senator Gaylor Nelson, to call attention to the degradation of the environment. In the Philippines, then Senator Alvarez authored the Senate Resolution proclaiming April 22 of each year as Earth Day in the Philippines.
Today, more than 150 nations celebrate Earth Day annually.
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