Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
At the Asia-Pacific Clean Up the World Conference

[Delivered at the Heroes’ Hall, Malacañang, November 7, 1997]

Let us be
stewards of creation

I EXTEND our warmest welcome to this gathering of Asia-Pacific environmentalists, and I am happy that you have included on your priority agenda a summit on how to mitigate El Niño and conserve water.

It is through international meetings such as these that we can develop meaningful strategies to initiate, implement and monitor cleanup efforts effectively in the region and also to confront the El Niño crisis.

Environmental problems are no longer just the concern of any one nation, because they do not stop at national boundaries.

To effectively attack many of the problems facing the environment, regional and global cooperation is essential. A successful outcome requires that each country participate in drawing up and carrying out sound environmental policies that have been firmly established by multilateral agreements.

Cooperation is also called for in the exchange of scientific information as well as the exchange of experiences as to how problems have been tackled at the national level. All relevant information should be shared regionally and worldwide so that the problems of environmental protection and conservation can be more comprehensively confronted. Such cooperation and exchange of information will also enable us to set up early warning systems that will give us a time advantage in facing impending crises.

No country should stand alone

Planet Earth is our common home and we must all strive to protect it. Despite the magnitude of the tasks with which we are faced, no country should feel that it is solitary that it stands alone. Each nation can draw strength from the fact that there are people around the world who are united in their efforts to forge a stronger global community spirit and to elicit greater global cooperation.

We would have to be living on a different planet to be unaware that our world has a major problem in freshwater. Yet, today in 145 countries, there is a deepening global freshwater crisis, which is being highlighted by the numerous Clean Up the World Groups that are concentrating their environmental activities on restoring local waterways.

According to a recent report prepared by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, by the year 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will be suffering from “water stress” as a result of water shortages caused by overuse and pollution.

Every year, about 5 million people die from diseases caused by unsafe drinking water. Approximately 80 percent to 90 percent of all diseases, and more than one third of all deaths in developing countries, are considered related to contaminated water. It is reported that 25,000 people die each day as a result of poor water quality.

Water is not just a local or national problem. Water is often a regional problem. About 300 major river basins cross national borders—and rivers flow across these borders. Water is seen as a valuable resource and can become a cause of friction. In such cases, cooperation between neighbors as to the supply and use of water is imperative.

United Nations Environment Program director Elizabeth Dowdeswell has stressed that freshwater is arguably the most precious of our planet’s resources because freshwater is basic to human life. One would expect that human beings would go to great lengths to ensure a sustainable and readily accessible supply of such a critical resource. But the unfortunate reality is that we often take some of the most simple but most important things in life for granted. It is only when they are gone that we realize their true value.

Water cleanup efforts

This year, the Clean Up the World Group has committed itself to making an impact globally on the problem of water pollution. In different countries, environmental activists have concentrated their best efforts on restoring local rivers that have been polluted by sewage and have prevented others from being polluted. Beaches were another focus of attention. Cleanups were made on beaches all over the world.

In the Philippines we have been confronted with the problems of the mine tailings spills in the Boac River, and the massive mercury poisoning in the rivers and bays of Eastern Mindanao from gold mining in Mount Diwalwal.

These problems were taken up in the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea ministerial conference on protecting the seas from land-based pollution, which was hosted by the Philippines last year. That conference was convened by Senator Heherson Alvarez as vice president for the Asian region, and we commend Senator Alvarez for his efforts in the Senate regarding these problems. We are committed to the program of action agreed upon in that conference, and as a result, the offending companies were ordered to take prompt cleanup action.

Massive fishkills

Another problem with water resources in our country concerns massive fishkills. In critical areas like Laguna Lake, Taal Lake and Lingayen Gulf, I have ordered the dismantling of fish pens that pollute the lakes and their tributaries. The problem is exacerbated by overstocking and by excessive use of commercial feeds. Besides hampering the natural flow of the river and obstructing navigation, fish pens and cages reduce the fishing grounds of municipal fishermen.

We are also taking steps to improve local waterways by monitoring pollution levels and initiating cleanup efforts at the local level for rivers, creeks, canals, ponds and beaches.

Since prevention is better than cure, we have a program to educate people on refuse disposal and to explain to them that if improperly disposed of, rubbish tends to end up in local waterways.

El Niño is back

One only has to read the newspapers and feel the temperature to know that the impact of El Niño is already being felt in our land.

World experts predict that a 3-to-8 degrees centigrade rise in temperature in the Western Pacific Ocean, covering an area about one and a half times that of the United States, and a sea-level rise of 15 to 30 centimeters will cause the worst El Niño phenomenon in 150 years. Global warming and the resulting rise in sea level have been identified as the cause of El Niño, which inflicts extreme drought in the Western Pacific and extreme rainfall accompanied by cyclones, hurricanes and snowfalls in the Eastern Pacific.

According to Pag-asa, our local weather bureau, the country has experienced four El Niño episodes—1948-59 (12 years); 1961-73 (13 years); 1974-88 (15 years); and 1989-97 (8 years and continuing). Within these prolonged periods, there were two extreme El Niño-related droughts during the periods of 1982-83 and 1991-92.

The 1982-83 drought cost the world an estimated US$13.5 billion and US$400 million (P12 billion) in damages here at home. The 1991-92 drought cost the Philippines P4.1 billion and extensive power brownouts.

El Niño is hitting us now in this last quarter of 1997 and is expected to be around until the middle of 1998, and in some regions for up to 18 months. We are now in what is expected to be the critical months—November and December, when some of our provinces will not have enough rainfall to sustain crop production. Metro Manila may possibly face a shortage since the water in a number of the dams supplying water to the city is approaching a critical level.

Dealing with the situation

Preparations have, however, been made and are being made to deal with the situation. I welcome the action agenda drawn up by the national summit of die Asia-Pacific Conference on Clean Up the World, to deal with the droughts that El Niño will bring, and also with floods that its twin—La Nina—may carry.

We will do our best to ensure that the long-term-and short-term—action agendas that this national summit has drawn up will be carried out. We appreciate the support of the United Nations Development Program for its help in raising public understanding of El Niño.

To highlight this meeting and its noble purposes, I have proclaimed November as Clean Air Month to concentrate on emission control and the cleanup of engines and factories.

With Presidential Proclamation 244 recently promulgated, I have also declared September “Clean Up the World Month,” and from the 17th to the 23rd of September “Clean Up and Green Week” every year.

In closing, let me say that every problem we face should be looked upon as a challenge to be addressed squarely. There are no easy solutions, but solutions can be found. There are no quick fixes, because the problems are complex. Neither should we expect cost-free solutions.

But the problems can be solved, whether they be national, regional or global, if we are willing to work together on the basis of accurate information and collective action.

On behalf of our people, I convey our highest commendations to all of you who are engaged in this great and noble enterprise of protecting and preserving the environment. Let us not forget that we are only stewards of creation and that we must take good care of our planet Earth, our common home.