“Environmental protection is an urgent call,” said Linda Tawagon, president of Dansalan College in Marawi City, and concurrent member of Konsult Mindanaw. 

“All of us can do something to protect our environment. If we have not done our part yet, now is the time.  Unless we act now, we may wake up one day to find our Mother Earth no longer habitable,”  Tawagon said in a press statement issued by Konsult Mindanaw.

“Flash floods reportedly exacerbated by illegal logging have recently dominated headlines in Northern Mindanao. Early this year, heavy rains and floods displaced some 5,000 families in Gingoog City and 13 towns in Misamis Oriental. Before that, rains in Bukidnon caused the Cagayan River to overflow, triggering floods in 10 barangays of Cagayan de Oro City. Authorities pegged the number of displaced families in Cagayan de Oro, Gingoog, El Salvador and Iligan City at 9,000,” the press statement noted.

In February, the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro initiated a Bishops-Legislators Forum on Environmental Concerns. The forum, also participated in by Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of Butuan and Bishop Edwin de la Peña of Marawi, came up with recommendations to avert further environmental threats.

Konsult Mindanaw, composed of representatives from research institutions in Mindanao, was commissioned by the Bishops-Ulama Conference to conduct the dialogues. 

At least 300 focus group discussions have been conducted across the island, involving some 5,000 respondents from the Moro, settler, and Lumad communities.

The survey was conducted to determine the people’s sentiments about peace, their opinions about the ongoing peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and their suggestions for peace in Mindanao.  (MindaNews)

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