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On our way to the airport to catch my flight back to the country in 2006, my hosts and dear friends, Cebuano couple Tony and Kiddie Lim, made a detour and brought me to a little known secret in Washington, D.C., located at Haines Point. From afar, one can see a large hand and a leg jutting out of the ground. The magnificent work of art is called “The Awakening.” A creation of J. Seward Johnson Jr., it is a 100-foot aluminum-cast statue of a giant, consisting of five parts, embedded in the land and vividly struggling to free himself. Log on to www.pbase.com/april_sims/the_awakening or to Wikipedia’s URL, to see it.
The Awakening is an unforgettable piece of art, evoking a myriad of responses, ranging from appreciation to introspection, about life’s meaning, challenges and realizations. One cannot help but think of the country and our continuing struggle to be freed from hundreds of years of exploitation, domination and injustice. It stirs up a tinge of hope that, like the giant, we will soon awaken from our self-inflicted state of immobility and helplessness.
It is good for Cebu and other places to have visible symbols of hope and reminder that we have to get out of our apathy, lethargy, selfishness, fear and ignorance. We need to work, inch by inch, towards attaining unity as a nation, through the Rule of Law. It is the only way.
The crisis brought about by the oil drilling at Tañon Strait Protected Seascape in 2007 brought together an awakened citizenry from the academe, the youth, scientists, economists, lawyers and other professionals, and grassroots, public and private organizations from Cebu and Negros Oriental. They formed Save Tañon Strait Citizens Movement (STSCM), which was formally launched on May 16, 2008, at The Outpost Restobar in Lahug, Cebu City. It was a joyous occasion for the Tañoners and newfound friends, who are all conscious of the fact that everything is interconnected and that environmental protection transcends boundaries.
STSCM is a fast-growing citizens’ movement that envisions an ecologically-sustainable lifestyle and genuine empowerment of the people through education and the Rule of Law. What made the event doubly meaningful was the news that Japex (Japan Petroleum Exploration) was withdrawing from its participation in the Tañon Strait oil drilling, the subject of the controversial service contract entered into with the Department of Energy. The news highlighted a fact unknown to the people – that another Kuwaiti firm, with a 35-percent stake, is involved in the project. This is the service contract that DOE locked up in its vault, despite repeated requests from sectors for a copy, and it eventually led to the filing of the cases.
STSCM believes that citizens must jointly act to reverse the damage inflicted on our health and lives and our frail ecosystems. These include the marine ecosystem of Tañon Strait Protected Seascape (TSPS) and the health and livelihood of the constituents, like the marginal fisherfolk who, since time immemorial, relied on the municipal waters of TSPS, for their sustenance. Resource exploitation, unabated pollution, commercial and dynamite fishing, greed, inaction and negligence of some leaders, apathy and ignorance of the constituents and breakdown of the law are some of the issues confronting TSPS. These are the same challenges confronting coastal Cebu and the entire archipelago, in fact.
STSCM is uniquely homegrown and revives the bayanihan way of life of our ancestors. The members and volunteers contribute their creativity, skills and resources for its educational campaigns. The Summer School for the Environment, with venues that already brought the members to Mt. Manuggal and Ginatilan, and the Green Vote Campaign, are ongoing projects.
STSCM believes in participation and partnership. It reaches out to the stakeholders from government, the business community and civil society. The diversity, talent, energy, and dedication of the members make STSCM a dynamic citizens’ movement to reckon with.
STSCM story is a story of hope, that individuals can and should make a difference in shaping a healthier planet. It is a story about the people’s positive response to an ecological nightmare that seemed impossible to awaken from due to centuries of exploitation and a pervading sense of helplessness and a culture of trusting everything to fate. It is a journey that young and forever-young citizens chose to take, to prove that there are caring eco-stewards that lurk in the heart of each one of us.
In the launch, STSCM recognized the efforts and leadership of individuals and organizations as exemplary environmental stewards, and gave dolphin plaques creatively designed and made by the members. Recipients of the awards are Mayor Hector Villanueva of Bais City, for the trailblazing and thriving dolphin-and-whale-watching program; Bindoy, Negros Oriental Vice Mayor Valente Yap, for resource conservation leadership in the protection of Mantalip Reef; and Cebu City’s chairperson of the environment committee, Councilor Nestor Archival, for the much-needed environmental programs and a low-carbon lifestyle he personally espouses.
The crucial and critical role in ecological sustainability of the print, TV and broadcast media was also recognized. Special citation was given to Cebu Daily News for mainstreaming the environment as a major news feature.
STSCM believes that only an awakened and empowered citizenry can transform a nation. Like the giant sculpture, it is time to wake up and collectively claim our right to a healthy environment. Let us become responsible environmental citizens by doing our share, wherever we may be, in making our part of the world a lot better than when we came in. Surely, this can be done. But first we must respect the law and most of all, respect Mother Nature, who, as we should realize by now, has the last say – always.
