Joedy Mae B.

Mangampo

Environmental Issues in the Philippines

The Philippines is a very beautiful country but we cannot deny the fact that it is prone to

natural disasters such as typhoons, landslides, tsunamis, storm surges, volcanic eruptions,

earthquakes and the like, as our country lies along the Pacific Ring of fire. Technically, it is

beyond our will for these natural phenomena to happen, but we unconsciously or consciously

contribute to different environmental issues that worsens its effects.

As our country progresses, our environment is also compromised. The smokes emitted by the

factories and vehicles, the trees cut down for infrastructures and all other human-caused

environmental degradation; as we tolerate these activities as part of our country’s progress and

development, we also tend to neglect and ignore its environmental effects.

Today, our country is facing many environmental issues such as global warming, increasing

pollution, uncontrolled deforestation, overpopulation (depletion abuse and of natural resources),

improper solid and toxic waste disposal. We can notice that all of these problems are caused by

human activities.

Global warming is an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely

predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution.

Global warming is the top-on-the-list environmental problem worldwide. The combustion of

fuels and burning catalyze the global warming. The Philippines, being a small country has

already been experiencing its effects: stronger typhoons, bigger tsunamis, extremely hot

summers and very rainy seasons.

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Increasing pollution on air, land and water is also abundant in our environment. We pollute

the air through burning fossils and garbages, emitting smokes from small cigarettes, vehicles and

then larger factories. The land is polluted through chemical fertilizers and disposal of harmful

wastes onto the land. By simply throwing our wastes and toxic wastes onto the bodies of water,

we catalyze the pollution of the water. Pollution has been an issue until now and lack of

discipline and concern for the nature is a reason.

Long ago, we were in abundance of trees, trees that provide water reservoir ad fresh air, and

now only portions were left due to urbanization and deforestation. “Over the course of the 20th

century the forest cover of the Philippines dropped from 70 percent down to 20 percent. In total,

46 species are endangered, and 4 were already eradicated completely. 3.2 percent of total

rainforest has been left. Based on an analysis of land use pattern maps and a road map an

estimated 9.8 million ha of forests were lost in the Philippines from 1934 to 1988.” Every day,

lots of trees are cut down and forests are levelled to make way for constructions of buildings and

furniture. We cannot stop the logging but at least we need to control it and be knowledgeable

about how important trees are. Another issue is the mining, mining companies have already

extracted tons and tons of mineral resource and also involves deforestation in their operations.

The aftermath is that the area where they conducted mining, experiences water and soil

contamination which is another issue.

Another massive environmental issue in our country is the improper disposal of solid and

toxic wastes. As we walk around the cities, it is sad to see people throwing garbage on the streets

or on the bridge whenever they want to, factories with their toxic wastes pipes leading to the

rivers, garbages being dumped to the sea. Almost every day we accumulate tons of garbages (in
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Metro Manila alone, an estimate of 8,000 tons of solid waste are generated daily) and the

problem on disposal arouses. The waterways are clogged and contaminated, and as a result we

can get infected and catch diseases.

The last and the top environmental issue in our country is the overpopulation.It is accurate to

say that overpopulation is the main reason of the depletion of natural resources. With a very big

population, there is a bigger need for source of the basic necessities like food, water, and shelter.

The need for shelter means another establishment to be built (deforestation and logging). There

could also be scarcity of food and water due to limited supply (vegetation and aquatic/land

animals). The need also for electricity and other fuel-burning facilities increases greenhouse

gases in the atmosphere. In short, due to overpopulation, there will be greater demand and with

limited resources, the natural resources are compromised and sadly we disregard the fact that

future generations also need these resources to survive.

As a Filipino citizen, and a student, it is really saddening to see how our country is facing

these long list of environmental issues. But then, I should not lose hope, for there are lots of

actions to take. Government are already initiating solutions and projects to slowly but surely

eradicating the environmental issues. As a student, I can help by simply joining tree planting

programs, coastal clean up, 3R’s program, or I could make use of the social media to disseminate

information and to encourage everyone about eradicating environmental issues.

Again, as a Filipino, I encourage everyone to be concern about the environment, for it is us

who benefits from it and in return we should provide care and attention for what is our

stewardship all about if we continue to abuse and misuse our environment.