Alyssa Dolores G.

San Felipe
ES 10 A
July 23, 2019

During the talk of Doctor Toni La Vina, the acting director of the Manila Observatory
specifically tackled black issues. Black issues happen when individuals or corporations destroy
nature and take from the marginalized to monopolize on it. Before the talk, I never really heard
of the term black issues. Yes, green, blue and brown issues are all equally important, and should
be a subject of contention and discourse amongst ourselves; but, why are we not talking about
black issues? The way I understand it, black issues are the root causes of green, blue and brown
issues. Anthropogenic activities and the need to capitalize on our resources are main agents of
climate change, a decrease in biodiversity, and environmental degradation. In my opinion, it is
really important to acknowledge and to have an increased awareness about the black issues that
we’re facing to be better champions for environmental justice.
The term “environmental justice” was often brought up during the talk. For me, it was
the very first time that I have heard of that concept. Doctor La Vina explained that
environmental justice meant upholding the rights of the common good. However, who and
what the “common good” are may often be misunderstood. For big corporations that see our
natural resources as something to capitalize on, the common good may be the market they are
serving. Sometimes, these corporations do not take into account who and what are dealing the
brunt of the consequences of their actions. I realized just how dangerous having a “common
good” mentality is. Why do we allow them to compromise and sacrifice the dignity of the
affected communities and populations for the interests of the “common good”? It is important
that we fix this toxic mentality and rebrand the “common good” in such a way that includes
the marginalized communities, the environment and the future generations, and not just those
in the more privileged sector of the population.
That being said, I realized that for those who are more privileged – for those who are
not affected by the consequences of these black issues, they have a duty to protect those who
do deal with the brunt of these consequences. It’s such an underrated blessing: to have a voice
and to have that voice be heard.– and not everyone has the capacity to have that. And I think
that those who do have a voice are kind of beholden to be the voice of the voiceless. Like
Doctor La Vina said in the talk, “when marginalized communities are not being heard, we are
the next line of defense.” And this spoke to me.
There were a lot of concepts I only first heard from the talk, and this is indicative of
just how much I know about the current environmental situation of the Philippines. I still have
a lot to learn to be a better champion of environmental justice, and this talk served as a “call to
action” for me. I could start small by practicing habits that is safe, sustainable and ethical for
the environment. It made me want to take a more active role in pushing for a better future for
our environment and for humanity.