OTHER LINES OF

APPROACH AND
ACTION
SONG ANALYSIS
►Sing along with the song that will be
played (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3q
_bPiXnOc
).
►Feel and understand its message as you
sing.
PROCESSING
►What is/are the message/s of the song?
►What do you think is the intention why
the song was written?
►Which lines of the song struck you the
most? Why?
 PARAISO
Return to a land called Paraiso
A place where a dying river ends
No birds dare fly over Paraiso
No space allows them to endure
The smoke that screens the air
The grass that's never there
 PARAISO
And if I could see a single bird
What a joy!
I try to write some words and create
A simple song to be heard by the
rest of the world
 PARAISO
I live in a land called Paraiso
In a house made of cardboard floors
and walls
I learned to be free in Paraiso
Free to claim anything I see
Matching rags for my clothes
Plastic bags for the cold
 PARAISO
And if empty cans were all I have
What a joy!
I never fight to take someone else's
coins
And live with fear like the rest of
the boys
 PARAISO
Paraiso, help me make a stand
Paraiso, take me by the hand
Paraiso, make the world understand
That if I could see a single bird
 PARAISO
What a joy!
This tired and hungry land could
expect
Some truth and hope and respect
From the rest of the world
DEEPENING
►You might have realized how
fragile the world is.
►So much destruction is happening
bringing sufferings to many people
all over the world.
DEEPENING
►Treating our material
environment as mere object of
profit and exploitation goes
against the spirit of the Christian
scriptures.
 On Polluting and
Defiling the Land
(Numbers 35:33-34)
33
[The LORD instructed Moses to tell
the Israelites:] “You will not pollute the
land where you live. For bloodshed
pollutes the land, and the land can
have no expiation for the blood shed on
it except through the blood of the one
who shed it.
34
Do not defile the land in
which you live and in the
midst of which I dwell; for I
the LORD dwell in the midst
of the Israelites.
►Itmay be out of date to say that the
Bible addresses environmental issues
because there were none during the
ancient times.
►Nevertheless, this passage from the
book of Numbers gives an insight about
pollution and defilement of the earth.
►Ours is a finite earth is one of the
seven environmental principles.
►The earth’s resources can be
classified as either renewable or
nonrenewable.
►Renewable resources are those that can
easily be replenished by natural cycles
(e.g. water, air, plants and animals)
►Nonrenewable resources are those that
cannot be replenished through natural
cycles (e.g. ores of various metals, oil,
coal).
►Although renewable resources can
be replenished, it is important to
note that these are renewable
only as long as they are neither
overused nor destroyed from such
factors as pollution.
►To ensure that these resources will
continually be replenished, it is
essential to know how much of a
resource can be consumed at a given
time to balance the rate to
exploitation with the rate of
replenishment.
►Just how long would the
earth be able to sustain
demands on its resources?
►This is a question that
needs serious reflection.
►Unless the factors of
population growth, lifestyles,
and polluting technologies are
checked, the collapse of the
earth might be inevitable.
►Awareness of the earth’s limited
resources leads to a conscious effort
to change one’s consumerist attitude
as well as to develop process and
technology that would bring about
effective recycling of a great number
of resources.
►There are elements of
Catholic Social Teaching,
which may serve as basis for
environment protection and
management.
►In the encyclical Populorum
Progressio (The Development of
Peoples, 1967), Saint Paul VI
criticized modernization’s harmful
effect on nature and called on the
governments to help the poor (§§
48-49, 71, 74, 81, 83-85).
►Saint Paul VI, in the encyclical
Octogesima Adveniens (A Call to Action,
1971), criticized the destructive
consequences of development based
only on economics while disregarding
the welfare of all (§ 23).
►The environment is being destroyed in
the name of economic development.
►InJustice in the World (1971), the
Synod of Bishops criticized the
wealthy countries and admonished
them to share their wealth in the
name of real justice (§§ 70, 11-12).
►Wealthy countries cannot accumulate
wealth at the expense of the poor
majority and the environment.
►Saint John Paul II, worried
about the destructive effect
of the rapid development of
technology on the
environment.
►In the encyclical Sollicitudo Rei
Socialis (The Social Concerns of
the Church, 1987), he said that
humans should not abuse other
creation based only on their
whims and caprices.
►Humans should consider the
limitation of creation and ensure its
sustainability.
►Furthermore, humans need to
respect life in the whole of creation
because all other creatures also
possess dignity (§ 34).
►In Caritas in Veritate (Charity in
Truth, 2009), Pope Benedict XVI
proposed three significant ecological
positions as follows:
- the importance of intergenerational
justice, which ensure the welfare of
the environment for the good of the
future generations;
- the need to treat the
environment as we would
treat our fellow humans; and
- the injunction to take care
of humanity (§§ 48-51).
►Based on these positions, he
called on the leaders of
nations to promote peace
through the protection of
the environment.
►Pope Francis in Evangelii
Gaudium (The Joy of the
Gospel, 2013), compared the
“exploited poor” and the
“exploited environment”.
►For him, both are fragile and
defenseless.
►Inthis encyclical, he criticized the
market economy and how it
excludes the poor in its pursuit of
profit; it also “devours everything
which stands in the way” like the
environment, which is “defenseless
before the interest of the deified
market” (§ 26).
►“There are other weak and
defenseless beings who are
frequently at the mercy of
economic interests or
indiscriminate exploitation. I
am speaking of creation as a
whole.” (§ 215).
►The Philippine Mining Act of 1995
(Republic Act 7942) is the main
policy/ legislation which governs all
mining operations in the country
and includes various measures to
protect the environment and
defines areas in which mining can
►The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
the Philippines (CBCP) issued on
February 28, 1998 A Statement of
Concern on the Mining Act of 1995
that highlighted the ill effects of
mining operations both on the
environment and on the people,
particularly indigenous communities.
►In such statement, the CBCP
declared that the government
mining policy is offering our
lands to foreigners with liberal
conditions while our people
continue to grow in poverty.
►They also stated that the
adverse social impact on the
affected communities far
outweigh the gains promised
by mining Trans-National
Corporations (TNCs).
►On January 29, 2006, the CBCP
issued another Statement on
Mining Issues and Concerns where
they reaffirm their stand for the
repeal of the Mining Act of 1995.
►They believe that the Mining Act
destroys life.
►The right to life of people is
inseparable from their right to
sources of food and livelihood.
►Allowing the interests of big mining
corporations to prevail over people’s
right to these sources amounts to
violating their right to life.
►Furthermore, mining
threatens people’s health
and environmental safety
through the wanton dumping
of waste and tailings in
rivers and seas.
►Twenty years after issuing
What is Happening to our
Beautiful Land? (A Pastoral
Letter on Ecology), the CBCP
issued Upholding the
Sanctity of Life.
►Pondering on irresponsible
mining, the Bishops wrote that
the Church joins in the
collective and continuous call
against the uncontrollable
plunder of our natural
resources.
►Above all, it calls on a moratorium
on mining activities until the
government and the mining
companies learn to uphold the right
of the indigenous peoples,
compensate the affected
communities for past damages, and
ensure responsible mining practices.
►In Upholding the Sanctity of Life, the CBCP
reflected also on illegal logging.
►In it, the Bishops wrote: “Illegal and
destructive logging largely contribute to the
decimation of our forest resources which
causes loss of biodiversity, instability and
massive erosions of upland soils, serious
damage to our rivers and underground
freshwater ecosystems, and coastal areas.
►The Philippines has lost at least
82 percent of its original forest
cover since the 16th century.
►It has also earned the notoriety
in Southeast Asia as the only
country with the thinnest forest
cover…
►Land conversion, together
with slash-and-burn farming,
forest fires, pest infestations,
typhoons and illegal logging
are the primary causes of
deforestation.”
►The CBCP calls for “an
enhanced multisectoral
cooperation, and the
implementation of effective
measures to clampdown the
illegal logging trade.
►In particular, it urges the
government to issue a total
commercial log ban and intensify
efforts to rehabilitate and reforest
logged over areas, particularly
those places vulnerable to
earthquakes, landslides and
►As enjoined by the United
Nations General Assembly
last February 20, 2013.
►The International Day of
Forests is celebrated every
March 21.
►On this occasion, let us not miss the
forest for the trees on another great
truth rooted deeply in our midst.
►Trees are friends: bearing fruit, shade
and beauty wherever they are planted.
►They are also necessary allies in
achieving planetary sustainability, food
security and poverty eradication.
►By virtue of Proclamation No. 643,
National Arbor Day is celebrated every
June 25.
►This enjoins the active participation of all
government agencies, including
government-owned and controlled
corporations, private sector, schools, civil
society groups and the citizenry in tree
planting activities.
►Laudato Si cites some negative
effects of various forms of air
pollution.
►“Exposure to atmospheric pollutants
produces a broad spectrum of
health hazards, especially for the
poor, and causes millions of
► People take sick, for example, from
breathing high levels of smoke from fuels
used in cooking or heating.
► There is also pollution that affects
everyone, caused by transport, industrial
fumes, substances which contribute to the
acidification of soil and water, fertilizers,
insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and
agrotoxins in general.”
►Laudato Si also highlights the
urgent need to reduce the
emission of polluting gases
through substituting for fossil
fuels and developing sources
of renewable energy.
►The Philippine Clean Air Act of
1999 (Republic Act 8749)
outlines the government’s
measures to reduce air
pollution and incorporate
environmental protection into
its development plans.
►It relies heavily on the polluter
pays principle and other market-
based instruments to promote self-
regulation among the population.
►It sets emission standards for all
motor vehicles and issues pollutant
limitations for industry.
►By virtue of RA 8749 and
Proclamation No. 1109,
Philippine Clean Air Month is
observed every November.
►The Philippine Clean Water Act of
2004 (Republic Act 9275) pursues
a policy of economic growth in a
manner consistent with the
protection, preservation and
revival of the quality of our fresh,
brackish and marine waters.
►In Water is Life, the CBCP calls for a
concerted effort by the laity, the
national government, local government
units, non-government organizations,
the scientific community and the
Church to address the problem of water
insecurity and the urgency to protect
our remaining watersheds.
►The Bishops wrote that “water
insecurity is one of the most
serious environmental
problems facing the country
today and it is not the kind of
problem that can be solved
overnight.”
►World Water Day was observed
starting in 1993 every March 22, in
conformity with the
recommendations of the United
Nations Conference on Environment
and Development as contained in the
Fresh Water Resources Chapter of
Agenda 21.
►As part of the observance of the
2020 World Water Day, the Vatican
Dicastery for Promoting Integral
Human Development published
Aqua Fons Vitae. Orientations on
Water: Symbol of the Cry of the
Poor and the Cry of the Earth.
►The document, meant to support the
human right to clean water, reminds
us that “by means of the water made
holy by the Spirit,” God gives us life
and renews us.
►The way we respect water is an
indicator of how we are “taking care
of the early garden” entrusted to us.
►In observance of World Water
Day, we educate ourselves and
others about the challenges
the world faces in ensuring
access to clean water: the
holy source of all life.
►International Earth Day is celebrated
annually on April 22 since 1970.
►Earth Day, which kick-started the
environmental movement, is the
largest secular civic event in the
world, with 193 countries
demonstrating support for
environmental protection.
►All people, regardless of race,
gender, income, or geography, have
a moral right to a healthy and
sustainable environment.
►An educated, energized population
will take actions to secure a healthy
future for itself and its children.
►The theme for Earth Day 2021 is Restore
Our Earth™, which focuses on natural
processes, emerging green technologies,
and innovative thinking that can restore
the world’s ecosystems.
►In this way, the theme rejects the notion
that mitigation or adaptation are the
only ways to address climate change.
►Itis up to each and every one of
us to Restore Our Earth not just
because we care about the natural
world, but because we live on it.
►We all need a healthy Earth to
support our jobs, livelihoods,
health & survival, and happiness.
►The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
the Philippines, in its 2019 Pastoral
Letter An Urgent Call for Ecological
Conversion, Hope in the Face of
Climate Emergency, recommends
some measures which we can do to
protect and manage our
environment:
1. Do not allow the financial
resources of our [Catholic]
institutions to be invested in favor
of coal-fired power plants, mining
companies and other destructive
extractive projects. Divestment
from such investment portfolios
2. Prevent and reduce biodiversity loss
by growing indigenous plants and
trees, expanding forests through
rain forestation, resisting
destructive mining, dirty energy, the
unbridled construction of roads and
dams, as well as projects that cut
into forested and protected areas.
Implement programs that will
allow the growth and recovery
of forests, ecosystems and
biodiversity.
3. Push
for an immediate
transition to safe, clean, and
affordable energy.
Ensure just and fair transition
to renewable energy sources
and reject false solutions;
support the use of solar power in our
homes and institutions; promote, advocate
and invest in renewable energy (solar,
hydro, wind and geothermal power);
join the campaign to immediately phase
out coal-fired power plants and all other
plants dependent on fossil-fuel, including
coal mining.
4. Protectour watersheds while at
the same time using fresh water
wisely, promoting and establishing
massive rainwater collection, and
putting a stop to infrastructures
that can be detrimental to the
preservation of ecological balance
►Here are the five pillars of
restoring our Earth,
according to EarthDay.org:
1. The
Canopy Project™. $1 = 1
tree. The Canopy Project
partners with groups around
the world to ensure that your
donation sustainably plants
trees for a greener future for
everyone.
2. Foodand Environment. To feed
the world, we must adopt the
latest techniques to support
farmers, renew their land, and
capture carbon through
regenerative agriculture and
sustainable food practices.
3. The Great Global Clean-up™. When it
comes to individual action for the
common good, one of the best ways that
people can make an impact for our
planet is by cleaning up our public
spaces.
Our pollution problem is getting out of
hand and our environment is suffering
Open landfills emit dangerous
greenhouse gasses, waste and
pollution that enter our oceans
and freshwater.
Microplastics even make it into
our food and the air we breathe.
4. Climate Literacy. Fifty years ago, the first
Earth Day started an environmental
revolution.
Now, we are igniting an education
revolution to save the planet.
We are ensuring that students across the
world benefit from high-quality education
to develop into informed and engaged
environmental stewards.
5. GlobalEarth Challenge™. This
gives citizen scientists the power
to make the world a better
place.
Global Earth Challenge™ is the
world’s largest-ever coordinated
citizen science campaign.
The initiative works to integrate
existing citizen science
projects, as well as build the
capacity for new ones — all as
part of a larger effort to grow
citizen science worldwide.