Needed boost for Mangyans' tertiary education

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   As the school year draws to a close, and while environmental issues plague the ancestral domains of the Mangyans of Oriental Mindoro, it behooves government agencies to look into the needs — higher education among them — of the special communities that are the de facto, default guardians of Mother Nature.   I have made known in this space a number of times the issues plaguing...

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To eat our own rice

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   While on my way to a northwestern Luzon province two weeks ago, I took photographs of the four-lane concrete highway that narrowed into two, because the outer lanes on the left and on the right were being used to dry palay (rice grains). On long stretches of the highway were golden grains being raked every now and then for even drying. So preindustrial age. I could not help thinking of the motorists who were denied the road space meant for them, but I worried more for the people,...

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2 nature warriors raise alarms

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   Two veteran environmentalists have raised two separate alarms on two issues that should merit the attention of the government and citizens. Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, a member of the national advisory council of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Brain Trust Inc. (a sustainable development consultancy), and Antonio Oposa Jr., an environmental lawyer and activist, are speaking out individually to call attention to environmental issues. These two men are also authors of books on the environment....

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Pig poo pouring into Batangas Bay

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   Pinoys and Chinoys celebrated the Chinese New Year of the Pig two days ago with the porcine icon in the mind of most everybody, especially the self-styled seers, soothsayers and their believers. So it is just as apropos to call attention to pigs in another context. Not the lawmakers’ pork barrel issue this time, but pig excrement being poured into waterways, not by the pigs themselves, but by businessmen who raise them for profit and in the process defiling the environment. Picture...

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