Philippines is suffering from the climate crisis. The youth seeks for the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs to let their story be heard in the International Court of Justice. Such an opinion will assist Philippines, and other countries, in understanding their legal duties regarding climate change impacts. Last year the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report (http://bit.ly/reportIPCC) stating that global change needs to happen before 2030 if the planet is going to reverse the impacts of climate change. We are hatching a global legal adventure. The 'I am Climate Justice Movement', sparked by the youth of the world wishes for us to be the change that we want to see. First, please make a Pledge (http://bit.ly/ICJMypledge) to take simple steps for personal change. When we have changed inside, we will ask for change outside. We are asking governments around the world, including the Philippines, to support a UN Resolution at the UN General Assembly in September this year triggering an International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the duty of States in light of the climate crisis. Such an opinion will assist Philippines, and other countries, in understanding their legal duties regarding climate change impacts. Our first step will be sending a letter (http://bit.ly/DFAletter) to the Department of Foreign Affairs on April 22 asking for their support. On June 5, World Environment Day, we will refile the letter, attached with the signature of the youth from other countries. We will continue to gather support until the UN General Assembly in September! Please join us in our legal fun and support this petition!

As the biggest fast food chain in the world with 37,000 restaurants and 69 million customers each day, McDonald’s uses “nearly 2.8 tonnes of packaging every minute, representing nearly 1.5 million tonnes of packaging per year” according to Resource. Packaging is perhaps their most pressing issue. McDonald's continues to produce thousands and thousands of tons of solid wastes periodically. Not to mention, the emitted millions of metric tons of greenhouse gases from the production, transportation, and waste management of their packaging. Sources: 1. https://www.qsrmagazine.com/sustainability/how-mcdonalds-plans-fight-climate-change 2. https://resource.co/article/mcdonald-s-recycling-and-waste-management-insufficient-says-french-report-11870 Please read this Open Letter for McDonald's: https://wp.me/p6weqS-19c

"I would like us all to make a serious commitment to respect and protect creation, to be attentive to every person, to counter the culture of waste and disposable, to promote a culture of solidarity and of encounter. Thank you." - Pope Francis. General Audience June 5th, 2013 "This same “use and throw away” logic generates so much waste, because of the disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary." - Pope Francis (Laudato Si, 123) This activity is INTENTIONAL VIOLATION of Republic Act 9003 - mismanagement and improper segregation of waste. Likewise, of the fisheries code and wildlife act, among others. 1. What goes up must come down, and farmers in ­particular have become increasingly ­concerned that livestock might swallow a lantern's wire or ­bamboo frame, or, even worse, that fires might break out in hay barns. Elsewhere, coastguards say lanterns, which can travel for several kilometres and to an ­altitude of 1,000m before the candle burns out, are routinely mistaken for distress flares. A handful of east Asian countries, such as ­Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, have already introduced bans, particularly in the lead up to ­major festivals. (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/feb/02/sky-lanterns-danger-farm-animals) 2. Countries like Argentina, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, and parts of Canada and the USA have actually already banned the release of sky lanterns. (http://www.wheninmanila.com/why-we-should-not-release-balloons-skylanterns/). 3. However, the worst part of the fallout from the activity is the impact on local fauna. Reports of animals dying painfully, typically strangled by old lanterns' wires or suffocated by undecomposed paper, are frequent during this time of year. Some visitors are no doubt already aware of this, particularly following the high-profile death of an owl in the U.K. a few years ago. The bird was found suffocated and partly burnt inside the remains of a lantern... Humans are also at risk. The light emitted by lanterns sent en masse at night has been proven to be disruptive to aircraft pilots. As such, some countries like Malaysia have banned the use of sky lanterns in and around certain cities in order to prevent fatal accidents. (http://www.chinapost.com.tw/editorial/taiwan-issues/2017/02/10/491229/pingxis-sky.htm) 4. Though they are undoubtedly beautiful, even the biodegradable lanterns can be incredibly harmful to both the environment and wildlife. Sky lantern litter takes quite some time to decompose, and the wire frames have been known to strangle and maim wild animals and livestock. They also pose a significant fire hazard. Not only have they caused multiple wildfires, a sky lantern was also responsible for a massive fire at the Smethwick Recycling Plant in West Midlands, England. (http://earth911.com/living-well-being/events-entertainement/environmental-impact-traditions/) 5. With Save Philippine Seas, know more about the ills and harms of sky lantern releases here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/savephilippineseas/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1318238384932367

It is unsustainable, wasteful and ecologically apathetic. Cove Manila said that the balloon drop will be done indoors and will follow waste disposal guidelines but the activity in itself contradicts the basic principles of environmental sustainability. 1. All of these balloons, if not recycled, will end up as waste in landfills and other areas which will harm wildlife, marine and terrestrial ecosystems and even clog sewage systems, among others. 2. The Philippines is 3rd in the world dumping wastes into the oceans. Don't add more. 3. There are environment-friendly alternatives, read here: https://balloonsblow.org/environmentally-friendly-alternatives. Need more reference? Download Save Philippine Seas Defying Gravity Toolkit at http://www.savephilippineseas.org/toolkits Let's look reflect on the words of econetizen Grayson Gil Lidon Yañez: "Dear Cove Manila, we know this event sounds like a blast in time for the new year but we’ve never been this challenged with plastic pollution than ever before. 130,000 is a massive number of balloons and trash that could flow to the oceans in due time. We hope you reconsider your choice of material for your celebration and we would gladly help you think of more environmentally-friendly yet still fun ways to usher in the new year... We understand that it will be done indoors and that you comply with waste disposal rules. But wouldn’t it be wiser, more cost-efficient, and sustainable to prevent at source? And by this we mean completely refraining from using balloons instead. It’s 130,000 plastic/rubber balloons we are talking about here — at a single event. Chances are it will still be dumped in sites or eventually end up in the oceans. Hope you will still reconsider and help us take action in taking care of our environment. There are many ways to celebrate and have fun, but not at the expense of the environment. And again, we will gladly help you think of other ways..." Econetizen Edgar Alan Zeta-Yap adds: "Despite repeated calls by netizens this past week to find an eco-friendly alternative to their extremely wasteful event, Cove Manila of Okada Manila continues to defend their ”record-breaking” release of 130,000 balloons at their New Year’s Eve party, sponsored by Hennessy and Belvedere Vodka. Justifying that the world’s largest balloon drop will be held indoors and that proper waste disposal will be followed, they totally miss the point as the country — and the entire planet — suffers from plastic pollution on a monumental scale as it is. More than 80% of plastic waste in the country is mismanaged, and often ends up in the ocean. And the Philippines is already the world’s third largest contributor to plastic pollution in the ocean."

This is an appeal to Mataasnakahoy, its residents and its leaders. Please, I beg you, spare these trees. Let us set a good example. Let us show the world that our progress and our development is not at the expense of these trees. They have stood here for decades, growing. And they are residents of this town as much as I am, as much as we all are. To me, they are so much more than just a bunch of trees. They represent so many memories. I have walked, jogged, biked and ran along that road countless times and I know I’m not the only one. I can’t imagine going down that road and not seeing those trees. I can’t imagine Mataasnakahoy without them. But there is still hope. Temporarily, the cutting has been stopped. Together, maybe we can stop it entirely. We need you. Help us, help me speak for those trees. The link below is an online petition to appeal to our leaders and with enough signatures maybe we can change their minds. Let’s show them that we are better than this.

When are we going to learn and value the importance of nature? These trees give us shade, protection from flood and help us clean the air in this traffic prone area. Global warming is real and we are already experiencing its dangerous impacts. What will happen if all these trees are gone? Will the road widening really solve traffic? I bet not. What is definitely going to happen is that everyday we will be forced to breath in polluted air as we pass through Lawton Ave. There will no more trees to cover and protect us during the scorching heat of summer. These trees are already there even before most of us were born. Please stop Killing them because losing them will slowly kill us too. The wrong things that we are doing with Mother Nature will come back to us tenfold.

Remember that Mt. Guiting-guiting is Sibuyanon’s remaining terrestrial life-support system. If we attempt to destruct its ecological balance without proper scientific and sociological bases under the principles of sustainable development, we will all suffer the consequences. At the heart of Sibuyan Island is the Mt Guiting-Guiting Natural Park (MGGNP). It is the only remaining mountain in the Philippines with relatively intact habitats along its entire elevational gradient. Mt. Guiting-Guiting’s plant and mammal biodiversity is amongst the richest in the world (Heaney and Regalado 1998, Goodman and Ingle 1997, DENR 1997) Be it known that Bayay Sibuyanon and those who seek the stoppage and investigation of this project are not against development but shall continue to promote and adhere to the targets and indicators of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sustainable development and precautionary principles must always be considered in implementing projects in ecologically sensitive and disaster prone areas. The ‘Priority Sites for Conservation in the Philippines: Key Biodiversity Areas’ document by the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), now BMB, of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) exposes that there are one critically endangered, four endangered, and eight vulnerable species of biodiversity in Mt. Guiting-guiting Natural Park, which includes the endangered Philippine tube-nosed fruit bat, Nyctimene rabori, and a vulnerable Sibuyan pitcher plant, Nepenthes sibuyanensis. The project is not included in the Mt. Guiting-guiting Natural Park Management Plan. Almost every year, new biological species are being discovered. In 2008, a new species of stick insect has been discovered, the Pharnacia magdiwang. In 2010, a new species of shrew has been documented, Crocidura ninoyi. Gekko coi or Leonard’s Forest Gecko, named after famous taxonomist Leonardo Co, was known in 2011. And in 2012, a new owl species has been found, Ninox hilippensis spilonota; in 2014 a pitcher plant named after a Sibuyanon slain environmentalist Armin Marin, Nepenthes armin. In the same year, a rare endemic species of a tree skink Lipinia vulcania was recorded and a new species of lizard called Pseudogekko isapa sp. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources describes Sibuyan Island having "relatively rich biodiversity": "There are approximately 700 vascular plant species, including 54 species that are endemic to the island.  These include Nepenthes sibuyanensis J Nerz (Sibuyan Pitcher Plant); Heterospathe sibuyanensis Becc. (Bil-is), Pinanga sibuyanensis Becc. (Tibañgan), and Orania palindan var. sibuyanensis, a wild palm; Alpinia sibuyanensis, Phyllanthus sibuyanensis, Cyathea sibuyanensis Copel. (Tree Fern); Agamyla sibuyanensis Hilliard & BL Burtt (Sibuyan lipstick plant); Myrmephytum beccarii Elmer (Sibuyan ant plant); Begonia gitingensis Elmer (Guiting-guiting begonia).  Of the 700 plant species in the Island, 180 species can only be found in the Philippine archipelago.   There are numerous endemic species in Mt. Guiting-Guiting that occupy specific habitats.  These are found mostly in primary forest with elevation of 100 meters or higher (Madulid, Domingo, 1997).  The endemic species found in the protected area are as follows: • Sararanga philippinensis grows gregariously and form distinct clumps in Peat swamp forest along riverine/riparian forest at low altitudes. • Heterospathe sibuyanensis and Ardisia sibuyanensis located in primary forest at medium altitudes; and • Nepenthes merrillii and Alpinia sibuyanensis most of these are found in primary forest between 100 and higher elevations.    A total of 130 species of birds have been recorded in Sibuyan, of which 102 are either known or presumed to be breeding residents.  These are: Cinnamon Bittern-Lapay (Ixobrychus cinnamomeus), Celestial Monarch (Hyphothymis coelestis), Striated Grassbird (Megalurus palustris forbesi), Rufous –lored Kingfisher (Halcyon winchelli nesydrionetes), Pygmy Swiftlet (Collocalia troglodytes), and Philippine Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus philippensis). Sibuyan is also home to nine (9) native non-flying terrestrial mammal species,  four (4) of which are endemic rodents (Goodman and Ingle, 1993).  This are: Greater Sibuyan forest mouse (Apomys sp. B), Lesser Sibuyan forest mouse (Apomys sp. C), Sibuyan striped shrew-rat (Chrotomys sp. A), and Sibuyan giant moss mouse (Tarsomys sp. A) .  Out of nine fruit bat species found in the island, only one (1) species, Sibuyan Pygmy fruit bat (Haplonycteris sp. A) is endemic (Goodman & Ingle, 1993).   Dugongs (Dugong dugong) have also been sighted within the municipal waters and dolphins and whales are also expected to be visiting the area.   There are nine (9) recorded species of lizards and geckoes two (2) which are classified as endemic and rare. Gekko romblon, the Romblon narrow-disked Gecko, appears to be limited to Tablas and Sibuyan Island."

1. What goes up must come down, and farmers in ­particular have become increasingly ­concerned that livestock might swallow a lantern's wire or ­bamboo frame, or, even worse, that fires might break out in hay barns. Elsewhere, coastguards say lanterns, which can travel for several kilometres and to an ­altitude of 1,000m before the candle burns out, are routinely mistaken for distress flares. A handful of east Asian countries, such as ­Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, have already introduced bans, particularly in the lead up to ­major festivals. (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/feb/02/sky-lanterns-danger-farm-animals) 2. Countries like Argentina, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, and parts of Canada and the USA have actually already banned the release of sky lanterns. (http://www.wheninmanila.com/why-we-should-not-release-balloons-skylanterns/). 3. However, the worst part of the fallout from the activity is the impact on local fauna. Reports of animals dying painfully, typically strangled by old lanterns' wires or suffocated by undecomposed paper, are frequent during this time of year. Some visitors are no doubt already aware of this, particularly following the high-profile death of an owl in the U.K. a few years ago. The bird was found suffocated and partly burnt inside the remains of a lantern... Humans are also at risk. The light emitted by lanterns sent en masse at night has been proven to be disruptive to aircraft pilots. As such, some countries like Malaysia have banned the use of sky lanterns in and around certain cities in order to prevent fatal accidents. (http://www.chinapost.com.tw/editorial/taiwan-issues/2017/02/10/491229/pingxis-sky.htm) 4. Though they are undoubtedly beautiful, even the biodegradable lanterns can be incredibly harmful to both the environment and wildlife. Sky lantern litter takes quite some time to decompose, and the wire frames have been known to strangle and maim wild animals and livestock. They also pose a significant fire hazard. Not only have they caused multiple wildfires, a sky lantern was also responsible for a massive fire at the Smethwick Recycling Plant in West Midlands, England. (http://earth911.com/living-well-being/events-entertainement/environmental-impact-traditions/) 5. With Save Philippine Seas, know more about the ills and harms of sky lantern releases here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/savephilippineseas/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1318238384932367

Gina Lopez has been the only DENR secretary that has enforced our environmental laws without fear or hesitation. She has extensively visited and documented the environmental degradation of mine sites, watersheds, coastal areas, and forests, all over the country. She has comprehensively sought, listened and decisively acted on the complaints of affected communities. She is qualified to this position considering her knowledge of environmental issues and her previous experience managing development initiatives such as social enterprises, eco-tourism and the rehabilitation of the Pasig River. To ensure the continued advance for real change in your administration, Gina Lopez is imperative because: a) She can inspire people within the agency and the communities to commit towards a green economy; b) She has a solid history of being able to work with other government agencies local governments, and private sector and civil society groups to implement an integrated area development approach that is crucial to helping the poor; c) She can check and possibly end corruption in the DENR, as she herself has shown that she has zero tolerance for corruption; d) She can effectively communicate the environmental challenges we face, and inspire millions of citizens to address the issues they face at ground level. We realize that as President, you have to make choices and follow the law. But in the case of Gina Lopez, you yourself correctly recognized that powerful economic interests and corrupt politicians have obstructed your resolve to bring change to DENR. We must not allow this betrayal of the country, and the betrayal of our environment to remain unchecked. Mr. President, millions of Filipinos – especially the poor – are relying on your will to make the right decision. It is in this spirit that we, along with many of our fellow Filipino citizens, ask that Gina Lopez be re-appointed as DENR secretary.

This is important because the trees are a part of our hometown and of our families. Many of us have good memories with these trees. People were not consulted with the tree cutting which was supposed to be done by the LGU before implementing a project.We all know how long it takes for a strong tree to grow. These trees served as our protection against pollution, floods and from the scorching heat of the sun. They have served us well from generation to generation and it is time for us to protect them. As of yesterday, the DENR issued a temporary stop to the cutting of the trees. What we are asking is for a PERMANENT STOP to the cutting of the old trees.