Negros Occidental is known as the “Sugarbowl of the Philippines” for the sugar industry thrives in this province, producing more than half of the country’s sugar. It is rich in mineral deposits, primarily copper, gold and silver. Bacolod, the provincial capital, has oil companies, factories, bottling plants, allied industrial businesses, steel fabrication, power generation, agri-businesses, prawn culture, and other aquaculture ventures.

The scenic Mt. Kanlaon volcano and its verdant forests are also situated in the province. In 2014, Negros Occidental was the province with the highest income in all of the Philippines, earning an average of ₱3.332 billion. However, there is something that casts a shadow over the province: an ongoing struggle for the preservation of its natural resources, and the protection of human rights, especially those of farmers and human rights advocates who advance the cause of justice and equality in the region.

The region made national and international news recently because of the spate of killings and arrests of farmers and human rights activists due to the government’s crackdown on communist rebels since 2017. In the frontline of protecting the natural environment, and in defense of human rights, our New City Achievement Awardee this year has become the voice of conscience in the region.

Bishop Gerardo Alminaza was appointed bishop of the Diocese of San Carlos, Negros Occidental on September 14, 2013. Recently, he was in the national news as he called for an impartial investigation of the arrests of 62 human rights activists by authorities in Bacolod City last October. The prelate said the arrests were alarming amid reported “irregularities.” “We express alarm over these unfortunate incidents that aggravate the culture of fear and silence in our island of Negros,” he said. The San Carlos bishop said those arrested are all members of “red-tagged” organizations.

“This is disturbing since most of those summarily killed (about 87) in Negros Island were also red-tagged or accused of links to communist rebels. We, therefore, join the call for an impartial investigation of these arrests, for due process and the rule of law to be upheld,” he added. Bishop Alminaza reminded the authorities and concerned organizations “to address the root causes of the unpeace in our midst.”

“A military solution is not the way to peace,” he affirmed, as he called on the public to end the “culture of fear and silence.” “Only Jesus’ commandment of loving God and our neighbor, especially the weakest in our community, is the way to a just and lasting peace,” he said.

Bishop Alminaza received the “Luntiang Panagtitipon” Award from The Climate Reality Project during the November 2018 Leadership Awards held at the National Museum of Natural History in Manila. Also in November 2018, he together with the three other Roman Catholic bishops in the island of Negros cited the appeal of Pope Francis to “every person living on this planet” to protect the environment by opposing coal-fired power plants in the island.

In a collegial pastoral statement released, they called on Negrenses (the native people of the island of Negros) to stand firm together – with each other and with civic leaders – to oppose any coal-fired power plants and phase out those still in operation.

“And yet, the dark specter of fossil fuels remains with a proposed coal-fired plant in San Carlos City, hanging over our future, exacerbating climate change, threatening our resources, our environment, our health, and our sustainable development,” they further said in the statement. Since it was to be built in his diocese, Bishop Alminaza expressed his opposition to the proposed 300-megawatt coal-fired plant in a position letter issued by him.

The bishop said that coal causes pollution and harms human health. He called on the local government of San Carlos and the provincial government of Negros Occidental to disapprove of any proposal or application of any company for a coal-fired power plant project. In March 2019, outgoing Gov. Alfredo G. Marañon Jr. signed Executive Order 19-08 banning new coal plants in Negros Occidental. Given the ban, the project appears to be canceled.

Another symbolic event which the bishop initiated was the holding of a tree-planting campaign to remember thousands of people who have died in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs in September 2018.

The planting of 25,000 trees, supposedly representing the number of deaths in the anti-narcotics war, marked the start of the “Season of Creation” 2018 in his San Carlos Diocese. In a pastoral letter, Bishop Alminaza noted that aside from threats of environmental disasters, the country faces a “growing number of people killed in the war on drugs.”

He stressed the need “to recognize that the commitment to work for justice and to preserve the integrity of creation are two inseparable dimensions of our Christian vocation.” Bishop Alminaza said that “the damage the war on drugs has had on the lives of people is irreversible.”

In his pastoral letter, the prelate called on Catholics to become witnesses of faith “by taking bold actions to preserve the gift we share.” He said Christians are “stewards of God’s creation” whose well-being is “interwoven” with the well-being of the environment.

He also joined the youth protesters at the Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol on March 6, 2019, to make the province coal-free.

Another initiative that Bishop Alminaza undertook was the call to “collective action” among his fellow bishops to address the ecological problem. He said that this action shows that the environmental issue is increasingly seen by Church leaders as a deeply moral concern: “We can’t make a definite stand for renewable energy if our deposits are invested in such industries.”

According to him, initial discussions on divestment started during the bishops’ plenary meeting last January 2019 while the bishops were dialoguing with each other. Later on, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has agreed to divest from “dirty energy” sources such as coal-fired power plants.

Bishop Alminaza said that Church finances must not be invested at the expense of the environment. And on the “climate emergency,” he stressed the need to respond with utmost urgency. Also this year, the CBCP released a pastoral letter on ecology with “concrete action points,” calling for Ecological Conversion.

In nominating Bishop Alminaza, as the 3rd New City Achievement Awardee, we wish to highlight his life lived for unity with God, and neighbor, and in a particular way, his care for God’s creation, contributing to the fulfillment of Christ’s prayer “that all may be one.”

Jose Aranas

The use of coal as fuel causes ill health and deaths. Globally, coal is estimated to cause 800,000 premature deaths every year, mostly in India and China. Burning coal is a major emitter of sulfur dioxide, which creates PM2.5 particulates, the most dangerous form of air pollution. The ‘Coal Kills’ report estimates that in India coal contributes to between 80,000 to 115,000 premature deaths annually.

Coal combustion releases nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter (PM), mercury, and dozens of other substances known to be hazardous to human health. … 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), which causes acid rain and forms small airborne particles that can cause lung damage, heart disease, and other illnesses.

A review of studies over the past 30 years provides a body of evidence that people living near coal-fired power plants have higher death rates and at earlier ages, along with increased risks of respiratory disease, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other health problems. But because coal is so inexpensive and plentiful—nations find it hard to abandon the fuel without risking economic ruin.

The largest and most long term effect of coal use is the release of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes climate change and global warming. Coal-fired power plants were the single largest contributor to the growth in global CO2 emissions in 2018, (40% of the total fossil fuel emissions). Coal mining can emit methane, another greenhouse gas. In 2016, world gross carbon dioxide emissions from coal usage were 14.5 gigatons.

For every megawatt-hour generated, coal-fired electric power generation emits around a ton of carbon dioxide, which is double the approximately 500 kg of carbon dioxide released by a natural gas-fired electric plant. In 2013, the head of the UN climate agency advised that most of the world’s coal reserves should be left in the ground to avoid catastrophic global warming. To keep global warming below 1.5°C or 2°C, hundreds, or possibly thousands, of coal-fired power plants need to be retired early.