A lot has been said about former First Lady now Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Romualdez Marcos from both sides of the divide. But there is no question that like wine, her standing as a grand lady—a builder of sorts and a patroness of culture and the arts—has become even brighter with age. Even as she has been continuously vilified by those who have sneered at her so-called excesses, she remains one of the most recognizable and, might I add, admired Filipinos in the world stage.
It is a well-known fact that any Filipino traveling abroad and even those already residing in any part of the globe in the ever-expanding Filipino diaspora has been asked about Madam Marcos. How is she? Is she still as beautiful as before? How old is she now anyway? What is she doing now? How are her shoes? What about the jewelry? How are her artists? These and other questions are usually asked of her. Which just goes to show that no matter how she has been, she remains the face of the Filipino to most foreigners.
But more, with the passing of the years and the negatives which accompanied the divisions in this country since 1986, she has stood out as having contributed in her own ways to nation building and our sense of nationhood. If only for that, she deserves our admiration for a life well spent and prayers for continued good health as she celebrates her 89th birthday today. Mabuhay!!!
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Now that the Duterte administration has embarked on a cleaning campaign not of the drug-war kind but real, honest-to-goodness environmental kind with the closure of Boracay island to tourists, the government-sponsored movement, if we may call it such, should now be pumped up to include other island destinations and, based on the latest environmental index, the plastic crisis which has enveloped the whole world particularly Asia.
The crisis has become such a global concern that there is now a growing effort on the part of many industrialized countries whose factories have been turning out most of the world’s plastics and, yes, the latest technologies to accelerate the introduction of what they call degradable and environmentally friendly plastic. Indeed, we must all actively participate in this global effort to solve the plastic crisis especially of our seas and waterways as the country has been pinpointed as one of the world’s worst plastic countries. Not the least because of many of our leaders predilection to be Janus-faced in dealing with every crisis which envelops the country.
Adam Minter, a Bloomberg opinion writer, noted in a recent article that “just eight countries in Asia are responsible for about 60 percent of total plastic flowing into the world’s oceans. Little of that junk has been exported by rich countries..as the same has been solely generated by Asia’s newly minted consumer classes..the vast majority of whom lack access to garbage collection, modern landfills and incineration..Any progress in reducing ocean plastic will have to start with them..”
In the same article Minter noted that indeed better and more workable trash collection in Asia could lead to cleaner oceans and waterways.
Citing a study by the Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment Minter advised that “…boosting trash collection rates to 80 percent in just five Asian countries – China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam..could reduce ocean plastic waste by a whopping 23 percent over a decade..No other solution can promise such an immediate or lasting effect..”
So there. Simultaneous with Boracay and the clean up of island destinations which I am told the DENR under Secretary Roy Cimatu is already working on with their “ Greening the Islands Program” we should now launch our own plastics revolution.