Sunburn

When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves. — David Orr

CEBU, Philippines - I got sunburned due to the sweltering summer heat. They said that it’s the final breath of what Nick Joaquin dubbed as Summer’s Solstice but others would say it’s brought about by escalating global warming, most recently documented by Al Gore in his “Inconvenient Truth”.  

Well, that sunburn struck my bare skin when one Saturday, my two sons and I joined an undertaking for coastal and underwater clean-up in Moalboal, Cebu’s prime diving spot. It was a joint endeavor of our telecom company and the local government of Moalboal, participated in by local volunteers.

At first I was hesitant going to the place. Foremost in my mind was the birthday of my eldest son which coincided with the said activity. So I tried to make out a compromise, alluring him with his love of the sea, nourishing his wonder of scuba diving, and flourishing an unforgettable way of celebrating a birthday. I told him that some people plant a tree on their birthdays. Besides, St. John the Baptist, after whom he is half-named, was fond of water for his mission.   

I took it seriously to get my children involved in caring for the environment. Early in their childhood, they must be aware of their responsibility to protect and preserve the environment for the next generation. I remember a landmark case in the Supreme Court where minors who “represent their generation as well as generations yet unborn” filed a case to “prevent the misappropriation or impairment of Philippine rainforests” and “arrest the unabated hemorrhage of the country’s vital life support systems and continued rape of Mother Earth.” (Oposa et al. v. Fulgencio S. Factoran, Jr. et al. [G.R. No. 101083, July 30, 1993])

Then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. in his ponencia invoked the fundamental right to a balanced and healthful ecology with the twin concepts of “inter-generational responsibility” and “inter-generational justice” upholding “ the right of future Filipinos to prevent the destruction of the rainforests” … “ highlighting their continuing importance and imposing upon the state a solemn obligation to preserve the first . . .” otherwise “ the day would not be too far when all else would be lost not only for the present generation, but also for those to come”

In trekking down by south highway to Moalboal, I tried to explain to my sons that the Philippines was once rich with verdant rainforests that have been denuded.   Overflowing with streams, brooks and rivers that drifted down to the sea but have been polluted and obliterated. Beautiful mountains and fertile soils have been eroded; unique and varied flora and fauna have been endangered and vanishing. Magnificent corals and astonishing aquatic resources but have been destroyed and exhausted. All by man’s greed and neglect. “Thank God” says Henry David Thoreau, “ men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.”

I tried to expound a bit farther on salinization of the water table, siltation of rivers and seabed, flooding of lowlands, high velocity typhoons. Due to their scientific complexity, my sons could hardly grasp what I was saying. Much less on global warming or “greenhouse effect” characterized by catastrophic climatic changes which I only read in books. I myself can’t fully understand all of these things. I only simplified that sunburn must be the cause by this phenomenon. Only when sunburn affects their skin that they could understand the ill-effect of the devastation of Mother Earth.   

By late afternoon, we went back home. I noticed the reddening of our skins accompanied by a stinging pain. My sons reasoned out that it must be the sunburn brought about by the so-called global warming which I considered as early indicator for my two little earth warriors.

That night, still embedded in my mind was our little undertaking early on for coastal and underwater clean-up. It may be just a start of this battle, a struggle which Al Gore described as “ much more difficult than the struggle to vanquish Hitler”. He adds, “for this time the war is with ourselves. We are the enemy, just as we have only ourselves as allies”.

Then, my sunburn disturbed me while I was hearing Sunday Mass at Poor Claire Monastery. I stood outside at least to have the soothing wind on my skin. I did not notice my two-year old son slipped away and stood in a long queue before the priest. With his fragile palm open, he was innocently yelling for his share of the Eucharist.

I entertained a wild thought that my son may have an angelic instinct that the Eucharist must be the purest of all, free of pollution and corruption. His simple instinct must be starving for something perfect and sublime.   

It was the feast of John the Baptist in whose time, I suppose, was blessed with abundant, clean and pure water for his baptismal rites.

A kind of water I thirst to heal my hurting sunburn.