St. Bernard tragedy main topic in health & environment confab

The recent landslide in barangay Guinsaugon, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte took the center stage in the discussions of local, national and foreign speakers during the opening of the three-day Second National Conference on Population, Health and Environment yesterday.

It was learned during the discussions that the recent series of environmental disasters clearly showed the link between the factors of population, health and the environment (PHE), as well as the need for solutions to these problems that integrate, rather than separate the three factors.

Roger Mark de Souza, PHE program technical director of the Population Reference Bureau of Washington, DC has reported that the tragedy in Guinsaugon seems to be the latest example of the importance of examining how population, health and environment factors combine to increase vulnerability.

In addition, population growth in Southern Leyte is rapid, population density is high and roughly one-quarter of the families are poor.

House Special Committee on Millennium Development Goals chairperson and Cebu 6th district Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz said that these realities are alarming and must be addressed.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in his message read by Undersecretary Ethelyn Nieto also said that the recognition of the critical needs among population, health and environment is a recent realization.

"Only a healthy environment can provide a healthy population," the health official stressed.

Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development co-chairman Rodolfo Biazon who was the keynote speaker during the opening program of the conference said that the government recognizes the significance of population management and environmental protection.

Biazon said that the Southern Leyte tragedy is a wake up call to the Filipino people, though he also emphasized that deforestation is not only a major problem in the Philippines but worldwide. - Gregg M. Rubio