Presidential bets urged to unveil green agenda

MANILA, Philippines - Just how “green” are the presidential aspirants?

An alliance of more than 100 environment and health advocacy organizations yesterday vowed to launch a Green Electoral Initiative (GEI) to find out who among the presidential candidates will truly advocate environmental protection.

The EcoWaste Coalition hopes to find out and analyze the “greenness” and the real green agenda of the 10 presidential candidates through survey forms with questions on various environmental issues like zero waste, water protection, climate change mitigation, chemical safety, ecological agriculture, and renewable energy.

“It is high time to raise the bar of disclosure and debate about the candidates’ green agenda that can guide the electorate in choosing new leaders who will show the way towards a clean and sustainable future,” said Manny Calonzo, president of EcoWaste, at the 10th General Assembly of environmentalist groups at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

“It is not enough for the candidates to profess their concern for the environment. Voters need to know where the candidates stand on key challenges, as well as their plans and respective track records in the environmental field. It is imperative for the public to ask these questions and for the candidates to respond truthfully,” he explained.

EcoWaste carried out similar surveys, with Greenpeace and other allies, during the 2004 and 2007 elections where they also asked politicians and political parties to reduce their campaign trash.

Calonzo said a panel of evaluators composed of non-partisan environmentalists would analyze the answers of the presidential candidates, and eventually grade it from “green to gray.”

He said the survey results would be disclosed one after the other per issue in the run up to the national and local elections this May via campaigns and media events.

“Survey forms will be sent to all presidential candidates through e-mail to cut down on paper use,” Calonzo said.

“The survey results are expected to generate information that will assist voters in making informed ‘green’ choices.

“We expect the candidates to provide honest-to-goodness answers that will accurately reflect their views and for them to take personal responsibility for their positions,” Calonzo added.