Bulacan gov cited for Angat program

MANILA, Philippines - His critics called him a doomsayer for calling attention to possible disaster in case Angat Dam is breached.

But last Tuesday, Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado of Bulacan received the 2012 Father Neri Satur Award for Environmental Heroism for his Angat Dam reservation program.

The award, named after Fr. Neri Satur, the late priest, environmentalist and deputized forest ranger killed by suspected illegal loggers in the forests of Bukidnon in 1991, was given by the Climate Change Commission, United National Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts, (NCCA), and the Earthsavers Movement.

The Angat Dam management program started in 2009 when Alvarado learned from Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Renato Solidum that Angat Dam is sitting near the West Marikina Valley Faultline, which was recently confirmed by a six-month feasibility study on the dam’s integrity.

Alvarado said that he did not mean to become an alarmist, noting that he just wanted to call the attention of the national government to initiate moves to address possible disaster.

Another award recipient from Bulacan this year is the Baliuag University (BU) for Reducing Carbon Footprints: Green Building and Energy Conservation (educational system) category.

Other awardees include Father Fausto Tentorio, an Italian priest who was killed for fighting to preserve the Manobo tribe ancestral lands in Mindanao; forestry specialist Melanie Dirain, a forestry officer who was killed for strictly enforcing “green” laws to protect Cagayan forests.

In the local government action category, the recipients for green initiatives were Alaminos Mayor Hernani Braganza and Pangasinan Governor Amado Espino, Jr., for sustainable eco-tourism of Hundred Islands, and Rizal Gov. Casimiro Ynares for public-private partnership with GATSI and CEMEX for waste management transformed to fuel.

In greenbuilding and energy conservation, the awardees are the chapel at Greenheart Hermitage in Bacolod City and the Zuellig Building in Makati City.