Global Warming and the peace and order situation especially in this part of the country are, perhaps, the two most critical issues affecting not only the environment but most especially the people living in it.

        Global warming, like peace and order, has been a continuing critical issue that has plagued and continuous to plague our society and our environment today.  Consciously, or unconsciously, we feel the effects of global warming yet nothing is seriously done on an individual level to truly correct, if can be corrected, the effects of it.  Thus, for years we experience the upsurge in the amount of extreme weather events such as wildfires, heat waves and strong tropical storms.  Just lately, like the end of 2008 till 2009 we have experienced strong storms after strong storms that have invariably taken the lives and property of many.  While in this part of the country we only experienced the tail end of most storms yet many parts of our country have been truly devastated by it.  This is not to mention the extreme drought we experience in between.

        And many have pointed their fingers at global warming as the cause of these extreme weather events. Yet while we hear of movements to combat this phenomenon, at the grassroots level we find that little is being done about it.  We continue to see the burning of leaves, smoke belching vehicles run the streets day in and day out, the use of plastics continue to this day.  In short, we consciously continue to burn fossil fuels that is the main contributing factor to global warming.

        Beset by these natural phenomena, man-made calamities exacerbate people’s situation.

        Recently, we have heard that a kidnapped victim, a Swiss-Filipino, was released after having been in captivity for about two months.  A day after his release, another businessman was again kidnapped. Not so long ago, we heard about the brutal killing of a grade school teacher from Ateneo de Zamboanga.  We cannot forget too the brutal slaying of about 57 people in Maguindanao. The kidnappings and killings of teachers and priests continue to be headlines in newspapers and special news items on television and radio. These are but a very few manifestations of our peace and order situation especially in this part of the country.

        Tri-media is replete with news items about killings, kidnappings for ransom, salvaging and a lot more that beset our country today.  The killers, kidnappers and all roam the streets without us knowing that these are the perpetrators…they can be our next door neighbors, our colleagues and perhaps even our friends! Yet, while government continues with their efforts of abating these calamities, like the global warming, they continue to beset our country today.  Paradoxically, while global warming is seemingly a natural phenomenon yet like the peace and order condition the cause remains to be manmade.