Hollow award

In this newspaper's regular story conference last Sunday, April 2, one of the stories considered for page one the following day, Monday, April 3, involved the recognition the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has given the City of Cebu for ostensibly being one of the local government units in the country that excelled in environmental governance.

The only reason the story was considered for page one was because in light of so many negative stories that seem to be the stuff of which newspapers are made, here at least was a positive one. But the push to have it on page one was limp. There was none of the enthusiasm that often seizes editors when they have a really good story in their hands. In fact the decision to carry it at all in whatever page seemed perfunctory, as if everyone wanted to be over and done with it quickly.

And that is because everyone in that meeting knew the award was a sham and the only thing going for it was the fact that there was no denying the award. It did exist and was actually given. But beyond its existence and the fact of its given, the award was as hollow as any award can get. When the story came out the following day, there was no widespread jubilation in the streets, no pealing of the bells. Nobody even picked up the subject on radio, except to criticize the award.

And that is because every Cebuano mother's son knows his hometown like the palm of his hand. He knows there is no way Cebu City could excel in environmental governance. In fact, on March 31 in this very same paper, there was a story about the Environmental Management Bureau – yes the same bureau that awarded the city – issuing a cease and desist order against some illegal quarrying being done in barangay Binaliw.

That it had to take the EMB to stop the illegal quarrying shows Cebu City had quite possibly not been aware of the activity. Or if it had been aware, that it did nothing about it. And yet, despite this glaring ineffectuality, the EMB still went ahead and gave Cebu City an award for excellence in environmental governance. To make matters worse, Cebu City actually went ahead and accepted it.

And do you know how the plaque read? It said the recognition was given "for the city's exemplary performance for environmental governance; for putting in place sustainable practices to achieve clean air, clean water and clean land; and for promoting the development of environmentally sustainable cities." If only I could add three words there, I would have typed "ha ha ha."

What exemplary perfor-mance in environmental gover-nance is the award talking about? When did the city put in place sustainable practices to achieve clean air, clean water and clean land? What I remember instead is the Court of Appeals issuing a Writ of Kalikasan against the city for violating more than a dozen provisions of its environmental compliance certificate for the Inayawan dumpsite.

There is no visible and working environmental program of note in the city. Instead we have a sardines-for-trash initiative. But what kind of a program is that to deserve an ASEAN model-city recognition from the EMB? Excellence in environmental governance? When the Inayawan dump was ordered closed, Mayor Osmeña threatened to dump the garbage in front of City Hall or at the South Road Properties. What kind of excellence in environmental governance is that?