Sept. 26 as Save Sierra Madre Day gets support

As the nation recalls today the fury of
tropical storm “Ondoy” last year, environmentalists have thrown their
support behind a growing campaign to declare Sept. 26 of every year
“Save Sierra Madre Day.”

The Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) and the EcoWaste Coalition have expressed
their unity with the Save Sierra Madre Network (SSMN), the lead group
pushing for Save Sierra Madre Day.

The ATM has over 80 members nationwide, while the EcoWaste Coalition
has over 100 members.

Fr. Pete Montallana, one of the SSMN convenors, earlier announced
their plan to mark the first anniversary of Ondoy as Save Sierra Madre
Day to call attention to the urgency of protecting the 1.5-million
hectare mountain range from widespread illegal logging and other
“developmental intrusions.”

“Forested mountains are our best natural defenses against the twin
scourges of ‘too much water’ on one hand, and ‘too little water’ on
the other. Ondoy and the recent drought brought by El Niño could not
have done their worst on the island of Luzon if its once-majestic
protector, the Sierra Madre, has not been so degraded by unabated
logging and other ‘developmental’ intrusions,” the Aurora-based
Franciscan priest said.

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