Hon. Alfredo E. Pascual, President, University of the Philippines;
Mr. Andrew Bryne, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Australia in the Philippines;
Hon. Atty. Analiza R. Teh, Undersecretary / Chief of Staff, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR);
Esteemed Academicians and Professionals;
Ladies and gentlemen:
Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat.
Isang kagalakan para sa akin na maging kabahagi sa gawaing ito. (It is my pleasure to be with you all today on this occasion).
It is a great honor for me to say a few words at the outset of the 2011 International Conference on Green Urbanism. First of all, I would like to congratulate Prof. David Yap from the University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP-SURP) for spearheading this event. This conference, which is the culmination of a three-year research, is the brainchild of Prof. Yap and Prof. Kenichi Tanoue of Kysuhu University. Their foresight and perseverance in following through on the research is truly commendable.
I am happy to note that the Japanese Government scholarship has created this relationship. We call this kind of bond between people kizuna in Japanese. This kizuna has extended year after year. As we are seeing right now it has developed into a dense network of people committed to the environmental cause.
In this context I would like to express my appreciation to Toyota Foundation, which has been actively sponsoring their research for the past three years; as well as to AusAid, for supporting today's conference. The involvement of various agencies shows that this endeavor is on good track.
Indeed, environmental conservation is a multi-faceted issue that calls for an equally multi-faceted involvement. As the Canadian author and educator Marshall McLuhan said, “There are no passengers in Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.” Everyone has to pitch in for this cause.
The theme of this conference, “Planning green urbanism” is indeed instructive. Cities by definition are created by an amalgamation of people which demand and create various facilities which in turn draw more people to cities. Its very nature is detrimental to the environment.
Having said that I am not the right person to discuss this tough question. The knowledgeable people gathered today will certainly give us a better idea how to deal with these contradictory requirements.
On the other hand, as Ambassador of Japan, I can assure you that Japan is a committed and hardworking crew of Spaceship Earth.
Japan, being on the periphery of civilization, without resources, and prone to disasters, has learned all through the years that nature is something that you have to respect. There are many folklores telling our children that you should not annoy the mountains, the sea, the trees and animals because you will have to pay the price at the end of the day.
Before concluding, I want to outline briefly our efforts in the Philippines. Since 1976, 35 years ago, we were already involved in a reforestation project in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija. Even as recent as last month, Secretary for Foreign Affairs Del Rosario and I have signed a cooperation program for strengthening forestland management in the Philippines. However, there are still many passengers on our ship. It is my earnest wish that this conference will stimulate technical and academic cooperation and motivate people so that our network will grow and increase its intensity.
Maraming salamat po.
Embassy of Japan in the Philippines