Every Filipino’s ‘Mana’, ‘Kabilin’ o ‘Panublion’

Atty. Gloria Ramos

Mana,” in Tagalog, “Kabilin,” or “Erihensya” in Cebuano, or “Panublion” in Hiligaynon, refers to a precious intangible or tangible called “heritage.”

Heritage has a different meaning to different stakeholders. Not a few think of it in material terms such as objects or properties being given to the descendants. Others look at it from the biological and cultural perspectives.

The concept of heritage by Ms. Susan Pearce in her article “The Makings of Cultural Heritage,” is appealing. She says, “The term heritage, a borrowing from legal terminology, may be described as embracing that which can be passed from one generation to the next and following generations, and to which descendants of the original owner have rights deemed worthy of respect.

This legal genesis is one of the reasons that landscapes, buildings, and objects loom large in the management of heritage at a practical level, because these are entities that the law recognizes as property and, consequently, as being capable of transmission across generations… The term also presupposes an intrinsic relationship between those who went before and those who come after, with concomitant notions of responsibility and “holding in trust.” (https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/valuesrpt.pdf, p.59.)

It is the latter’s definition covering intergenerational responsibility that we should, more than ever, factor in, in all our day-today choices for a sustainable planet for the present and future generations. Ensuring that their right to live a healthful and balanced ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature is a serious responsibility, yet not exactly given the serious focus it deserves.

The landmark case of Oposa v. Factoran enlightens us on the nature of such a right. “The right to a balanced and healthful ecology… a right belongs to a different category of rights altogether for it concerns nothing less than self-preservation and self-perpetuation —…. the advancement of which may even be said to predate all governments and constitutions.

As a matter of fact, these basic rights need not even be written in the Constitution for they are assumed to exist from the inception of humankind.

If they are now explicitly mentioned in the fundamental charter, it is because of the well-founded fear of its framers that unless the rights to a balanced and healthful ecology and to health are mandated as state policies by the Constitution itself, thereby highlighting their continuing importance and imposing upon the state a solemn obligation to preserve the first and protect and advance the second, the day would not be too far when all else would be lost not only for the present generation, but also for those to come — generations which stand to inherit nothing but parched earth incapable of sustaining life.”

The Supreme Court adds that “The right to a balanced and healthful ecology carries with it the correlative duty to refrain from impairing the environment.”

Moses Henry Cass, a former member of the Australian House of Representatives, addresses this message for you and me: “We have not inherited this earth from our parents to do with it what we will. We have borrowed it from our children and we must be careful to use it in their interests as well as our own.”

We cannot afford to leave our children and grandchildren a planet bereft of productive and vibrant land and oceans and clean water and air. Right now, it is in a mess, but it can, and should be better, with our collective efforts to propel steadfast action for a more sustainable way of life. Ever so hopeful of the capacity of nature to rebound and our people’s sense of duty to their descendants, it is never too late to mend our ways.

Recently, the President issued Proclamation No. 316 declaring the month of September of each year as the “Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month” (MANA Mo) to increase awareness and consciousness on maritime and archipelagic issues and concerns.

We are an archipelago, but there is a pervasive lack of awareness and therefore action, to stop the unparalleled destruction taking place in our oceans.

There is so much that we need to do to show that in words and in action, we do care for our planet and for our children’s future as our shared legacy or “kabilin” to them.

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Cities wallowing in floods and being hit by landslides are becoming a sad but normal occurrence. We are bearing the brunt of lack of planning and management framework in decision-making.

The Department of Interior and Local Government should ensure that local government units have comprehensive land use plans that integrate the effects of climate change and are regularly updated to respond to the exigencies of the time.

Have the LGUs responded accordingly in crafting policies to mitigate the impacts in hazardous, including landslide and flood-susceptible, areas in their localities, as shown by the geo-hazards maps given to them?

What is being done to those housing projects and schools that are found, sadly after the fact, to be atop 800 sinkholes in Cebu City?

Those questions and more, citizens should start asking as anyone can be the next victim.

As writer and environmental activist, Wendell Berry aptly puts it “Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.”