Excellencies, Mrs. Magsaysay, trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, ladies and gentlemen.

This is a moment of great honor for me to be with you today. I would like to share with you on this great occasion some of the thoughts and feelings that coursed through me when I received news of being conferred the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. One was a feeling of gratitude at the recognition of my struggle to work for the protection of the environment through the legal process. The other feeling that arose in me was of immense satisfaction that the environmental movement in Asia has received great impetus and encouragement.

The need to protect the environment is linked to the very survival of the human race as well as all the other forms of life that coexist with it. Today, the planet is under constant threat form pervasive pollution, pressures of population, poor planning and indiscriminate use of natural resources. Rivers, lakes, coastlines, forests, and the ozone layer have become victims of the depredations of the greedy few, resulting in grave danger to the life and health of a large population in the world.

In the name of development, many Asian countries have become vulnerable to exploitation by the so-called “developed” part of the world. It has been fallacious solution or them to blindly follow the Western model which has overtaxed their natural resources leading to serious socio-economic and environmental consequences. We should not forget that the purpose of development is not to develop material things but develop humankind. Until now, the industrial growth at any cost has been an unchallenged and unquestioned placebo for human welfare. The time has come to do some stock-taking, to look around and see what the consequences of a reckless development are.

There is no other option before us but to seek innovative ways to alleviate our problems without negating the greatness in our cultures and depleting our natural resources. Our traditional wisdom and ways of life provide many viable solutions and alternatives. These need to be examined, revitalized, and incorporated into our planning process.

We must all arise in unison to ace the challenges before us to seek redressal of the present situation. A different mind-set and approach are required to creatively deal with the problems facing Asian nations. The struggle will be a long and hard one, but it promises to bear rich fruit for the future.