Local organizations had been posting their initiatives as part of the week-long Global Climate Strike, a largescale protest calling governments and business for immediate actions to help solve such crisis.
Oceana Philippines, an organization dedicated to ocean conservation, conducted separate rallies in Metro Manila and Cebu City.
Representatives of Greenpeace Philippines, meanwhile, held lone protests at the headquarters of Shell in Taguig City for four days.
Stop Kaliwa Dam Network, the group campaigning against the construction of the dam in Quezon Province, appealed to the public to support its online petition for it.
So far, it has 34,460 of 35,000 signatures. You may sign the petition here.
Fr. Pete Montallano, head of this network, said that the Filipino youth has an important role in the advocating against environmental destruction through social media.
“Merung magandang kontribusyon ang kabataan. Unang una, ang kanilang kakahayan na pumasok sa social media. Marami silang magagawa. Use the social media as means sa pagtutol sa pagsira ng kalikasan,” Montallano said during the first day of the protest.
“Also, ang kabataan should do more research. Marami silang magagawa kasi ang population nila napakarami rin,” he added.
He hoped Filipinos, particularly the younger generation, can be tapped to do more than just gathering “likes” for their online posts.
“The Filipino people should wake up. Mamamatay na tayong lahat. Hindi na pwedeng kikimi kimi tayo dahil takot tayo. I’m calling all Filipinos na tumayo na tayo at ipagtanggol ang kalikasan,” Montallano said.
Hundreds of members from local agencies and other related sectoral groups kicked off the strike at the Quezon City Memorial Circle on September 20.
The Philippines was among the 150 countries that took part in the worldwide event that started on September 20 and will end on September 27.
A male native from an indigenous tribe in General Nakar in Quezon Province was featured in one of the protest activities.
He stressed the importance of the forests to their culture and their way of living.
“Kami pong mga katutubo, ito pong kalikasan, ang turing po naming sakanila, kapatid na po. May mga tradisyon po kami na di po alam ng mga Katagalugan. Kami pong katutubo, prinoprotektahan naming ang kagubatan para hindi po hindi tuluyang masira at di uminit ang kapaligiran,” he said.
Massive protests
While the mobilizations staged in the Philippines were scattered and small, the ones overseas gathered thousands comprising children and adults on the streets.
According to 350.org, an international environmental group and co-organizer, the campaign recorded more than 4 million participants overall.
Police in the cities of London, Melbourne and Berlin estimated at least 100,000 participants.
In New York City, organizers capped it at 250,000 participants.
The worldwide fight to save Earth was spearheaded by 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg who started it through a solo strike in her home country called “Fridays for Future.”
Thunberg inspired many young environments to join her cause and sought authorities to listen to science-based information on the consequences of pollution and other forms of environmental destruction in the future.