The time has come to choose the right leaders who are committed to protecting our environment, empowering our communities and maintaining peace and justice.

More than two months ago, many of our students and school staff experienced one of the worst flooding in the country, with many of our own homes and workplaces being submerged by water that quickly rose as the rains poured continuously. Almost all of Cainta and Marikina were under water, with people trapped on the roofs of homes and buildings. Many students and school personnel had to stay in the campus during the onset of the flood. In the wake of the storm and the flood, the sad news of the death of an alumnus of IIC Cainta due to the flood in Provident Village, Marikina, also reached the school.

In the midst of all the chaos brought about by the storm and the floods, students from both IIC Cainta and IIC Diliman did their part in helping the community cope with the disaster. All of IIC Cainta’s student organizations conducted outreach activities in villages in Cainta, Pasig and Marikina, like Karangalan, Greenpark, Vista Verde, and Malanday, by distributing relief goods to affected families and feeding poor people on the streets. The students and faculty members of IIC Diliman also distributed relief goods and conducted a feeding program in Bagong Silangan in Quezon City, helped in the cleanup and excavation in Provident Village in Marikina, donated clothes and canned goods to the Philippine National Red Cross and helped our President, Daniel Ongchoco in packing medicines at the Rotary Club in New Manila Quezon City.

The students’ and faculty members’ sensitivity to the plight of the disaster-affected communities around them, coupled with their actions is commendable. It is an indicator of the school’s social awareness and sense of social responsibility.

Tropical storms are forces of nature. Floods, however, are man’s undoing. The denudation of the mountains in Rizal, Laguna and many other places in the country, our heavily-silted rivers, the lack of an effective solid waste management, and people’s carelessness about dumping their own domestic wastes are all factors that contribute to these disasters. We can do something about some of these things like managing our household garbage. The school’s effort in reducing garbage by eliminating the use of plastic cups for the drinking water dispenser is one such attempt. However, there are matters that the government must address like the protection of the environment and our waterways like rivers and estuaries.

It is sad to note that our environment has been neglected for decades by the government. The garbage problem of many urban centers and the clogging of our major waterways have gone worse, despite the efforts of government agencies tasked to address these concerns.

Now is the time to bear these issues in mind when we choose our leaders in the national and local levels this coming election in 2010. Environment protection, education, and the nation’s development are just some of the issues that candidates seeking our votes must be prepared to address. Most important among these issues in light of recent events in Maguindanao is peace and order and social justice. We must scrutinize candidates’ track record, agenda and position on these critical matters.  Let us choose wisely in May 2010.