From the Phil Daily Inquirer:
In the eyes of fellow environmentalists, Von Hernandez is the kind who walks his talk, and gets the job done.
It’s no surprise then that Hernandez has been named by Time magazine as among this year’s “Heroes of the Environment,” along with Al Gore, Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Charles and other personalities.
The Greenpeace campaign director was cited for his relentless campaign against trading in waste and highly polluting waste incinerators that led the Philippines to ban waste incineration in 1999, the first country to do so.
“He deserves all the honor. He represents the authentic environmental activist. He walks his talk. He knows his direction. He knows the problems of the planet,” environmentalist Odette Alcantara said in an interview.
Hernandez “belongs to the pantheon of Filipino environmentalists that made their mark at the international level,” said Richard Gutierrez of Basel Action Network (BAN).
“He helped blaze the way and is an inspiration for Filipino environmentalists to be fully engaged on the international environmental issues,” Gutierrez said.
2nd international accolade
The Time citation was the second international accolade for the 40-year-old environmental activist, who was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2003, the Nobel Prize equivalent for grass-roots environmentalists.
In the magazine’s special edition, Hernandez was lumped together with other activists who made a huge impact in their countries.
Gore, Gorbachev, Prince Charles and others were grouped as leaders and visionaries.
The rest of the heroes fell under the categories of scientists and innovators, and moguls and entrepreneurs.
Gratifying
Hernandez described the Time recognition as “gratifying,” but said the honor belonged to groups and communities who had been showing the way on efficient waste prevention.
“It’s a surprise to receive this recent accolade, but the real heroes here are the groups and communities whose work on waste prevention shows the way forward in our campaign for sustainability,” he said in a text message from Thailand.
“Our leaders should learn from them,” Hernandez said.
Validation of work
Hernandez was presiding over a meeting of the Greenpeace Southeast Asia in Bangkok to “decide the focus of our work in the coming years” when the Inquirer reached him for comment.
“Like the Goldman award, the Time recognition is an important validation not only of my work as an activist but also of the urgency of the planetary crisis now confronting us,” he said.
“The personal recognition is gratifying but as an activist I know that time is fast running out,” he added.
Hernandez began working with Greenpeace International in 1995 as coordinator for its antitoxic campaign in Asia. He then launched a campaign against plans to set up waste incinerators to deal with the waste problems in Metro Manila, according to Greenpeace.
Clean Air Act
The campaign led to the passage of the Philippine Clean Air Act in 1999, which banned waste incineration. Together with other allies in the environment, Hernandez next campaigned for the passage of the Ecological Waste Management Act, which mandates segregation of wastes, and development of materials recovery facilities, among others.
Alcantara, founder of the Mother Earth Network, said she agreed with the Time commendation given to Hernandez.
“He led the campaign in banning waste incinerators; we’re the first to do that. That’s a monumental achievement for a serious environmental activist,” she said.
Networker
“He’s credible because he knows his facts. And the reason he’s successful is because he values networking. He’s a networker,” Alcantara said.
Gutierrez agreed: “He introduced a distinct style of activism here in the Philippines. You can immediately see it’s a Greenpeace action, and one will immediately say ‘Ah, Von Hernandez.’”
As an environmentalist, Hernandez has initiated a host of campaigns for projects like the rehabilitation of Pasig River, and cleanup toxic contaminated sites in the former US military bases in Pampanga and Zambales.
Alliance, coalition
Hernandez either founded or convened other environmental coalitions such as the Global Anti-Incineration Alliance (GAIA), Waste Not Asia, Lakbay Kalikasan, the Eco-Waste Coalition, and the Sagip Pasig Movement, among others.
Hernandez said a lot of work lay ahead of him, not only in the Philippines but also in the region.
“Right now, I am focused on helping pressure world governments to agree on a fresh and renewed mandate under the Kyoto protocol to bring down greenhouse gas emissions in order to avert climate chaos,” he said.
Waste and climate crisis
Greenpeace will organize activities for a forthcoming climate change convention in Bali, Indonesia, in December “to highlight the role of dirty fossil fuels and deforestation in increasing greenhouse gas emissions.”
“Globally, we only have 100 months to reverse destructive trends and avoid a climate crisis of catastrophic proportions. Business as usual and overconsumption are giving rise both to the waste crisis and the climate crisis,” Hernandez said.
On top of all this, Hernandez is also overseeing Greenpeace work on water pollution in the Philippines and Thailand.
“The work never stops, but can we really afford to give up fighting for our future?” he said.
Filipino on Time magazine’s list of Green heroes
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