ZAMBOANGA City — A Catholic bishop has called reforestation “a big lie,” saying tree planting cannot replace a primeval forest as some 57,000 trees are set to be cut in southern Palawan for a mining project.
Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Taytay made the remarks Tuesday as he urged religious leaders to speak out against environmental destruction and mobilize communities to protect forests.
“You can plant the trees, but you cannot replant the forest,” Pabillo said in his homily at the opening Mass of the 2nd National Convention of the Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines. “That’s why the term reforestation is wrong. It’s a big lie.”
Pabillo criticized the government for allowing thousands of large trees to be cut from what he described as almost primeval forests for mining operations.
“Creation is not just to be exploited, to be used, but also to be respected,” he said.
He warned that environmental destruction eventually affects communities, citing flooding and other disasters as consequences of neglecting nature.
“God always forgives. Man, from time to time, we forgive. Creation never forgives. What we do to it will come back to us,” Pabillo said.
Pabillo also linked environmental protection to the mission of religious communities, saying care for creation is part of their Christian responsibility.
“Creation is part of His redemptive work,” he said. “So, as religious, we are committed to the care of creation.”
He urged religious superiors to use the Season of Creation to promote environmental awareness and encourage communities to speak out for the protection of nature.
“We should make our leaders and our own people conscious of this, and encourage them to speak more on behalf of creation,” he said.
The convention, coinciding with the start of the Season of Creation, gathered 233 religious superiors from 159 congregations.
