Philippines is in world news, yet again. But not good news, sad to say. The mudslides in Southern Leyte has put the country in the limelight again.

As of today, more than a hundred have already been rescued but there are hundreds more still buried. Hopes of finding these pepole alive are now almost nil.

It is so disheartening to know that these village people who have nothing else but their family have lost a lot of them.

How could this have happened? Was the mudslide inevitable? Could we blame this to illegal logging? Probably yes. This is the effect of long years of uncurbed illegal logging. I have traveled a lot in the Philippines (except in Mindanao) and it is very apparent that our mountains are becoming barren each year.

Whatever happened to the government's reforestration program? What is the DENR doing? Haven't we learned from the Ormoc, Leyte disaster?

If I may say, we can not put all the responsibility to the government. As citizens, we also have our own obligations to do something about our environment. We owe this to our mother land and most of all to ourselves. The littlest thing we contribute to saving our environment can make a big difference in the long run.

But then again, the government has the power to do more. There are laws and these laws must be enforced to all. Wala dapat pinipili. Wala dapat sinisino.

If only our leaders would stop pointing fingers at each other and work together. If only they would work for the betterment of everyone. If only.

I may be dreaming, but I wish this dream would come true. I so wish.