Rape of Palawan

Thank you for the terrific commentary on the ongoing rape of Palawan (“Palawan’s indigenous food, forests threatened” by Wolfram Dressler and Marvin Montefrio, 5/10/18) which is so disheartening.

I lived in Singapore once when acrid haze from the Indonesian forest fires caused by palm oil plantations engulfed the region regularly.

The peat soil fires resulting from slash-and-burn practices of small-scale farmers, rogue lumber operators and oil palm companies have contributed to the toxic pollution that has endangered not just humans but the vast biodiversity in that archipelago.

Tragically we in the Philippines are going down that toxic road out of ignorance and greed.

We should heed — and thank — scientists like Dressler and Montefrio for their good work.

The question now is whether there’s any hope that our local scientists and a few thinking politicians will follow their lead.

TESS E. MANZANO, [email protected]