Tuesday, April 30, 2013

AGRICULTURE, TECHNOLOGY, AND RESPONSIBILITY IN FAR-FROM-EQUILIBRIUM CONDITIONS


AGRICULTURE, TECHNOLOGY, AND RESPONSIBILITY IN FAR-FROM-EQUILIBRIUM CONDITIONS
(Jose Ma. Ybanez Tomacruz, PhL., EMMB) 

Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize laureate for his work in thermodynamics, speaks of far-from equilibrium conditions or systems.[1]
When the thermodynamic system forces acting on a system become such that the linear region is exceeded, however, the stability of the stationary state, or its independence from fluctuations, can no longer be taken for granted… In some cases, the analysis leads to the conclusion that a state is “unstable” –in such a state, certain fluctuations, instead of regressing, may be amplified and invade the system, compelling it  to evolve toward a new regime that may be qualitatively quite different from the stationary states corresponding to minimum entropy production.
In socio-political terms, such is well-expounded by Alvin Toffler[2].
Imagine a primitive tribe. If its birthrate and death rate are equal, the size of the population remains stable. Assuming adequate food and other resources, the tribe forms part of a local system in ecological equilibrium. Now increase the birthrate. A few additional births (without an equivalent number of deaths) might have little effect. The system may move to a near-equilibrial state. Nothing much happens. It takes a big jolt to produce big consequences in systems that are equilibrial or near-equilibrial states. But if the birthrate should suddenly soar, the system is pushed into far-from-equilibrium condition…In this state, systems do strange things. They become inordinately sensitive to external influences. Small inputs yield huge, startling effects. The entire system may reorganize itself in ways that strike us as bizarre.
As such, developing countries can be considered as being under far-from-equilibrium condition. Joachim Schummer[3] thus says:
…I will use the term ‘developing countries’ for countries with low or medium state of development according to the most widely accepted human development index (HDI) by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite index that combines per capita GDP with life expectancy and educational standards. According to that index, the least developed countries are all in sub-Saharan Africa to be followed by South Asia, Arab States, East Asia, Latin America. Beyond these statistical and geographical features, most of these less developed countries share some characteristics. For instance, historically, they were former colonies and frequently still have some special ties (economic, political, military) to their former colonial powers. Many happen to be rich of material resources for the long-term benefit of the colonial powers. Large parts of their populations suffer from very basic needs, like malnutrition and the lack of safe drinking water, sanitation, education, and health care, despite devastating epidemics like AIDS and malaria. Rural exodus has even increased these needs through exploding slums around big cities. They have only poor infrastructures of public and private research and development, including small public research budgets and virtually no venture capital. Even if they are currently developing such infrastructures, -as in China- they have little experience in technology governance, including the launch and conduct of research programs, safety and environmental regulations, marketing and patenting strategies, and so on.
As such, developing countries, being of  far-from-equilibrium condition, are indeed “inordinately sensitive to external influences”[4].
Agriculture is an essential element in the life of developing countries. A paper of the United Nations Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries[5]  with the theme “Making Globalization Work for the LDCs” said:
Agriculture is the backbone of the LDCs (least developed countries). It accounts for between 30 to 60 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) among the LDCs, employs more people than any other sector (as much as 70 percent in most cases), represents a major source of foreign exchange, supplies the bulk of basic food and provides subsistence and other income to more than half of the LDCs’ population. The strong forward and backward linkages within the rural sector and with other sectors of the economy provide added stimulus for growth and income generation.
However, the same paper says that agriculture, despite its importance, has stagnated, if not lagged behind[6]:
Agricultural output in LDCs rose during 1990-00 at an annual average rate of 2.8 percent, exceeding the rate of 1.9 percent in 1980-90, with some slight improvements in per capita terms. However, recent data for 2000-05 indicate that there was virtually no increase in output, or even a slight decline. The situation was the same for per capita staple food production. In addition, slow food production growth and sharp annual fluctuations in output remain major and chronic problems for the LDCs, constituting the major causes of their rising poverty and food insecurity. Between 1995-97 and 2002-04, the proportion of undernourished in total population in the LDCs increased from 34 percent to 41 percent, while the absolute number of undernourished is estimated to have increased from 116 million to 169 million.
Here in the Philippines, the narrative is no less stark. Citing Jose Ramon Albert, National Statistics Board Secretary-General, Kim Arveen Patria[7]
 says that in 2009 poverty incidence in the country has been very high among farmers at 36.7%, second only to fishermen at 41.4%. Such figures are much higher than the entire Philippines’ poverty incidence which stands at 26.5%, also in 2009. In 2012, the whole sector of agriculture posted the lowest labor productivity rate at mere P56,728 which comparatively pales to the P351,024 of the industry sector, and of the P181,850 of the  service sector.
Technology plays a vital role in the development and improvement of agriculture. Christine Peterson and Jacob Heller speak of the promise of technology, in this case, nanotechnology, in becoming a solution to perennial problems besetting developing countries.[8]
The promise of nanotechnology is that, if properly applied, it may offer solutions for some of the most intractable and longstanding challenges faced by humanity… it is important that we do not ignore the repercussions of forgoing the potential benefits of nanotechnology. The wise and ethical development of nanotechnology can relieve much needless poverty, pain, and death…
Such was also echoed by information technology quarters delving into agriculture[9].
For commercial farmers, emerging technologies have brought opportunities and have changed the nature of certain transactions to the extent that it is difficult to compete unless you are up-to-date with the new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and technological advancement. For example, today to carry out most commercial marketing and sales activities, we need an email address and good access to internet, phone and good technological infrastructure… In addition to being vital for the commercial farming sector, the use of ICTs can also contribute positively to livelihood development in rural areas. It has the potential to change the way farmers access information, making it faster and easier for them to get in touch with specialists that can provide technical advice and assistance.
However, such promise is not without its incumbent perils as affirmed also by Peterson and Heller when they spoke of nanotechnology’s benefits, “…this fact must be weighed along with nanotechnology’s potential downsides in order to have a balanced ethical understanding of nanotechnology.”[10] 
Emmanuel Levinas says that by way of labor, the transformation of matter or of the elements is done by man. Also, he says that the “self”, also transforms the world or the elements in his image or likeness.  The material world, or the “elemental” as Levinas calls it, is there for my taking, for my mastery. 
The elements remain at the disposal of the “I” -to take or to leave.  Labor will henceforth draw things from the elements and thus discover the world... This primordial grasp, this emprise of labor... arouses things and transform nature into a world...[11]
Through labor, the “I” or “ego” does not only transform matter or the world.  It also takes possession or ownership of the world, or the Other.  Thus it can be noted, that one says “This  house is the fruit of my labor,” “This piece of special paper which used to be just a lump of grass was made by me,” and so on and so forth.  We identify ourselves with our labor, with our transforming of matter, and by so doing we also end up appropriating the fruits of our labor.  “This finished product is mine because I made it.”  Societies even create laws to perpetuate and protect ownership of things, thus we have patents, titles and the likes to whatever we have created, whether it be an idea, a scientific invention, a song, a poem, a story, a bank account.  Again, the “I” simply agglomerates the Other into the same.  
Technology, being a product of human labor, can thus be a means of the “I” or the “ego” taking possession, or ownership of, the world, or of the Other. The “I” or “ego” can take the form of vested-interested groups or individuals, whether local or multinational. This being so, therefore, technology, specifically nanotechnology and information and communication technology, as applied in agriculture, can, in Levinasian language, thus be a means or expression of the “I” or “ego” absorbing the Other into itself, or of a subject of violence, or selfishness, or totality. The selfishness, violence, or totality of the ‘I” on the Other consists in assimilating the Other, as if embracing the Other in an octopodal dance of death, simply for its own purpose, for its own interest.  Thus, Levinas also says:
But violence does not consist so much in injuring and annihilating persons as in interrupting their continuity making them  play roles in which they no longer recognize themselves, making them betray not only commitments but their own substance, making them carry out actions that will destroy very possibility for action.[12]
And so, the utility of nanotechnology and information and communication technology in developing countries, specifically in agriculture can thus be not as benign as it may apparently appear.
Our basic questions therefore are: Can nanotechnology, and information and communication technology applied in agriculture if used in countries in far-from-equilibrium conditions, i.e., being developing countries, be responsible, that is, for the upliftment and progress of developing countries? Can such thus lead to the developing countries’ human resource becoming, as Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen says, “not just as the means, but more importantly, as the principal ends of development?”[13]  Will nanotechnology and information and communication technology be instrumental in leading the citizens of developing countries into authentic human development, which in the mind of Martha Nussbaum is to be able “to build for themselves a more ‘fully human’ life –with an improved life expectancy, a meaningful education, and decisive access to material security? Within the ambit of such a life…, they would be expected to conduct themselves, not poorly, but with dignity and flourish”?[14] Or can nanotechnology and information and communication technology utilized in agriculture themselves become authentic expressions, as envisioned by Levinas, of a responsible, Other-oriented global community? Lastly, Ilya Prigogine[15] essays that though far-from-equilibrium conditions are indeed fraught with negative possibilities, however, they also can be progenitors of bifurcations, or changes. That is, if given all the necessary conditions, far-from-equilibirum conditions can lead to the emergence of dissipative structures, or order of a higher degree of existence for the peoples, especially the most vulnerable ones. And so we also ask whether nanotechnology and I.C.T. in agriculture  could provide such substantial impetus for the emergence of dissipative structures in developing countries, and thus lead to development as envisioned by Sen, Nussbaum, and Levinas?
Galileo Galilei himself, warns us of the hopeful possibilities and the yawning chasm of vissicitudes in view of new technologies. Mary Allan-Olney, talking of Galileo’s work on his telescope and his discovery of the satellites of Jupiter says[16]:
… his enemies had been endeavoring to discredit
him with the Grand Duke ; for he says :
"Tell his Highness that the discoverer of the new planets is none other than Galileo Galilei,  his faithful vassal, to whom the observation of three nights only was enough to assure
him of the truth of the discovery, and not the observation of five months, which I have devoted to it ; and let him lay aside all hesitation or shadow of doubt, for these planets will leave off being true planets when the sun leaves off being the sun. Assure his Highness that these rumors
owe their existence to malignity and envy, of which I find no lack ; and let not his Highness hope to be exempt from it either…. " But I trust to have found means to stop the mouths of the envious and ignorant. The clearest argument against them is that they prate in corners, and speak vain words, but avoid establishing their conceits with pen and ink. But the fruits of this malignity will be contrary to its authors' intention; for so far from annulling this great discovery by crying out on it as false, impossible, contrary to all the ordinances of nature, it will only shine out the more sublime, the more to be wondered at, and worthy of more esteem than hath ever been accorded to any heroic greatness.



[1] Ilya Prigogine and Isabelle Stengers, Order Out of Chaos: Man’s New Dialogue with Nature (U.S.A., Bantam Books Inc., 1984), pp. 140-141.
[2] Ibid., Alvin Toffler, “Science and Change”, p. xvi.
[3] Joachim Schummer The Impact of Nanotechnologies on Developing Countries, Published in: Fritz Allhoff, Patrick Lin, James Moor & John Weckert (eds.), Nanoethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Nanotechnology, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2007, pp. 291-307, in Class Compilation for the Short Course on APPLIED ETHICS: Focus on Information Technology and Nanontechnology, John Weckert (ed., & lect.), University of Santo Tomas, Espana, Manila, Philippines, 15-26  May 2012
[4] Toffler
[5] http://www.unohrlls.org/UserFiles/File/LDC%20Documents/Turkey/20June07-Agriculture-Final.pdf
[6] Ibid.
[7] http://ph.news.yahoo.com/farmers--fishermen-still-ph-s-lowest-paid--says-study-081227172.html
[8]  Christine Peterson and Jacob Heller, Nanoethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Nanotechnology, Allhoff, Lin, Moor, Weckert, eds. (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2007), p.57,  in Class Compilation for the Short Course on APPLIED ETHICS: Focus on Information Technology and Nanontechnology, John Weckert (ed., & lect.), University of Santo Tomas, Espana, Manila, Philippines, 15-26  May 2012
[9] http://www.web2fordev.net/component/content/article/1-latest-news/109-using-innovative-technologies-to-promote-access-to-information
[10] Ibid.
[11]   Emmanuel Levinas, Totality and Infinity:  An Essay in Exteriority, Alfonso Lingis trans., (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:  Duquesne University Press, 1969) pp.156-157.
[12]   Levinas, Totality and Infinity, p.21.
[13] Christopher Ryan Maboloc, “The Human Person in Martha Nussbaum’s Capabilities Ethics,” BUDHI 1, (Quezon City, Philippines: Ateneo De Manila University), p. 227
[14] Ibid., p. 228
[15] Progogine and Stengers, pp. 12-14, 142-143
[16]Mary Allan-Olney, “THE PRIVATE LIFE OF GALILEO: COMPILED PRINCIPALLY FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE AND THAT OF HIS ELDEST DAUGHTER, SISTER MARIA CELESTE,
NUN IN THE FRANCISCAN CONVENT OF ST. MATTHEW, IN ARCETRI”, Boston: Nichols and Noyes, 1870, Riverside, Cambridge: Stereotyped  and Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company , p. 65

Monday, April 29, 2013

"KAYO ANG BOSS KO!", "TUWID NA DAAN," VANCOUVER, CANADA ON MY MIND.....

From what I know  of the Code of Ethics of Philippine government employees, they must AT ALL TIMES show proper decorum in their supposed delivery of services to the Pinoy populace. Granting arguendo (thus I'm not saying it's also absolutely true), that Messr. Flordeliz himself didn't respectlfully conduct himself towards Consul General Jose  Ampeso, still the said Code of Ethics of government employees MUST have been primordially observed by Consul General Ampeso. That he was tired shouldn't be considered a mitigating excuse for Ampeso. Also, being a DIPLOMAT with several decades of experience in the DFA, isn't Consul General Ampeso supposed to be at least the paragon of COOL, of GRACE EVEN UNDER THE GREATEST PRESSURE?

Also, it makes me greatly wonder why and how must a government bureaucrat supposed to be IRATE about a NON-GOVERNMENT fund drive not being adequately supported by a citizen-client? Ordinarily, the noble name and cause of Philippine National Red Cross (purportedly for the sake of our unfortunate calamity victims) must be enough form us to open our heart, and even wallets. However, some questions are now abuzz in my mind given this Ampeso predicament. For one, how long has this "fund drive for PNRC," been going on in Vancouver, Canada (or in other consular offices) or whatever fund-drive-for-noble-causes in ALL Philippine Diplomatic posts? Two, was there PROPER ACCOUNTING of such FUND DRIVES? Three, in the name of "TUWID NA DAAN", can DFA PLEASE KINDLY MAKE PUBLIC RECORDS, OR CAN THE COA PLEASE MAKE DILIGENT AND IMMEDIATE AUDIT (CALLING COMM. HEIDI MENDOZA!) OF SUCH FUND DRIVES? Fourth, is such PRACTICE OF FUND DRIVES IN GOVERNMENT AGENCIES in the NAME OF NON-GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, NOBLE CAUSE NOTWITHSTANDING, LAWLFULLY ALLOWED? The Ampeso incident may have just been the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Or there may really be no iceberg at all. However, as there apparently is smoke here, the least the concerned government brass do is to DILIGENTLY CHECK FOR ANY FIRE. Fifth, shouldn't the allegation of drunkenness versus Consul General Ampeso be diligently checked for veracity, moreso that the alleged inebriation was DURING OFFICIAL HOURS?

The Philippine Daily Inquirer actually says in one of its articles last 26th April 2013 that "The Alberta incident is not the first time that Ampeso has had a brush with controversy. Luli Arroyo, the daughter of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, accused Ampeso of sexual harassment when the Philippines hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in 1996.
Ampeso also denied the allegations. The administrative charges were dropped after the diplomat apologized to Arroyo both in writing and in person." (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/73135/filipino-consul-says-sorry-claims-he-was-tired-provoked?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter).

Methinks, by no means must Consul General Ampeso be imputed any guilt at present because of such controversial past. However, I think, common sense also dictates that given the past controversy, at the very least, the present controversy musn't unceremoniously be swept under the proverbial rug.

As an ordinary Philippine citizen,I surmise that our government bureaucrats must take to heart what their Boss in Malacanang repeatedly prescribes when he tells us citizens "Kayo ang Boss ko!" Thus, I believe that a government bureaucrat must, AT ALL TIMES, AND IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, if he/she is worthy of such a calling or appointment, must have the DEMEANOR OF A HUMBLE SERVANT, AND NOT OF A BAD-TEMPERED GENERAL LORDING IT OVER HIS LOWLY PLEBEIAN INFERIORS.

Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/73135/filipino-consul-says-sorry-claims-he-was-tired-provoked#ixzz2RueVUlEL
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Saturday, April 13, 2013

Is the Catholic Church in crisis? By Randy David

Public Lives
Is the Catholic Church in crisis?
By Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
10:25 pm | Saturday, April 13th, 2013
5 128 81
A survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in February this year highlights three interesting findings on the state of Catholicism in the Philippines. First, that weekly church attendance has significantly gone down from a high of 64 percent in July 1991 to a low of 37 percent in February 2013. Second, that only 29 percent of Filipino Catholics consider themselves “very religious,” compared to 50 percent among Protestants, 43 percent among Iglesia ni Cristo members, and 38 percent among Muslims. And finally, that 9.2 percent (one out of 11) “sometimes think of leaving the Church.” Are these findings indicative of a looming crisis of faith among Filipino Catholics?
It is futile to question the validity of these numbers. What is important is to understand what is behind them. While it seems natural to relate these findings to a recent surge in negative sentiments about the Church hierarchy, I believe the data indicate a constellation of realities that may have little to do with any current disaffection with the institutional Church. In my view, they reflect a worldwide historical trend whose complex manifestations are often explained as outcomes of the process of “secularization.”
This is far from suggesting that the Catholic Church does not need to reform itself. Indeed, as Pope Francis himself has recently declared, the Church needs to break out of its “self-referentiality” by learning to see from the perspective of those in the “margins.” This is apart from the many organizational, disciplinal, and doctrinal issues that demand the urgent attention of the Church leadership.
One need only take a second look at the SWS findings to realize how difficult it is to guess what is behind them. First of all, not going to church regularly is not the same as giving up one’s faith. Social scientists prefer to call this phenomenon “de-churchification” to distinguish it from the nebulous concept of secularization. Second, it is difficult to guess how an individual would actually interpret the word “religious” when he/she is asked to rate the level of her religiosity. And third, how is one supposed to understand the response of those who admit they sometimes entertain the thought of leaving the Church? Does the thought of leaving signify a loss of religious belief, or is it an expression of a wish to transfer to another religion?
We are dealing here with three different realities: one, the transformation of religious practice from one that is Church-oriented to one that is solitary and private; two, the waning of religious faith in the context of a functionally differentiated modern society; and three, conversion to another religion. Indeed, the Church problematizes all three and precisely seeks to address them in its Year of Faith program. But, I would hazard the guess that it is the last—the conversion of Catholics to other religions, especially to the Evangelical Christian churches—that particularly troubles the Catholic Church today.
An article written by Robert J. Barro and Rachel M. McCleary, both of Harvard University (Inquirer, 4/8/2013), dealt with the threat posed by the aggressive Evangelical churches. “Evangelicalism is the fastest-growing world religion by conversion—a trend that underlies the strong expansion of Protestantism in traditionally Roman Catholic Latin America…. In 1992, John Paul II referred to evangelical groups in Latin America as ‘rapacious wolves’ who were ‘luring Latin American Catholics away from the Church of Rome,’ and he decried the ‘huge sums of money… spent on evangelical proselytizing campaigns aimed specifically at Catholics.’”
Barro and McCleary argue that the Church of Rome has tried to fix this problem by increasing the number of saints who could serve as models of religious commitment for the young generation of Catholics. Accordingly, they contend, John Paul II beatified 319 individuals during his papacy, far exceeding the 259 blessed persons named by all the previous popes since 1585. Between him and Benedict, they elevated 124 people to sainthood, corresponding to 43 percent of the total number of Catholic saints at present. Many of the new saints are Europeans, but a significant number have been drawn from Latin America and Asia.
Beyond this, there seems little that the Church can do to reverse the steady decline in the number of Roman Catholics. The decline very much reflects the drop in religious vocations and the consequent shortage of priests everywhere. Benedict was realistic enough to concede that the modern Church could be a smaller church with deeply committed members. That is what happened in Europe. Still, he held out the hope that Catholicism would gain new adherents in other parts of the world. He was also confident that the nihilism of an exhausted modernity could actually lead people to rediscover their faith.
Considering all this, we may ask if it is not being overly dramatic to refer to a crisis of the Church. In his book on religion as a social system, the sociologist Niklas Luhmann wrote: “One can only say there is a crisis if change is expected in the foreseeable future—no matter if it’s for better or worse. Such a change, however, is not on the horizon.” As societies modernize, the place of religion in the scheme of society will become sharply defined and limited, but religious faith will not disappear. What we cannot know except in retrospect, Luhmann added, is what shape religion will take as it adapts to new circumstances.
* * *
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Monday, April 1, 2013

HOW CAPTIVITY KILLED LOLONG

How captivity killed Lolong

Carlos Santamaria
Posted on 03/28/2013 2:14 PM  | Updated 04/01/2013 10:17 AM
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MANILA, Philippines – In September 2011, an impoverished town in southern Philippines made world headlines when a giant saltwater crocodile was captured by local villagers after a 3-month hunt.
Bunawan, Agusan del Sur then became home to Lolong, certified in May 2012 by Guinness World Records as the world's largest crocodile in captivity.
Thousands of tourists flocked to see the gargantuan reptile, measured at 6.17 meters or almost 21 feet from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail.
For a year and a half, the Bunawan local government charged P20 per person to see the crocodile, or more for visitors willing to pay an extra fee for the crocodile's pond to be emptied so Lolong's full body would be exposed.
However, that practice, and other failures of the local government to comply with instructions from the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) ultimately led to the animal's tragic death last February 10.
ORGANS CRUSHED. Lolong suffered a multiple organ failure after vital organs like the stomach were crushed by the reptile's bulk and atrophied. Photo from necropsy fileORGANS CRUSHED. Lolong suffered a multiple organ failure after vital organs like the stomach were crushed by the reptile's bulk and atrophied. Photo from necropsy file
The Philippines lost the crown of the largest crocodile in captivity to Australia's Cassius, which is not only cared for like the national treasure that it is but managed by the same experts in crocodile conservation whose advice was reportedly ignored by Bunawan Mayor Edwin Elorde.
As the results of the necropsy (autopsy performed on a non-human body) show, Lolong perished due to multiple organ failure caused by the stress of how he was kept in captivity, not captivity itself.
Trapped in a tiny enclosure
Immediately after Lolong was captured, the PAWB contacted the Bunawan local government to assist them with the animal, whose remains and skin now lie in a refrigerator inside the mayor's conference room until Elorde finally hands them over to the National Museum for taxidermy purposes.
PAWB Director Dr. Mundita Lim explained that from the start only two options were explored: transferring Lolong to an enclosure adequate to its size or releasing it back into the wild if part of the Agusan Marsh could be declared as a sanctuary for crocodiles.
MAYOR'S PROPERTY. Bunawan mayor Edwin Elorde regarded Lolong as his personal property and here he is seen posing for a picture hugging the carcass of the animal. Photo from necropsy reportMAYOR'S PROPERTY. Bunawan mayor Edwin Elorde regarded Lolong as his personal property and here he is seen posing for a picture hugging the carcass of the animal. Photo from necropsy report
Elorde did neither and kept the crocodile trapped in a tiny pen with an even tinier pond of water built for a reptile half its size, according to Lim.
Again and again he promised to build a bigger enclosure, but a year and a half later the facility was still being constructed.
Lim told Rappler she regrets not having been stricter with the mayor, who hired his own veterinarian to take care of the animal. The PAWB only had resources to conduct monthly checkups.
"The enclosure was not big enough for him, the pond not big or deep enough for him to swim around," she said.
Crocodiles are used to living in the marsh, where as cold-blooded animals they can regulate their own body temperature by swimming and basking on the surface at regular intervals.
The swimming also keeps them healthy and in top physical shape to be able to lift over a ton of weight on 4 short legs.
STRESSED OUT. Lolong's tiny enclosure and extremely shallow pond caused the crocodile to suffer such stress that it stopped eating altogether a month before its death. File photo from necropsy fileSTRESSED OUT. Lolong's tiny enclosure and extremely shallow pond caused the crocodile to suffer such stress that it stopped eating altogether a month before its death. File photo from necropsy file
Lolong however ended up with his claws and upper teeth broken down and full of open sores from scratching against the concrete flooring of the pond, and -- as the necropsy results show -- with most of its internal organs crushed by the massive bulk, up to the point that it almost completely lost its appetite.
Crocodiles suffer in captivity
Why was Lolong kept in captivity by local government officials who were clueless about how to care for such a unique animal?
Crocodile expert and former Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Dr. Angel Alcala is adamant that these reptiles should never be taken out of their natural habitat in the first place.
"At this present time, considering the number of these animals in the wild, they should not anymore be captured, removed from their natural habitat and placed in an enclosure," Alcala said in an interview with Rappler.
He added that if authorities insist on enclosing crocodiles in pens for the tourists, more deaths will follow. (Read: Lolong should never have been captured)
CLAWLESS, TOOTHLESS. Unable to swim, Lolong lost most of his claws and upper teeth from scratching the concrete flooring of his tiny pond. Photo from necropsy reportCLAWLESS, TOOTHLESS. Unable to swim, Lolong lost most of his claws and upper teeth from scratching the concrete flooring of his tiny pond. Photo from necropsy report
"You will be putting to much stress and shortening their life," Alcala explained.
The expert insisted that potential man-eaters or so-called "nuisance crocodiles" like Lolong should be left to freely roam the marshes, where visitors can watch them from protected viewpoints, rather than trapping the reptile inside a pen.
Lim agreed that setting the animal free would have been a good solution, if only the mayor had cooperated.
"We still had that option open to eventually release Lolong back into his natural habitat because there were reports that there was still a remaining area in Agusan Marsh that could be established as a sanctuary just for crocodiles," she said.
Lessons learned
Instead of asking to file charges against Elorde for the negligence that caused Lolong's death or even cruelty to animals, both Lim and Alcala prefer to move on and learn from this experience to prevent the incident from occurring in the future.
Republic Act 9147 gives the PAWB custody over wildlife protection nationwide, but they must work with local officials who sometimes put their personal and political needs ahead of conservation.
GARGANTUAN CROC. GARGANTUAN. Lolong still looked healthy in this file picture taken inside his pen at the Bunawan Eco-Park just days after the reptile was captured in September 2011. AFP PHOTO / JAY DIRECTOGARGANTUAN CROC. GARGANTUAN. Lolong still looked healthy in this file picture taken inside his pen at the Bunawan Eco-Park just days after the reptile was captured in September 2011. AFP PHOTO / JAY DIRECTO
The department lacks the law enforcement resources to make the local officials follow their recommendations or comply with their instructions, and only have two veterinarians -- 3, including Lim herself -- to cover the whole country.
Grassroots education programs, partnerships with other government agencies such as the Department of Tourism and setting aside more budget for conservation would help the PAWB to better fulfill its mandate, Lim and Alcala said.
In the case of Lolong, Alcala called for the establishment of a strict protocol on how to deal with exceptional animals like Lolong, which he called a "natural treasure."
"The DENR and its offices have allowed local government units to do something along the lines of taking care of wildlife, but I think there are no specific protocols in the case of specific, unique animals like Lolong. I think this is needed because an animal like Lolong, a natural treasure, should have been under the care of the relevant government agency, and that is the DENR," noted the 85-year-old marine biologist and winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Good Governance in 1992.
If this policy had been followed with Lolong, he said, the crocodile would probably have lived not 50 but 100 years. - Rappler.com