I remember someone saying that a lot of Filipinos are “asar-talo”. This translates to a person who loves to make fun of others but cry bloody murder when the tables are turned on him and given a taste of his own medicine. I don’t know about you but I’ve met my share of that kind of people. These people all too often like mocking others but are not too keen on being made fun of themselves and resort to lines like: “Why are you so serious?” Or: “It was just a joke!” Then, they’ll call you out on being “mean” to them with little to no remorse.
Photo of Carinn Lestolis ‘surfing’ on the back of a whale shark posted on Facebook by Liza Sesaldo.
If anything displays this kind of behavior in Filipinos better, it is their dismissive attitude towards nature and her bounties. Now, I’ve already written several pieces discussing this phenomenon as well as other authors with their own take on the topic. Then there’s this I found just a little while ago. Apparently, some young woman somewhere had the hot idea of turning a hapless whale shark into her surfboard for some reason. And then, when the woman, identified as Carinn Lestolis received flak from various critics both in and outside the internet, she was quick to defend herself and claim that: “I didn’t know touching whale sharks was wrong!”
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Yes, I know it’s old news and dates all the way back to 2012. Unfortunately, while this might indeed have taken place quite awhile back, there’s no denying that this is just one incident among a near countless amount of cruelty our countrymen tend to inflict on nature. From illegal logging, unnecessary killing of animals to littering (which I’ve already talked about innumerable times), you name it, the common Filipino is likely guilty of it. Then, when people are confronted about it, they quickly resort to rationalizations like: “It was just a small piece of trash!” Or, more deplorably: “We’re just trying to earn a living!”
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sure a lot of you remember the terror of Typhoon Yolanda. I’m sure all of you remember how the devastatingly strong winds managed to overturn houses like they were cardboard and how the flood waters managed to submerge even the largest of vehicles. I know you can still remember the chaos and destruction brought about by the disasters of 2013 and, just recently, we experienced the extreme heat brought about by El Nino this year.
So I’m asking you all to please be more caring of nature because it’s more than a little obvious that she is no longer happy with us. Look I know that it will take more than just disposing of our trash properly and preserving our trees to stop the disasters that our coming our way but they can at least soften some of the more devastating effects of natural calamities. Remember that more trees and less litter can reduce floods and can decrease the risk of disease in your vicinity.
Rainy season is upon us again people of the Philippines and, based on some observations, we’re going to have another La Nina this year. It’s high time we learned from our mistakes and stop abusing nature so that we can truly have a better home country to leave for our next generation. Let us learn to respect nature and her treasures before it is too late for all of us.
I HAVE RETURNED TO LAY WASTE TO OUR ENEMIES!
God forgives, nature fights back.
And humans don’t give a shit till the end
It’s sad that people are so stupid not to realize our planet is getting angrier. We destroy everything and when it hits back at us then we cry and hope the world will have sympathy and help us then go back and make the same mistakes again. I have no respect for people who abuses nature and laugh about it and think its no big deal. All over the world people take nature for granted they only take from it but do little to give back and preserve. They are too dumb to realize there is only one earth.
Fliptards abuse the environment with over-fishing and wanton trash disposals; Chekwas abuse the environment with factory waste and clogging up natural drainages with concrete structures.
The girl who touched a Shark; and claimed, she did not know, it was wrong to touch a shark is stupid. She did not know it, until, she would had been, eaten by the shark.
If we do not take care of Mother Nature; she will fight back; and will not take care of us.
Planet Earth is our home; it is the only one, we can give as a good gift to the next generation. A pollution free Planet Earth. We must love Mother Earth…
33Toro007Hyden9999.999,
Well said.
Aeta
Whale sharks eat plankton and small almost microscopic things and could only hurt that girl by hitting her with its tail or something. However, the girl does not appear to be 10 years old or a child, so should have known better than to abuse what looks like a stranded fish. Where’s the “Pinoy Pride” in the intelligence necessary to just use your frickin’ brain for something other than an ear spacer?
Any wild animal behaves wild, whether, they eat plankton, people or not. This is a massive animal; it is very dangerous, because, it is from the wild, and is in the water…if it would not eat her, it could drown her…
That’s what I said, that the girl could not be eaten by the fish, but COULD be injured by it.
The important part of what I said was that since she appears to be an adult, where is the adult intelligence and action?
People should learn from Free Willy and Flipper. These sea creatures trusted the people that saved them or treat them well. They’re the ones who’ll invite you in their back if you deserve it. But most people don’t deserve it that’s why they ride them forcibly instead.
It’s easier for some people to say “sorry” than to be courteous or simply mindful of themselves and their immediate surroundings. According to them you are not living life if you’re careful all the time.
Ignorance of the law excuses no one, as the old adage goes. Which law you ask? The law of nature of course. Sure enough, it does fights back and somehow we have not mustered how to even shield ourselves from it, much more control it. The fact that we have abused mother nature is an understatement.
I had a chance to think of a way to contribute, however insignificant, to this by asking our government to temporarily send our fishermen to countries where their services are in need like Japan, Taiwan, Korea, etc. What did they do? They made the hiring procedures so hard that both the fishermen, along with their foreign employers, gave up on the project since not only is the cost prohibitive (specially for the poor fishermen), but takes almost forever to secure the proper documentation needed to deploy them. Sigh!
Our downfall as a species is that we are arrogant enough to think that we can control Mother Nature and stupid enough to think it is our job.
Since the girl’s so adventurous, she should try skydiving to knock some sense into her.
Wala ng pag-asa tayong mga Pilipino.
I want to applaud you for this bravely written article..what was said is true..nature have its way of payback time when its wrath wreak havoc on people who should have taken care of it but instead contribute to its destruction…
what about you what have you contributed to mother nature….