Donation, seed money for Task Force Sierra Madre

Editor's Note: Below is a thank you letter Father Pete Montallana sent to St. Thomas More for much needed donation of $1,000. We thought of posting the letter in hopes that kababayans will follow and make a donation too.

May 20, 2007

Dear Father Andrew,

Greetings of Peace!

Your help has given a lot of opportunity to print matreials to inform people about the dam; to transport people who wanted to join the public consultations that we have organized; and to enable us to reach very far places to alert people about the dams. The last three weeks of the election campaign were crucial regarding the Kanan B1 Dam which the local government of General Nakar has approved without public consultation.

The people of General Nakar elected a new mayor who has taken a stance against the 113m Rockfill dam. We thank the Lord that the construction of Kanan B1 Dam will now be laid to rest. Now we can focus on the Laiban Dam which too will be constructed in an area where fault lines have been identified. We have now the advantage that the mayor of General nakar and the re-elected mayor of Infanta oppose the dam. The mayor of Tanay where the dam would be constructed also has taken the stance in favor of the people. However, it is not easy to oppose a project of the national government.

The issue of the dam has strengthened further the Task Force Sierra Madre (TFSM). Your support, which came when we needed it most, was sort of a seed money for us. Many people are now interested in supporting the cause of the TFSM. Infanta was able to organize its own chapter yesterday. There is also more interest now regarding our stance against logging. Global warming is a phenomenon which we feel even right at the foot of Sierra Madre. The consciousness that Serra Madre is important not only for us but for the Philippines and the whole world is getting stronger. We need to educate and empower more people to be a "brother's/sister's keeper." We need to be stewards, too, of God's precious gift to us -- the environment.

Once again, thank you. God bless us with more stewards of creation!

Sincerely,
Fr. Pete Montallana
Chairperson, TFSM