Caritas Philippines is leading the #CaritasBike4Kalikasan with the Social Action Network and other private and government partners this October 8, 2022.
The bike from the Manila Cathedral to the La Mesa Dam Nature Reserve Eco Park is not only Caritas Philippines’ contribution to the 2022 Season of Creation celebration but “the national social action’s concrete contribution to the global goal of ecological transformation of the Catholic Church,” according to Bishop Colin Bagaforo, Caritas Philippines national director.
The 32-kilometer bike caravan as per Fr. Antonio Labiao Jr., executive secretary of the national Caritas, “is our call to action to draw attention to all of Caritas Philippines’ environmental advocacy initiatives under the Alay Kapwa – Alay para sa Kalikasan program. This includes divestment from fossil gas, coal, mining, and other extractive industries, the Rights of Nature policy campaign and simple lifestyle advocacy, just renewable energy transition, and food security via sustainable farming.
The occasion will also mark the beginning of the Caritas Bamboo Forest Project, a flagship initiative that aims to establish bamboo forests in partnership with the Diocesan Social Action Centers. “This is to show that we are serious in our stance to fully enforce the 2022 CBCP pastoral statement on ecology, as much as we are demanding in calling on our government to take action against ecological injustices,” said Bishop Bagaforo.
“We are also taking principled cooperation with our government to work with this project, as we will be working closely with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Department of Interior and Local Government, as well as with the private sector,” added Fr. Labiao.
“It is time that we invest more work into our ecological advocacies than mere statements. After all, we are a working, living Church. What good will our words bring if our planet is dead,” surmised Bishop Bagaforo, whose diocese In Kidapawan is one of the dioceses that will establish the bamboo forest project.
The #CaritasBike4Kaliksan is free. To register, go to: http://bit.ly/CaritasBike4Kalikasan.