ELEPHANT SCULPTURE

THE ELEPHANT SCULPTURE

Art is Art. In its most contemporary sense, art conveys a message. Art are tools to express emotion, feeling, or sentiment. Most of it, seeks to educate the people of something, perhaps, for a greater purpose. Now, in the Philippines, there is an art secretly housed at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center located at Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City. It is called "THE ELEPHANT SCULPTURE". 

The Elephant Sculpture was made to make a strong message of compassion of the Philippine Government in its fight against illegal ivory trade. Ivory is a source of medicine and, sadly, of art materials. Ivory is known for its healing attributes but most prestigious for its Ivory sculptures. Ivory comes, primarily, from Elephant tusks and the demand for Ivory is now ever increasing with markets mainly direct to CHINA and AFRICA and ASIA as suppliers.

While no Elephant is known to exist in the Philippine Archipelago, its drive to protect the exploitation of elephants and its by-products (i.e, elephant tusks) remains steadfast. It have been alert and have taken great strides to confiscate smuggled ivory with certainty of prosecution and eventually, punishment.

In 2013, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in its renewed call to end Ivory trading and make a clarion call to the public that importation, possession and use of Ivory is illegal commissioned an artist to make an art in what is now known today as THE ELEPHANT SCULPTURE".

The Elephant Sculpture

 Quoted hereunder is the dedication message of Secretary RAMON J.P. PAJE, DENR, to wit:

"This structure is a representation of the natural position of a mother African elephant protecting her calf. The upper Circles representing their faces symbolize the quest fro the continuation of the life of these magnificent creations. The dark color of the structure opposing the natural off-white color of the ivory tusk embodies the Philippines' strong support to the global efforts against elephant poaching and illegal ivory trade. The superimposed tusks, that are almost as high as their bodies, represent the beauty of the creatures with their tusks intact. This structure is made of concrete and part of the ashes from more than four tons of elephant ivory tusks that the Philippines crushed and burned on June 21, 2013.

May this sculpture remind us of the thousands of elephants killed for their precious tusks and that their continued existence still largely depends on how humans treat them.

RAMON J.P. PAJE (sgd)

Secretary

Department of Environment and Natural Resources"

Close-up view of the Elephant Sculpture

You can visit the Elephant Sculpture located at Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center located at Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City which opens from Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 5 pm.

Levelling the interests

Our great Republic created a body of men that possesses the privilege to represent the people in its entirety, with no other duty but to speak the words of the people through an all-embracing law. These select few continue to occupy the limited 24-seat in the Senate. But, with the onslaught of an impending impeachment trial, is it within their capacity to decide a case for the cause of justice? Or would it be another game of numbers based on their political affiliation?

The Constitution reposed before the hands of the senators the duty of removing into office an impeachable officer for betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, or other high crimes. In other words, the senators will be the grand jury who can call for the acquittal or conviction of an accused. Since they will be the judges for the fate of the accused, they must decide according to the dictates of justice and not to any promises whispered by a fanatic influential. To render a verdict, one need not possess the expertise or experience of a seasoned justice. It is only sufficient to evaluate the arguments and evidences presented, and base his judgment on the merits of the case. Needless to state, his decision must be in line with logical reasoning.

But in a country where every politician is hungry for political accommodation, where his interests requires him to secure re-election and where secret alliances  are only to be considered, there could be no fair justice for one who stands accused. As the stage is set for the impeachment trial of the Chief Justice, we are about to witness the kind of political animals this Republic has in its cage. And we must hope that the rule of law and justice will succeed; otherwise, this nation as a whole will fail.

The Rebels' Haven

                          Laws are promulgated in order to regulate the affairs of men, to protect every individual from any injury, and, among others, to promote the general interest of the public. In other words, its concept is to maintain order and secure to every living citizens the enjoyment of their basic rights, privileges, and, as well as their fundamental freedoms. Most of the law created by the law-making body defines a crime, treats of its nature and provides for punishment. One of the law’s basic characteristics is territoriality, where it is applied in the territory over which the state has sovereignty and jurisdiction.

                         In cases where a State cannot effectively carry out its obligation to enforce the law in certain parts of its territory, it strikes an unparalleled failure on the part of the government to assert its sovereignty to every composite part of its territorial jurisdiction. It must be remembered that a law distinguishes neither place nor day for its application so long as it is effected within the territorial responsibility of the concerned state, with the end in view that no one goes unpunished for a crime committed.

                         The so called “Area of Temporary Stay” enjoyed by the Muslim insurgents is a blunder to the Philippines’ territorial integrity, as the law enforcers cannot extend the arm of the law on such areas since it is controlled by the rebels. In addition, for a successful entrance over the area, coordination must be made by the government to the insurgents. Where a criminal or an offender seeks refuge in the area of temporary stay, officers of the law will cease its pursuit over the former since they will be entering a haven where a need for formal offer of entrance is indispensable.

                         Accordingly, lawless elements would be free to enjoy impunity and easily escape arrest by simply laying his foot on the rebels’ dungeon. It would be to recognize an entity its sovereignty when an area of temporary stay is allowed. A law punishes its violators; it haunts them to every inch of the territory where they choose to hide; more so, it accepts no reason for its non-application. Thus, when a law is served, justice is well in place as the paramount objective of the government to bring in peace and order, but when its application stops at the doorstep of the rebels’ house, where it only gaze the offenders swiftly eluding the force of the law, it shakes the foundation of the Republic as a sovereign nation.

The Vexing Problem of Peace

While the rest of the world watches on how the Philippines stage a peace process to end the communist insurgents and separatist rebels, the government with its vast intelligence and military resources has failed to thwart a treacherous attack by the NPA, the armed group of the Communist Party of the Philippines, against the mining companies in Surigao, last 3 October 2011. With this new armed and political turmoil, the international community casted doubt on whether it is within the capacity of the Philippine government to put a final nail in the coffin on this vexing problem.

The magnitude of such aggression paints a painful question on the ability of the Philippines to protect the multi-billion foreign investments in the country, especially in the field of mining and extraction of other natural resources. The fear to invest in this country would bring about untold consequences such that there would be increase in unemployment, loss of government revenue and lack of trust and confidence from the international community and business leaders. The peace process has long been delayed because of political and idealistic reasons and thus, the delay, with subsequent betrayal of truce, would mean that peace will never be accounted.

The Philippine government must put serious efforts to stop insurgency and provide a long term solution to achieve peace. While diplomacy is the key element to effectuate peace without the stain of blood being spilled, it would be fruitless to hope in the mighty heaven that peace would come at the window by mere agreement in a piece of paper. The need for military action to halt the insurgents’ acts of terrorism must be well in place at this very moment. We cannot have diplomacy and military at the same time, it is the highest form of absurdity in peace process. It is either diplomacy or military action, but to address the deadlock of the former, we must choose the latter.