Bishop: Reject greed, protect nature

Bishop Valentin Dimoc of the Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe in the Cordillera Administrative Region has urged Filipinos not to allow greed to harm the environment.

“We need to convert ourselves so that we may truly have a sustainable relationship with the environment and to be able to establish peaceful relationships among people and communities,” he said in a video message released by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on the occasion of Indigenous Peoples’ Month.

“Let us not allow greed to change our life,” the prelate said.

Dimoc reminded Filipinos that “the environment sustains and protects the life of people.”

“And we have to respect this,” he said.

The bishop said the country’s indigenous peoples are well aware of the need to protect the environment and should serve as examples for other Filipinos.

He noted that “the life of the indigenous people is in harmony with the environment.”

“We appreciate the life of indigenous peoples, their culture and their rituals. The rituals lead us to the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus,” he said.