The Kalantas is a large forest tree. The leaves are alternate, oddly pinnate, and grow to about 30 to 50 centimeters long or even longer. The leaflets are smooth or hairy along the nerves below, oblong, about 12 centimeters long, and 5 centimeters wide.

The bark in decoction is an astringent and is used for wound cleansing. The powder of the bark is considered antiseptic and is dusted over gangrenous ulcers.

These trees are distributed in Bataan Islands, from Cagayan to Sorsogon, provinces in Luzon, Mindoro, Samar, Negros, Leyte, Cebu and Mindanao.

Source: Department of Environment and Natural Resources

The officials of the Division of City Schools of Paranaque and Luntiang Pilipinas during the turn-over of seedlings ceremony.

Luntiang Pilipinas,  a nationwide urban forestry program established by Senator Loren Legarda to help raise the public’s level of awareness on the value of trees, conducted a tree-planting activity in Baclaran Elementary School in Parañaque last Thursday, September 8.

A total of 400 seedlings were distributed to Parañaque Division of City Schools, which were to be distributed to all elementary and secondary schools in the city.

The event was attended by Dr. Maria Teresa A. Namoro, Education Supervisor II of DepEd-National Capital Region; Mrs. Thelma Montiel, Division Science Coordinator; Joy Anne Aquino, Luntiang Pilipinas staff, Brgy. Baclaran Capt. Rolando Cailles, and principals and teachers of the Division.

Since Senator Legarda organized Luntiang Pilipinas in 1998, more than two million trees have since been planted and cared for, establishing forest parks in numerous towns and cities, schools and universities as well as along major highways and thoroughfares nationwide.

As a legislator, she is responsible for the passage of the following environmental laws, which she authored and sponsored: the Clean Air Act (RA 8749); the Environmental Awareness Education Act (RA 9512); the Renewable Energy Act (RA 9513); the Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003); the Conservation and Protection of Wildlife Resources Act (RA 9147); and the Climate Change Act of 2009 (RA 9729).

Another endemic tree in the Philippines, the Pagsahingin’s tapped resin is sold as Manila elemi or Elemi which is used in the manufacturing of paint, varnishes, perfumes, incense, aromatherapy and pharmaceutical products. Its resin is also used as illuminant while its wood is used for light interior works, furniture, veneer, plywood, agricultural implements, musical instruments, boxes, crates and toys.

Source: Revised Lexicon of Philippine Trees

Scientific Name: Diospyros pilosanthera

The Bolong-Eta is a medium-sized tree with numerous, alternate, leathery oblong-shaped leaves. The leaves are about 12 centimeters long and 5.5 centimeters wide, with pointed tip and usually rounded base. The flowers are white, solitary, or fascicled. The fruit is about two centimeters across, and subtended by an enlarged calyx.

They are endemic in the Philippines and common in primary forests at low altitudes from northern Luzon (Cagayan) to Palawan and Mindanao, in most or all islands and provinces.

Source: Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Held a day after President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), Legarda said that she should have appreciated the SONA more “If the President asserted more clearly how the government will pursue disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in a more comprehensive and effective way as a national strategy to achieve our development goals.”

She stressed the primordial need of considering climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) in our development goals, pointing out the eighteen-fold increase in our economic losses due to disasters since 1970.

“The reported eighteen-fold increase in our economic losses due to disasters since 1970 is alarming.  How can we move on as a nation towards growth and progress if hard-earned socio-economic gains are often set back by the impact of recurring natural hazards?” Legarda stressed.

Aside from their importance in national development planning, the Senator also pointed out the importance of DRR and CCA in budgeting and financial management.

In launching the flagship report of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) entitled Revealing Risk, Redefining Development, the launch featured the key findings of the report and served as a forum to discuss its implications to the country and examine gaps in the government’s disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness measures, as well as propose priority interventions.

The Philippines is one of 130 Governments engaged in self assessments of their progress towards implementing the objectives and goals of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), a global framework to reduce risks, which includes strengthening disaster management including the institutional and legislative arrangements that underpin it.

Senator Legarda, UNISDR Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific, also called on the country’s leaders to renew their commitment in implementing disaster risk reduction in national and local levels.

The event was attended by some 150 high-level guests, members of the Congress, cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, local government executives, civil society leaders, and representatives of the media.

Legarda, who is the chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change and a United Nations champion for disaster risk reduction in Asia Pacific, said that instead of billboards, “what we need in every empty space are more trees that would breathe in carbon dioxide emissions.”

She urged the MMDA to continue without letup its billboard campaign to promote public safety and rid major thoroughfares of traffic distractions and commended the MMDA for filing cases against illegal billboard operators.

The MMDA had reported that it had filed a total of 18 cases against illegal billboard operators as of July 8 since its campaign called “Operation Roll Down, Baby” began in May.

Senator Legarda reiterated her call to all citizens, to companies and other business enterprises, even politicians, both local and national, to stop killing our trees by postering on them.

Let us join efforts against this visual garbage.  Trees are not only visually healthy but most importantly clean our air, Legarda concluded.

To date, eleven cities and municipalities have passed local ordinances banning the use of plastic bags within their jurisdiction, and these are: Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila; Batangas City; Antipolo City, Rizal; Burgos, Pangasinan; Biñan, Laguna; Los Baños, Laguna; Carmona, Cavite; Imus, Cavite; Lucban, Quezon; Infanta Quezon; and Sta. Barbara, Iloilo.

“The implementation of the plastic bag ban in as short as six months in the city of Muntinlupa alone has already shown significant decrease in flooding. This is concrete evidence that lessening the use of plastic bags has immediate advantages. Other local government units should learn from Muntinlupa’s best practices and find ways to effectively replicate this practice in their locality,” Legarda stressed.

Along the same spirit of the local ordinances, Senator Loren Legarda has filed SBN 2759 otherwise known as the Total Plastic Bag Ban Act of 2011. Said bill prohibits groceries, supermarkets, restaurants, fast food chains, department stores and other retail stores and establishments nation-wide from using non-biodegradable plastic bags. The bill compels companies and consumers alike to shift to responsible packaging – from the one-time-use bags which end up in esteros to the reusable and recyclable bags which are more sustainable in the long run.

“I also urge LGUs to prioritize the implementation of RA 9003 or the Solid Waste Management Act. These 2 measures are complementary. By banning the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags, we are reducing the garbage that ends up in landfills, drainages and esteros. I also emphasize that segregation and recycling must be done at all levels – by our citizens, our local governments as well as retail establishments, be they small or large. The reduction of garbage and its effective disposition must be holistic so that we can effectively solve this garbage problem and avert flooding.” Legarda concluded.

Legarda said that the Ifugao Rice Terraces has been dubbed as an Eighth Wonder of the World and inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1995 by the UNESCO. However, it was included in the 1999 World Monument Watch’s list of 100 most endangered sites and the 2001 UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger due to its deterioration.

“The Philippine Rice Research Institute discovered that worms were damaging the roots produced by germinated rice seeds aside from eroding the terraces by digging out their walls; while rats were eating the rice flower heads and contributing to the terraces’ erosion with their burrowing,” she explained.

Furthermore, the UNESCO noted that the degradation of the Ifugao Rice Terraces is the result of the absence of the necessary monitoring mechanism and management plan to preserve and ensure the sustainable development of the national landmark.

“I urge concerned government agencies, particularly the Ifugao Cultural Heritage Office, to ensure that various efforts are in place to save this World Heritage Site from total degradation,” the Chair of the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities appealed.

“We have to immediately address growing concerns over the many issues surrounding the worsening state of the rice terraces, in order to determine whether remedial measures must be introduced to ensure that this national treasure is sustainably protected,” Legarda stressed.

Legarda noted that a team of scientists, researchers and biodiversity conservationists from the University of the Philippines and the California Academy of Sciences, led by Dr. Perry Ong and Dr. Terry Gosliner, conducted the 2011 Philippine Biodiversity Expedition from April to June.

The team scoured Anilao, the Verde Island Passage and Lubang Island off the coast of Batangas, and the forests and mountaintops of Mts. Makiling, Banahaw, and Isarog to discover at least a hundred new species endemic to the country including a shark that inflates with water to scare off other predators, a cicada that produces a laughing sound, and a sea star that feeds on wood.

“The Philippines has already been hailed as the World’s Center of Marine Biodiversity – the epicentre of biodiversity and evolution, and this expedition once again proves the unique biodiversity that our country is greatly blessed with. It is, however, sad to note that these precious resources are deeply threatened by the irresponsible acts of man,” the Senator pointed out.

“The increasing loss of biodiversity is being attributed to development activities and land degradation, especially overgrazing and deforestation, as well as pollution, overfishing, hunting, infrastructure development, species invasion, land-use change, and the overuse of freshwater,” she lamented.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change and a staunch environmentalist, also expressed alarm over the probable effects of the changing climate to the country’s biodiversity.

She explained that among the projected impacts of climate change is the loss of thousands of species as well as changes in natural ecosystems. The rise in average global temperatures will render many species unable to adapt quickly enough to these new conditions or to move to regions more suitable for their survival.

“As the ill effects of global warming, increased precipitation and extreme weather events adversely affect the high concentration of species found endemically in our country, we as humans who are dependent on the very plants and animals that make up our natural ecosystems for livelihood and sustenance are directly affected as well,” she said.

“The decline of our ecosystems has been found as one of the underlying drivers of disaster risks and poverty, in the context of climate change. Therefore, protecting ecosystems – which involves rehabilitating our forests, cleaning our rivers, and stopping pollution, among other actions, need to be done as soon as today,” Legarda stressed.

Legarda has already proposed several measures aimed at strengthening climate adaptation mechanisms and conserving biodiversity such as the Sustainable Forest Management Act (Senate Bill 1353), the Integrated Coastal Management Act (Senate Bill 1370), and the National Land Use Act (Senate Bill 1369).

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change and a staunch environmentalist, said that Dr. Jose Rizal also underscored the importance of caring for the environment through his actions, which Filipinos must recognize and aim to follow.

“Most of us know Dr. Jose Rizal as the highly-educated hero who disclosed the system of colonial rule in the Philippines and prompted Filipinos to fight for their freedom through his notable books Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Little did we know about his environmental advocacies that are worth emulating,” she explained.

Legarda noted the observations of the environmental organization EcoWaste Coalition, which emphasized the life of Rizal during his exile in Dapitan where he carried out various projects such as the construction of an aqueduct that provided people with clean water, draining of swamps to avoid being breeding places of mosquitoes, use of coconut oil lamps to light up streets, beautification of the town plaza, and planting of trees in different parts of the town.

The Senator pointed out that these acts of Rizal, if emulated by every barangay in the country, will go a long way in improving the health of both the people and the environment in every community.

“We can never underestimate the importance of caring for our nature because Rizal himself made it one of his advocacies during the time when it was not even a national or global concern yet.”

“Every Filipino must strive to follow the good example of our national hero, not just in the aspect of protecting our rights and sovereignty but also with regard to preserving our environment, which is essential as it is the source of our vital needs for continuous existence,” Legarda stressed.