“While traditionally, the government has the burden of uplifting its people out of poverty, our long experience with massive poverty has shown that components of the private sector are able and willing to contribute much-needed help,” Loren said in her message to the FCCCI.

She said the FCCCI is “one that stands out in the private sector.”

Loren led the tree planting activity held at the Chinese Garden in the Luneta Park, Manila which was attended by relatives and family members of those belonging to the FCCCI.

“I thank you all for being here today with me in our celebration of the World Environment Day. Today, I can see your eagerness and willingness to spare a portion of your very busy schedule in order to support this years World Environment Day,” she said.

This year’s theme for the World Environment Day is “Your Planet Needs You – Unite to Combat Climate Change.”

Loren also took the occasion to inform the FCCCI of the Philippines being one of the countries which have been actively participating in the movement for climate change awareness and action.

She said that the Climate Change Act bill which has been passed by the Senate would create a Climate Change Commission that would be the government’s policy–making body that will coordinate, monitor, and evaluate the programs and action plans relating to climate change. The bill was introduced by the Senate climate change committee headed by Senator Legarda.

In the international level, the Philippines is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, among other international agreements on climate change, she added.

“But the government,” she said, “cannot take full credit for the milestones we have reached in our advocacy of the environment.”

“The private sector, including business and entrepreneurs, has been the government’s active partner in environmental protection,” she stressed.

The tree-planting activity was led by Loren and members of the environmental group Luntiang Pilipinas (Green Philippines). Luntiang has so far planted over two million trees nationwide since its founding by the senator in 1998.

Neither the rains nor the cold wind stopped Loren from extending a warm welcome to the ambassadors and other embassy officials whom she praised for showing their respective countries′ concern for the environment.

“I can sense a common motivation in us, which is to protect the environment for all of humanity. I can also sense an urgent willingness to act,” said Loren.

She described this year′s theme of the World Environment Day – Your Planet needs you; Unite to Combat Climate Change – as “a tall order” for all the people of all nations.

“This year, the stage is set in Mexico for the worldwide effort of dealing with what Mexican President Felipe Calderon recognized as the most demanding challenge of the 21st century“ climate change,” Loren said.

Among the diplomats who participated in Luntiang Pilipinas′ tree-planting activity were:

Ambassadors Therry Borja De Mozota (France), Malai Halimah Yussof (Brunei), In May (Cambodia), Liu Jianchao (China), Rajeet Mitter (India), Ali Mojtaba Rouzbehani (Iran), Choi Joong-Kyung (Korea), Leuane Sombounkhan (Lao), A. Selverajah (Singapore), Pieter Andries Vermeulen (South Africa), Luis Arias Romero (Spain), Francisco Cepede (East Timor), Mario Schuff (Argentina), Roderick Richard Campbell Smith (Australia), and Manuel Perez Iturbe (Venezuela); and

Embassy representatives Charon De Mares and Meghan Mercier (USA), Angela Ibay (UK), Shisehiro Matsuda (Japan), Mohammed Abdullah Adli (Malaysia), Sirimewan Dawulagala (Sri Lanka), Lavilin Nikolax Counbblour (Russia), and Jan Janda (Czech Republic).

While nations may not share beliefs or strategies in addressing climate change, Loren stressed that “common to our varying views, though, is that climate change ranks high in our priorities.”

She warned that climate change threatens the very life of the planet and humanity as a whole, citing the United Nations′ 2009 Global Assessment Report on “the grim realities that the international community has to deal with decisively and concertedly because lives of entire populations are at stake.”

Climate change, Loren pointed out, raises varied challenges, including the capacity of leaders to craft, legislate and implement laws related to the environmental phenomenon blamed for many natural disasters.

She proposed a two-pronged formula to address climate change, the first involving the creation of effective policies on climate change and their concerted implementation by all government agencies involved.

The second, added Loren, entails leaders of the world transcending boundaries and reaching out to one another to address climate change as one.

“It is therefore clear that the great question of the future will be whether or not different peoples from different nations are capable of uniting.”

Legarda made the statement during her visit in San Jose, Antique yesterday where she was guest of honor and keynote speaker during the inauguration of a seedling bank and in the GGP Core Shelter Ground Breaking Ceremonies in two localities.

The seedling bank is part of the Luntiang Pilipinas she has been advocating by encouraging Filipino citizens to plant trees, which she said is the first and logical step to mitigate the ill effects of climate change which are sure to happen.

“By planting trees, we become tools in the country’s effort to restore our once virginal forests, a sort of putting carpet in our surrounding to cushion the impact of sure, yet unforeseen circumstances spawned by sudden shift of weather,” she told local residents of Antique in Binirayan Hills in San Jose where she launched a seedling bank.

“As an ecological warrior and environmental advocate, this has become my personal mission – to impart with our fellow citizens not only the importance of being aware and understanding what is going on around us but, more importantly, spur them into action and participate, even in small and simple ways, in this huge undertaking,” she added.

After launching the seedling bank which is part of her Luntiang Pilipinas, Legarda also proceeded in two Antique localities where ground breaking ceremonies were held in Barangay Trinidad, San Remigio and Brgy. Sido in Sibalom to wrap up her busy day in this province.

Present during the ceremonies were Ambassador Makoto Katsura of Japan, Antique Governor Salvacion Perez, Vice Governor Rhodora Cadiao, Mayor Elizabeth Coloso.

Legarda also attended the similar ground breaking ceremony held at Barangay Sido, Sibalom which was graced by Sibalom Mayor Virginia Lotilla, Hon. Dante Beriong, with Ambassador katsura, Gov. Perez, Vice Gov. Cadiao and Mayor Lotilla witnessing.

Legarda, an ecological warrior who has been giving ample time for the implementation of the Luntiang Pilipinas project, has also gone to other localities where she also launched similar seedling banks, including one in Lipa City and in University of the Philippines-Los banos in Laguna.

“We can not deny the fact that we’ve been observing sudden shifts in weather. Today would be rainy, but tomorrow would be too hot. We are puzzled by these changes which can trigger unforeseen events such as landslides in mountainous places, or extreme drought in some areas. These are the things which we tackle in what we now call Climate Change,” she explained.

“And these unpredictable change in our weather is caused by the so-called global warming which is now the subject of great concern by most countries, including the Philippines,” she added.

Legarda also explained that part of the measures to mitigate the serious effects of climate change is to repair our damaged environment which actually provides humankind with a sort of cover each time natural calamity or calamities strike.

“We seem to realize the importance of forest after every calamity when tragedy has already happened. Those things like what happened in the past in Ormoc City and recently in Compostela Valley can be avoided if only people are vigilant enough to take care of the environment,” she said.

“It is time we started planting trees as it is the first step toward our goal in addressing the pressing problems posed by climate change,” she added.

Memorandum of agreements were also forged between the two local government in Antique – San Remigio and Sibalom — and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the propagation of seedlings which will be planted in different areas in the province.

Legarda added that Luntiang Pilipinas, along with other environmental organizations and movements, has not only sought to raise the level of awareness of our communities on the ill-effects of climate change, but more importantly, enjoin everyone, all people from all walks of life to undertake initiatives that will help our respective local communities to adapt to challenges of global warming and mitigate its risks and effects on our environment and our people.

Speaking before residents of Lipa City in San Fernando Air Base, Legarda said that it is not enough that the people are aware of what’s going on around, but they must actually participate in the tree-planting intended to restore the lost vigor of the country’s forests.

“This is a momentous event as we in the Luntiang Pilipinas embarked on another significant endeavor. While we do not claim to achieve our goals here overnight, we are at least on the right track,” said Legarda.

Legarda, an ecological warrior and environmental advocate, was guest speaker (she was introduced by AFP Commander maj. General Fernando I. Manalo) in a simple rites highlighted by the unveiling of Luntiang Pilipinas signage and the nursery layout inside the Armed Forces of the Philippines military airbase in Lipa City.

Legarda personally thanked Gen. Manalo for allowing a portion of the Airbase to become a seedling bank and the Department of Environment and Natural resources region IV-A for providing the technical know-how in the implementation of the environmental program.

“Let me express my deepest gratitude to the AFP command here in Fernando Airbase under Maj. General Manalo and the DENR region IV-A. I am equally grateful for the show of support of the local officials of the province of Batangas,” Legarda said in her opening remarks.

Also present during the occasion were DENR executive director for CALABARZON Nilo B. Tamoria, ,axiom F. Soriano Jr (OIC, PENRO – Batangas).A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was also forged between the DENR and the Luntiang Pilipinas.

Legarda’s advocacy led her to author various laws on the protection and or restoration of the environment, especially the forests which are now in critical state of being wiped out owing to the unabated tree-cutting and illegal logging.

Legarda also cautioned the Batanguenoes on the domino effects when forests are gone.

“It is disheartening to note the continuing change in our weather. Sometimes we find it too hot on a given day. And then we wake up the next day to find out that the day is cloudy and sometimes rainy. All these are due to what we call climate change caused by global warming,” she said.

“That is why we in the Luntiang Pilipinas, along with other environmental organizations and movements, have not only sought to raise the level of awareness of our communities on the ill-effects of climate change, but more importantly, enjoin everyone, all people from all walks of life, to undertake initiatives that will help our respective local communities to adapt to the challenges of glocabl warming and mitigate its risks and effects on our environments and our people,” she said

“The effects of erratic climate shifts have recognized no boundaries nor spared any race or territory,” she added.

By planting trees in your respective communities, Legarda said, people achieve six-point benefits. “They become instrumental in environmental care, they help avoid flooding in many areas, the trees they plant also clean the air, the trees they plant serve as decors in our surrounding, besides we get fruits from these trees that they plant.”

Saying that the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System (PEISS) is “a work in progress,” Legarda said that she would file a bill in the Senate to plug the loopholes in the PEISS.

While citing controversies arising from the PEISS and the weaknesses of the system that had been identified by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, Legarda said the system must be updated with the changing times.

“These identified gaps and weaknesses in the current EISS do not necessarily undermine the validity or the effectiveness of the system. Nor do we espouse the notion that addressing these loopholes would serve as an instant solution to our worsening problems in the environment,” she said.

Legarda issued the statement as the keynote speaker in the seminar workshop on PEISS in University of the Philippines-Los Baños, which was opened with Legarda leading the ceremonial planting of tree in front of the School of Environmental Science and Management.

“In reality, PEISS is a work in progress. With the advent of more advanced techniques and highly sophisticated technologies, and with the onslaught of more devastating natural calamities and disasters, it is only fitting that the Philippine government exert tremendous effort to respond to the changing times.”

Under the system, public and private entities are tasked to mitigate, address or prevent the possible environmental impact of a project or economic undertaking through regulation and improved project planning.

In three decades since becoming a law, PEISS has become the subject of controversy on the implementation of different government rules and regulations on the environment.

Likewise, while EISS is applicable to a wide range of business activities, majority of its actual applications were found to be only small to medium scale enterprises, Legarda said.

“What about the bigger industries such as mining, logging or even reclamation projects?” Legarda asked. “The role of the local government units in the implementation of the EISS was likewise limited.”

“Also, more attention is paid on the procedural rather than on the technical aspects, resulting in generally poor quality environmental assessment characterized by voluminous reports and lack of focus and depth of analysis on critical issues and impacts.”

Also attending the seminar workshop were UPLB officials led by Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco; Dr. Virginia Cardenas, vice chancellor for Community Affairs; Dr. Enrico Supanco, vice chancellor for R&E, UPLB; Dr. Maria Victoria Espaldon, dean Sesam; Dr. Nicomedes Briones; and Engr. Esperanza Sajul.

The global view on global warming has undergone its own evolution in a half century since a few brave souls contended - amid public scorn and ridicule - that human activity may be burning too much fossil fuel and igniting forest fires that unleashed lethal greenhouse gases into the atmosphere .

The stages of development can be generally broken down into four phases.

First, it was considered a hoax.

The second stage moved scientists, climatologists and public leaders to give it a faint recognition. It was discussed, but only grudgingly and marginally.

The third stage pushed global warming into the mainstream of scientific research. Finally, it has sunk into the global consciousness.

Then came the day of reckoning.

In a landmark event on February 2, 2007, the fourth stage came in the form of a public statement released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which undertook a three-year study on global warming and climate change.

The United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization created the panel, which members included hundreds of scientists, climatologists and researchers across the globe. They were unpaid and they did the work for Mother Earth. They were considered as among the world’s best and brightest in their line of work.

The report said climate change was “unequivocal.” The report also raised realistic but dire scenarios on what will be the planet’s future if nothing is done to reverse this.

“Feb. 2, 2007 will be remembered as the date when uncertainty was removed as to whether humans had anything to do with climate change on this planet. The evidence is on the table,” said Achim Steiner, the executive director of the UNEP, who briefed journalists and the public on the report.

Seas, according to the report, will continue to rise. Temperatures will continue to climb. The weather patterns will be shifting and erratic, tipping to the extreme, not the mainstream.

While seas rose by about 6 to 9 inches in the entire 20th century, the report forecasts a sea rise of 7 to 23 inches by 2100. Sea level rise is particularly lethal to small islands. It will exacerbate inundation, storm surge and erosion that threaten roads, bridges, dams, homes, entire settlements and the facilities that support the livelihood of island communities.

Global temperature is likely to warm 3.5 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit if carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere reach twice the levels of 1750, which was before the Industrial Revolution.

There is a more than 1-in-a-10 chance of much greater warming, a risk factor too high to be ignored.

In many parts of the globe, these findings are real-life, real-time apocalypse.

Drought in Sudan has triggered war in Darfur, the first recorded war in history that was rooted in rainfall decline. Blood freely spilled into the parched, cracked earth of Darfur.

Last year, Tokyo had its longest snow-less winter. China had the warmest year in 30 years. A total of 13,500 square kilometers of ice shelves in the Antarctica disintegrated. It is melting at an alarming pace. Water from this melt is enough to bury coastal towns along its rampaging path.

The Thames Barrier, the underutilized flood defense system of London was forced to defend London from floodwaters at an unheard-of utilization rate of six times last year due to increased rainfall.

At home, all the dire warnings about a global warming -triggered apocalypse are no longer empty words. Climate change is now a serious public issue, trumping the massively-funded but inherently abhorrent initiative that also carries the word change – charter change.

Floods and droughts, heat waves and super typhoons regularly strike us with their attendant savagery. All of these kill people, wreak havoc on property, upset our production and planting schedules and gnaw on the economic foundation of the nation.

We no longer have a climatic pattern, the comfort of a rainy and dry season splitting half of every year. Now, it is all about weather in extremes.

The quantified economic impact of intensifying tropical cyclones on property has been placed at a yearly average of P4.5 billion from 1975 to 2002. This figure comes from a study conducted by Dr. Leoncio Amadore titled “Crisis or Opportunity: Climate Change Impacts and the Philippines”.

The impact of extreme weather patterns on forestry, biodiversity, coastal and marine resources, water, energy and health has yet to be given peso and mathematical valuations. But the toll is definitely high.

If developing countries are more vulnerable to climate change, the Philippines, due to its place in the geological order, has the misfortune of facing the highest degree of risks, a country deemed most vulnerable to change by experts.

It is located within the Pacific typhoon belt. It is highly susceptible to ground movements such as landslides and mudslides.

In December 2003, more than 200 people died from landslides and flooding.

In 2004, there were 412 deaths recorded after typhoon Winnie lashed at the eastern seaboard of Southern Luzon. A total of 177 people were reported missing and presumed dead.

In February of 2006, more than 2,000 people, mostly kids attending class, were buried by mudflow in St. Bernard, Leyte. For three days, rain pounded the town, triggering mudflows that created a pocket of Armageddon.

In September 2006, super typhoon Milenyo jolted a totally unprepared Metro Manila and nearby provinces, killing at least 18 people and cutting a vast map of destruction.

The rise in sea levels will strike hard on the Philippines, with 70 per cent of its towns and cities, including the most economically-vibrant, classified as coastal areas.

Food production, perhaps the most important economic activity of the country, is also directly threatened. Long dry spells and savage floods are the equivalent of food shortage. And a high level of food insecurity.

The Philippines, which has a wondrous bio-diversity and holds an unenviable pool of genetic stock, is now witness to climate change chipping away at its rich biological resources.

Super typhoons, droughts and natural disasters stemming from climate change may have obliterated from our ecosystem by now flora for cancer cure, or a genetic stock that can reverse the progression of Type 2 diabetes.

Where we are can be summed up in a few words. We are facing a climate-triggered apocalypse.

IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri warns policymakers that “It is the poorest of the poor in the world, and this includes poor people even in prosperous societies, who are going to be the worst hit.”

The national resolve should be to reverse this through a combination of personal initiatives, policy reforms, corporate responsibility, ground-breaking work from the LGUs.

What should be the components of this national resolve? What is to be done?

Putting in place a National Framework Program on Climate Change is an imperative policy reform. This, in fact, is the gist of Senate Bill No. 1890, which I filed and is awaiting senate action.

It is a measure of three main objectives:

1. Establishing a national strategy to inform and assist vulnerable communities in climate adaptation;
2. Establishing mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to attain the much-needed shift to a low-carbon economy;
3. Supporting the international initiatives to address climate change, primarily the Kyoto Protocol.

The bill seeks a dramatic increase in the country’s future capacity to use renewable energy.

It establishes a money pool called Climate Adaptation Fund to bankroll projects that will hasten the shift to a low-carbon economy.

It seeks to pilot a cap-and-trade project with polluting industrial sectors as trail blazers in the experiment.

It seeks to provide incentives to and promote investments in projects that involve clean energy, carbon sequestration, reforestation and other projects that fall under the general category of climate change mitigation.

Convinced of the wisdom of the strategy “Think Global, Act Local”, the bill proposes the creation of a state agency, the Commission on Climate Change, to oversee the national and local efforts to move communities into adapting to the scourge.

Many of our people are just becoming aware of the connection between the worsening disasters and climate change. Very few are prepared for stronger storms, floods and landslides, not realizing the future threat. The first order must be a massive IEC campaign.

I envision the use of multi-media for this… print, radio, TV, movies, the internet… to inform and to inspire our people to face this challenge. For there is much work to be done.

The ground-level work includes the identification of communities that are at risk so the proper protection work can be scientifically assessed and implemented.

The conduct of a local risk and vulnerability analysis is also mandatory under the bill so the appropriate mitigation and adaptation measures can be selected and institutionalized.

I am now asking my colleagues to give the measure priority attention.

At the local level, some frontier actions are taking place, and the sheer brilliance and comprehensiveness of these actions are truly impressive.

The Albay Declaration has an action agenda that will soon join the choice jargon of the warriors against global warming. Governor Joey Salceda, the young, dynamic and innovative governor of Albay calls this “climate proofing.” This will be led by the Centre for Initiatives and Research in Climate Adaptation (CIRCA), which will harness the resources of academe, national and local government agencies, NGOs and civil society.

Cavite City, with the Philippine Network on Climate Change, has studied its vulnerability to erratic weather patterns which will be factored into the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP).

In Mindoro, upland farmers are engaged in simple monitoring and early warning system for imminent flooding in downstream communities. The Manila Observatory is assisting the farmers of Mindoro.

We must take into account the poor situation of our countrymen in promoting climate measures. These are grassroots works that are just as impressive despite their simplicity and routine character.

Mangroves can help protect our coastlines from storm surges and tsunamis while bamboos deter soil erosion. We can start to plant and build natural barriers one barangay after another at little cost.

Recycling approaches promote resource reuse and controls depletion of resources. Sequestration of methane from landfills for generation of electricity is a good mitigation measure that is also eligible for benefits under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. The tons of sequestered carbon emissions certified by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change may be traded globally.

Renewable energy facilities for “green energy” can bring technology transfer and similar incentives from the Convention. Although we need not commit to green house gas (GHG) emission reduction, we can make sure that forthcoming power generating facilities shall use wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, tidal resources or biofuels. At this juncture, I am happy to note that the implementation of the Biofuels Act is underway. It is my fervent wish that the Renewable Energy bill will be enacted before my next birthday.

The Philippine Energy Plan must reflect our strong commitment to the development and wide use of indigenous renewable sources of energy. Let us favour mass transport systems and reforestation activities nationwide. All these must be included in our Medium Term Philippine Development Plan as well.

We are not lacking talent. With your indulgence, Mr. President, may we take this opportunity to extend our congratulations as a body to the Nobel Prize Leaureates from the Philippines who were members of the IPCC: Dr. Rex Victor Cruz of the College of Forestry and Natural Resources (CFNR) of UP Los Baños; Dr. Rodel Lasco, Philippine Programme Coordinator of the World Agroforestry Center; Dr. Juan Pulhin, also from the UPLB; and fourth, a lady scientist, Dr. Rosa Perez, Chief of PAGASA flood forecasting at the Department of Science and Technology.

We continue to rejoice in the worldwide recognition of your contributions to the IPCC and look to you for advice in this time of crisis.

Planet Earth is no longer the planet of placidity fussed over by poets, tempestuous on occasion, but more often a calm and gentle provider of life and sustenance.

Greenhouse gases, innocuous but lethal fumes that can usher in damnation of biblical proportion; have upset the Earth’s physical balance, threatening human and all of physical life on it with extinction.

With total resolve, let us all clean up our act and help clean our planet.

And right here at home, we had a mid-May typhoon that ravaged La Union, Zambales and Pangasinan - provinces just a bus ride from this chamber. Close to 50 people had been reported killed. Damage to infrastructure and crops was massive.

It has been this way for years. The planet with a gentle and kind temperament, though with occasional outburst of rage, is a thing of the past.

Even in the idyllic parts of the United States, the picture-perfect little house on the prairie is more likely to be ravaged by tornadoes and thunderstorms than swept by the bliss of spring and the gaiety of summer.

Much as we long for the less portentous World Environment Day celebrations of the past, these joyful affairs, attended by the usual parades, pageantry and speeches - we can’t.

Much as we want to play down the agony and the horror in the disaster-stricken areas and say that nature is entitled to a display of occasional lethal tantrums, we can’t.

Much as we want to deny the extremism of climatic patterns, we can’t.

Footage after footage from recent disaster scenes from Burma to Western China to Northwest Luzon – are all too jarring and unnerving.

So are the statistics on death and destruction.

In Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta, the area hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis, no one is left to bury the dead in communal graves.

Ponds, rivers and paddies are overflowing with the rotting corpses of the cyclone victims. The figures on the number of fatalities vary, from the 78,000 officially recorded by the Myanmar government, to the 200,000 dead and missing tallied by the international aid and relief agencies.

Those who survived are in refugee camps. Or atop rooftops, waiting for rescue helicopters that may never come.

Relief workers say they are faced with the largest international relief effort in 30 years with at least 2.5 million cyclone victims without adequate food, clothing and medicine. The rich delta that used to provide rice and sustenance to Myanmar is now a watery graveyard.

The Sichuan earthquake is the deadliest and strongest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Thangshan earthquake, which left 250,000 dead.

Close to 15,000 fatalities have been reported–more are believed buried under the massive rubble. The number of missing is estimated at 100,000 people.

Entire townships have been flattened by the powerful quake that was felt in Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan. Survivors are mourning their missing next of kin. Hope that they will be rescued is fast fading.

Mother Nature, the great nurturer, is now an unforgiving destroyer.

There are major statistics or characteristics to this inexorable march of nature to sustained tempest and turbulence. One is extremism, as in nature run amok. Also, present-day disasters and extreme weather shifts target just about every corner of the planet with ferocity and impunity.

The granite-solid parts of the Arctic — said to be indestructible and there for life – are melting. In the heart of the tropics, cyclones create mass graves and ghost towns out of peaceful, thriving communities.

But we ask, why is nature running amok?

The answer is climate change. And in this season of celebrating World Environment Day, climate change should be declared as the greatest scourge of our generation.

Clashing civilizations can forge amity and come to peace. Religious and ethnic strife can find resolution.

Wars end. Guns are stilled. Swords are fashioned into plowshares.

There is always a term limit to discord among races and creed. But climate change is a problem of another kind.

It is a multi-headed hydra, manifesting its destructive power in cyclones and tsunamis, in droughts, in massive flooding, in snow-less winters, in summers of baking heat, in the wild and erratic climate shifts.

Its destructive powers are whimsical, ungoverned by rules, they leap across territorial boundaries and they are without limitation.

A manifestation of the widespread and unsettling impact of climate change is the current global food crisis, a climate change-induced global emergency.

According to the World Food Program, over 100 million people from across the globe are threatened by the silent tsunami of hunger. Food riots had toppled the government of Haiti, where hungry and desperate people have been forced to eat baked mud laced with little amounts of flour and sugar.

The Philippines has roiled on global grains market by posting the biggest rice import orders in history.

Tenders for premium rice have breached the $1,000 per metric ton price.

Other basic food commodities are now being sold at record-high prices, shutting out much of the developing world from the global food trade and plunging their citizens deeper into hunger and desperation.

Some knee-jerk reactions to the food crisis involved clear-cutting forest areas to expand the arable lands for food production and intensifying chemical-based farming. These further upset the environmental equilibrium, which in turn abet climate change.

The desperate efforts to ease the food crisis further aggravate the despoliation of the environment and intensify climate change. The search for solutions ultimately creates bigger problems.

And when food shortages and skyrocketing food prices plague disaster-stricken areas like Myanmar, the double-whammy creates problems of impossible scope and magnitude.

Climate change is a man-made monster. Cavalier, wanton and reckless use of fossil fuel and the clear-cutting of irreplaceable forest resources have conspired with weak environmental policies to push our planet nearer to an environmental holocaust.

Worse, much of the developed world was in a state of denial on the issue of climate change for decades and this upset the environmental equilibrium even further. Even certain sections of the scientific community called climate change a hoax or non-life threatening.

The multi-headed hydra is a parasite that feeds on the wastefulness, on the complacency, indifference and weakness of its host. This parasite will overpower mankind, even put an end to life as we know it, unless it is purged.

What man’s folly had created, man’s sense of survival and sense of purpose have to reverse. Before it is too late.

And in the Philippine context, we are doing just that.

In Albay, climate-proofing of small farms through agro-forestry, will start soon.

The proponent, Dr. Rodel Lasco of the World Agro-Forestry Centre is an IPCC expert and lead author, and a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize of former US Vice President Al Gore.

Under the program which I fully support, 500 small farmers will plant forest trees between their crops to climate-proof their farms and help sequester carbon emissions.

Good practices in climate adaptation will be taught to the farmers so they will fully understand and appreciate the pioneering environmental effort.

Dr. Lasco hopes that after the success of the Albay experiment, the program can be adopted by small farmers across the country who have been identified as most vulnerable to climate-related hazards.

Three carbon sequestration projects, covering a total of 5,000 hectares, will also be carried out in ideal sites in the country’s three major regions – in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The projects, which shall benefit 7,500 small farmers, have been programmed to capture 102,400 tons carbon dioxide equivalent per year with a potential value of over US$ 500, 000. In the areas to be reforested by the carbon sequestration projects, the rehabilitation of precious watershed areas is also expected.

Dr. Lasco and a colleague from University of the Philippines Los Banos, Dr. Florencia Pulhin, are the program proponents. I am an enthusiastic supporter of the carbon sequestration project.

I am also helping develop a new template for re-greening Philippine highways and roadways, another effort to mitigate the hazards of climate change.

A forest garden will be developed along the STAR Tollway in Tanauan City, which hopefully will be the first of several efforts to improve the landscape design of our major road networks and highways. The ecological, economic, and educational gains of the community from such a basic initiative will be enormous. And this is being initiated by the University of the Philippines Los Banos.

The Luntiang Pilipinas project, which I started several years ago, is building a national nursery at Los Banos in Laguna in partnership with the Bureau of Plant Industry. Antique and Iloilo will also benefit from municipal nurseries the Luntian will fund and support.

The infrastructure of any tree planting effort starts with the availability of materials to plant. Propagation of indigenous planting materials, including our precious dipterocarps, fruit trees, even our native vegetables and medicinal plants, is now being intensified by
Luntiang Pilipinas.

From these materials we shall restore our tropical forests; urban tree parks will sprout like oases in the cities; and our communities will have fresh, nutritious food.

This is nothing new, however.

Haribon has successfully collaborated with Antique, Bukidnon and Sablayan communities in “rainforestation farming”. Indigenous trees and fruit trees and some crop plants were planted to restore deforested areas. Drs. Milan and Margraf in a 1994 study at Leyte State University concluded that a farming system in the humid tropics is increasingly more sustainable the closer it is in its species composition to the original local rainforest.

More recently, a Biodiversity Research Center was set up in Bilar, Bohol by the Soil and Water Conservation Foundation. It demonstrates various terrestrial environments and applications for reforestation of natural forests and farming lands.

The Center boasts of an indigenous tree nursery, a dipterocrop hedge garden, a rainforestation area, a karst education trail and a training center. With the Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape, the caves, and the river nearby, the Center will also promotes eco-tours for additional income for the communities.

Funds for these projects were authorized by the US Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998. That law allows debt relief for developing countries, like the Philippines, if the funds will be used to aid local forest conservation activities.

It was with particular attention that I watch how the scheme is being adapted to Philippine needs and conditions because during the state visit along with the minority leader then to Washington, D.C. in 2001, I spoke with US Secretary Colin Powell about how we might benefit from it. The Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation administers the fund.

In selected areas of Cebu, the Million Mangroves Project which PTCFC also supports, is ongoing. It aims to protect the communities from climate impacts and to rejuvenate the fishing industry.

Now, closer to this chamber along the Bay, dynamite and other forms of illegal fishing and water pollution killed a thriving fishing industry of the coastal barangays of Rosario in Cavite.

Today, the local organization of fisher folks, the Rosario Multi-purpose and Development Cooperative, and partners are engaged in a novel experiment to revive the fish habitat: Reef structures are made out of organic material through a simple HWK Foundation technology and dropped into the “reeforestation area” in Manila Bay.

The fishermen visited us two weeks ago with the good news: The fish have indeed come back.

They watch their underwater garden and the hundreds of fish that have returned using a robot made by local students. The Mayor of Rosario has formally adopted the project. And soon, the fishing grounds will be revived; there will be no need for small boats to go out to sea just to catch fish.

Rosario is showing the way, albeit unintentionally, for coastal areas threatened by coral reef bleaching due to climate change.

At the level of legislation, Mr. President, I am now asking my colleagues to help me secure the speedy passage of a pending measure which seeks the creation of a Climate Change Commission. This measure is as vital as bills on anti-poverty, economic reconstruction and national security.

The proposed Climate Change Commission will elevate climate change issues – and their attendant hazards and risks – into the top rank of government priority.

The ground level work for climate-proofing and carbon sequestration and the parallel environmental initiatives at the Senate may not get screaming headlines and the attention of the pundits.

But they represent sincere and viable anti-dotes to the greatest scourge of our generation. They are big, determined steps for the survival of humankind.

There are firm plans to host an Asia-Pacific Conference on Climate Change Adaptation in Manila late this year. The Province of Albay, the first LGU in Southeast Asia to champion climate change adaptation, will convene the Conference in coordination with the UNESCAP.

With the theme “Local Governments Take the Lead”, the conference aims to harness the immense resources of local governments and their partners by forging a network and cooperation framework in preparation for the 14th Conference of the Parties in December.

On this season that we celebrate World Environment Day, the minutes and the hours on the global environmental clock are all ticking to sunset.

Let us all work to reverse this and usher in the morning in our planet.

Thank you and good day.

Fresh and audacious initiatives for the environment have been taking roots in pioneering local communities, their dynamic leaders driving and pushing these environmental initiatives into certain success.

I have been witness to the dedication and intensity of purpose, the burning passion to do something bold and concrete for the environment. I have seen how they have triumphed past the usual skepticism and cynicism directed at environmental workers to design, implement and create their own successful environmental programs.

On the month we celebrate Earth Day, let us focus on viable environmental agenda, on doable programs. On the eve of celebrating Earth Day, we should make public their deeds.

Combating Climate Change in Albay

The Albay Declaration on Climate Change of 2007 was a fresh gust of wind to a fatigue-stricken environmental work. It showed that local initiative can be brighter, more purposeful and more dedicated than the best of national environmental programs. It was a powerful message to local community leaders across the country that there was no reason for inertia, atrophy and torpor in confronting natural onslaughts and climate change.

The Declaration launched the prototype for local Climate Change Adaptation, the first in the country by an LGU. The Albay Action on Climate Change, known as the A2C2, came with the powerful invocation that the province was no longer at the mercy of climate change. Climate-proofing and disaster-proofing became part of the provincial lexicon.

The Centre for Initiatives and Research in Climate Adaptation or CIRCA was established to educate communities on climate change and at the same time lay the groundwork for partnerships and collaboration. The Center is working to pull various sectors into the climate change reversal. It seeks to create a virtual army of stakeholders for the environment.

CIRCA engages institutions and experts from the Environmental Management Bureau, the UP at Los Baños, the Department of Education, the Bicol University and the World Agro-Forestry Centre as partners of the provincial government. I am part of the support group.

Last week, CIRCA invited 25 scientists and community development practitioners to a 2-day dialogue with leaders and citizens of Albay. The visiting experts from its partners and UP-NIGS, DOST’s PAGASA and PHIVOLCS, IRRI, Silliman University, Manila Observatory, Xavier University, Lingkod Tao Kalikasan and COPE shared their scientific studies as well as their experiences in addressing climate-related risks.

Agreements with the UP in Los Baños for the development of curricula of Albay’s grade and high schools as well as with the DOE for the conversion of incandescent bulbs into energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps have been signed. The UPLB with the Bicol University will assist Albay teachers in lesson planning to mainstream climate change adaptation while the DOE effort can save the participants up to 80% of their current energy use.

Climate-proofing at the grassroots is also facilitated by CIRCA. The A2C2 is an explosion of specific projects. The barangays organized workers to clean up major rivers, canals and tributaries to avoid flooding when the heavy rains, typhoons and mudflow come in. Under the Linis Kanal at Ilog project, workers get food, plus appreciation from the grateful communities in exchange for their hard work.

Following the Darfur strategy of clustering, the Albay Integrated Agriculture Rehabilitation Program or AIARP establishes farm clusters to assist farmers and fisherfolk with agricultural, technological and training needs, and for food assistance. The members of each cluster are usually professionals and civic leaders of the communities who identify their needs, prepare plans to address such gaps and lead the projects. For example, target clusters are trained in environmentally-sound farming and fishing methods by the AIARP through CIRCA and its experts; logistical support comes from the LGU.
In Albay, the communities never rest in building their resilience to climate and other disasters.

Laying the Groundwork for Sustainable Marine Resource Management in Sta. Fe

Sta. Fe, a beautiful town in Bantayan Island, Cebu is a study in contradiction. Its white beaches and the pristine waters serve like a picturesque cover to the harsh reality of grinding poverty.

Its marine resources have been exhausted by over-fishing, illegal fishing, dynamite fishing. The seas off Sta. Fe, once rich fishing grounds, can no longer provide for the fishing town. As a result, 4 out of 10 residents live below the poverty line. The rest live just above this critical threshold.

This, of course, is a familiar story. Several coastal communities across the country are in the same dilemma. But unlike most uncaring towns economically crippled by over-fishing and the degradation of their marine environment, Sta. Fe sprang into action.

A two-day workshop was organized late February to plot a course of action aimed at reversing the despoliation of the marine resources in the seas off Sta. Fe. Broader and more sweeping environmental problems were also discussed. Every stakeholder was there: fishermen, elected officials, fish wardens, NGOs working for the environment, the head of the local maritime police.

The workshop was able to generate a draft Local Fisheries Code to govern the conduct of fishing activities in the area and put in place steps to protect and nurture the area’s marine resources. It also kicked-off the crafting of a Coastal Resources Management Program to enhance and conserve the coastal resources of the island.

Beyond developing a local coastal management plan, barangay folks are already moving into action. The Law of Nature Foundation, an NGO, has introduced the concept of Marine Protected Areas or MPAs in coastal barangays of Sta. Fe. The MPAs are pockets of areas in the sea which have old growth corals and are conducive breeding grounds of fishes. To ensure that there is continuous abundance of marine resources, these MPAs must become “no-take zones” where fishing is not allowed.

The Law of Nature Foundation and the Coastal Dynamics Foundation educate the fisher folks on the importance of preserving the MPAs and help in mapping out these areas. The NGOs work with the barangay communities, particularly the local fisherfolks, in identifying and demarcating these MPAs by setting buoys. Moreover, these same stakeholders are trained to be involved in ensuring that these MPAs are indeed protected. Out of the 10 barangays in Sta. Fe, nine have already finished mapping and marking their MPAs. As we speak, the remaining barangay is in the process of doing the same.

These are concrete steps being undertaken by local communities of Sta. Fe towards more sustainable fishing practices.

The Karusel in Puerto Princesa

The stretch of the Puerto Princesa Bay Walk offers a grand view of the city’s bay area. Local residents and visitors strolling through the Bay Walk are often amazed by the absence of litter and plastic, the usual curse of coastal cities. The devotion of the city to cleanliness is amazing.

Now, the attention of visitors is divided but the distraction is most welcome. The other attraction is the Karusel.

The Karusel, a mini-train, plies the whole course of the Bay Walk on steel tracks designed for it. Powered by little human exertion, it represents the fondest dreams of environmentalist – a transport system that does not use fossil fuel.

It represents a convenient mode of transport in the context of an inconvenient truth – that the massive use of fossil fuel has been the main abettor of climate change.

I was there during its launch on Feb. 14. City Mayor Ed Hagedorn, an avid environmentalist, is now studying the viability of using the Karusel to augment the transport service at the city proper.

Puerto Princesa was also the launching place for another innovation for the environment, a tricycle that runs on electricity. The Trikebayan uses P48 worth of electricity in a day’s run, the cost of a liter of high-octane gasoline.

Puerto Princesa is no longer a city famous for its eco-tourism offerings. It has moved into energy conservation as well, frenziedly weaning away the city from too much dependence on fossil fuel.

El Nido: Nature’s Nest and Sanctuary

I have recently visited El Nido and was fascinated by how the place has preserved its natural beauty over the years. While this is not surprising as El Nido is well-known as a premiere showcase of biodiversity in the world, I have been inspired by how ordinary folks –the boatmen, the resort staff– have ingrained the value of preserving the natural wonders of their place. This value was evident in the way they conduct their daily chores, always conscious and doing the little things that help preserve their environment.

The company, Ten Knots, has institutionalized environmental conservation by having an Environment Manager which supervises Environmental Officers and Environmental Enforcement Officers in its resorts. This institutional set-up enables the company to conduct programs to keep the environs of the resort in its pristine state through activities such as coastal clean-ups, environmental education, ecological solid waste management and regular patrolling in the bay. It liaises with fishermen and other bay stakeholders to agree on code of conduct for shared areas, like the regulation of fish catch in reef areas and the use of mooring buoys instead of dropping anchors.

The company also actively seeks collaboration with the LGU, NGOs, and local stakeholders for its environmental initiatives. There is a dynamic collaboration with the people in the community who have rebuked the temptation of succumbing to crass commercialism. The Ten Knots’ Environment Department is supported by institutions such as the El Nido Foundation, WWF, the UP Marine Science Institute and others who have provided services to help enable its programs to succeed.

Conclusion

These stories for the environment of local communities - inspiring, trailblazing, pioneering – are slivers of light in a country of sludge, garbage dumps, mine tailings, bald mountains and discarded plastic scarring our once-magnificent seas.

The local communities took up the cudgels and have shown dynamism and creativity in pursuing projects to help resuscitate our degraded physical environment. These stories show that the determination and creativity of public and private entities, NGOs, people’s organizations, law enforcement agencies, and even universities and research institutions can go a long way.

The support of LGUs in environmental protection, preservation and conservation is also the guarantee that projects for the environment get off the ground, are pursued aggressively, and succeed. For in the overall scheme of project implementation for the environment, it is the LGUs that set up offices at ground level, provide the staff, pass local ordinances and regulations to support/complement the projects and organize the stakeholders.

From our end, Mr. President, we should recognize and appreciate the pioneering efforts for the environment. And, after the recognition, we should support the successful initiatives with incentives.

I have filed a bill, titled “An Act Providing for the Framework in the Conservation, Development, Management, and Utilization of Environment and Natural Resources“, which I believe represents the collective sentiment of the senators on the environment.

The bill seeks to integrate and harmonize the fragmented, sector-oriented laws and issuances on the environment to achieve what we have been dreaming of all along – the effective and viable management of our environment and natural resources down to the LGU level through a policy of shared responsibility by the community, the national and local governments, the private sector and all stakeholders.

To ensure the replication of the best practices of Albay, El Nido and Puerto Princesa, of Bantayan Island, of other communities that I have not mentioned today but which have been doing good environmental work very quietly, this bill mandates the establishment of a special incentive system to recognize such exemplary community leadership, cooperation, and collaboration for the preservation and enhancement of fragile island and other ecosystems.

The inconsistencies and weaknesses of our protection and conservation work, that are deeply rooted in the inconsistencies and weaknesses of the environment sector’s legal infrastructure will be remedied by the over-arching framework offered by the bill.

Policy should also be crafted to see to it that the best practices for the environment at the local level are replicated in areas that need to adopt them. We should tell and retell their success stories for the other local communities to emulate.

Thank you and good day.

Mr. President,

There is no time more ideal than today to ask this chamber to pass with urgency and unanimity the committee report that seeks to strengthen our country’s resolve to address climate change.

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its fourth assessment report prepared by more than 2,000 scientists, researchers and climatologists from across the globe, which states that the evidence of climate change is “unequivocal” and that human activities have contributed to the warming.

According to IPCC, sea level will continue to rise. Temperatures will trend upward. Weather patterns will be generally weird, extreme and erratic.

The Philippines is one of the countries most vulnerable to extreme weather events. We are in the Axis of the Most Ecologically Challenged.

A mere one meter rise in sea level, which is a possibility unless we reverse climate change, is estimated to submerge 129,000 hectares of land in 28 of our 80 provinces .

Additionally, climate change will lead to food scarcity, vanishing water supply, loss of biodiversity such as mangrove forests and corals, and increased conflicts.

We don’t even have look far into the future to see the signs of changing climate.

Typhoon Frank, which ravaged the country just days before the presidential SONA, reminded us how vulnerable the Philippines is to extreme weather conditions.

The passenger ferry Princess of the Stars sank in the turbulent seas off Romblon, taking down with it hundreds of men, women and children. Rains pounded and paralyzed areas that stretched from Northern Mindanao to Central Luzon. Loss to infrastructure was placed at a conservative P10 billion.

Frank was preceded by two typhoons just as destructive.

The 2.7 million metric tons of rice we will be importing this year will make us the record holder in rice imports. We have floods during the harvest season. We have droughts during the planting season. Our agricultural production schedules have been upset by climate-changed induced scourges of floods and droughts.

Over the past ten years, the Philippines has been importing more than one million metric tons of rice a year. Climate change, and resulting extreme events will further exacerbate the problem of food security and bring the economy down.

In response to the projected impacts of climate change, vulnerable countries like the Philippines should ramp up efforts to enhance resilience of human and natural systems.

Special attention should be given to the poorest of the poor, which are also the most vulnerable to the scourge of disasters. They are the small farmers, fisherfolk, upland dwellers, urban squatters living on riverbanks, forestlands, seashores, and low-lying areas.

It is the poor that languish in evacuation camps after disasters. It is the poor that bear the whiplash of death and destruction. It is the poor that ride those floating coffins that sink at mid-sea. It is the voiceless and the faceless that mostly enter the cold statistics on the dead and the missing after every climate-change induced disaster.

It is the poor that pick up the pieces of their shattered lives – and bury their dead – after every disaster.

Without planning and assistance, more will lose their lives, shanties, farms and the bundles of rags that make up their life’s possession. Extreme events will mean more death, sickness, displacement and unemployment.

Just a single extreme weather event can derail the achievement of our Millennium Development Goals’ target.

The purpose of this proposed legislation is to build resilience to the impacts of climate change. Our communities, families and individuals must become resilient, or be able to withstand great stress and bounce back to recovery. This will be achieved through the mainstreaming of climate change in various phases of policy formulation, development plans, poverty reduction strategies and other development tools and techniques by all agencies and instrumentalities of the government.

The Commission shall be the state agency solely dedicated to reversing climate change and an agency fully engaged in climate change adaptation and mitigation work.

Put bluntly, it will take care of the work of helping save this part of our planet. This is not the time for understatement.

The Climate Change Act mandates the Commission on Climate Change to:

1. Be the sole national policy making body on climate change with coordinating, monitoring and evaluating functions,

2. Formulate the Framework Program on Climate Change, the National
Climate Change Action Plan and facilitate local action plans to mainstream and integrate climate change in policy formulation and poverty-reduction strategies, and

3. Assist local governments to develop and implement local action plans on climate change.

The work of saving the planet goes all the way down to the grassroots. And LGUs will not only devise their own climate change adaptation plans and programs. They will even be vested with the full powers to get funding for these.

While the ground-level work will be LGU-determined, the Commission shall forge links with the international community as it intends to tap it for support. A few days back, Spain, in a pioneering initiative, supported our climate change initiatives with a huge grant from the Millennium Development Goals Fund or MDGF.

To highlight the urgency of addressing climate change, the Commission shall be headed by the President of the Republic of the Philippines who shall be the Chairperson of the Commission. The mandate of the Commission shall be carried out by three Commissioners, drawn from various fields: science, the academe and the policy circles, shall be appointed to work with heads of relevant government agencies.

The Framework Program on Climate Change shall provide the guideposts for climate change planning, research and development, extension work and monitoring activities. The particulars shall, in turn, live up to the country’s commitments to international environmental agreements.

The National Climate Change Action Plan shall identify vulnerable communities, assess their risks and identify appropriate mechanisms to ease their vulnerabilities. This is our primary business. After all, our location in the tropical cyclone belt of the Pacific makes us a climate hotspot, as experience has shown, and continues to show, us. It is our ultimate duty to our people to manage climate and disaster risk.

The Commission will not be another layer on top of the other climate change-oriented state agencies. The ad hoc bodies on climate change will cease to exist after the committee report is passed by Congress and signed into law.

The Climate Change Commission, Mr. President, sums up the country’s great resolve to be a big part of the global effort to reverse the biggest single threat to the survival of humankind. By passing the law, we become part of a broader community that has declared war on the curse of our atmosphere, the greenhouse gases.

By passing the law, we take a giant leap for the survival of man and the continuity of humankind.

This law is for us, our children and the generations after them.

This law is for our planet, which holds the only seeds of life in the universe.

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