The recent spate of droughts and dry spells has put many provinces in the Philippines under a state of calamity. Thousands of impoverished small farmers lost crops and profits as watersheds ran dry, rendering agricultural lands barren.
The Agriculture Department estimates the damages brought by El Niño to have reached P8.6 billion.
The government is also preparing for the onslaught of La Niña which is expected to bring intense rainfall that likewise could damage crops and cause massive flooding.
These extreme weather conditions, such as spiking temperatures beyond normal levels as well as increasing precipitations during the rainy season, are the adverse effects of climate change.
“We need a president that has a deep commitment to address climate change,” Gerry Arances, board member of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice said.
“The next administration must review the current one’s commitment to reduce 70% of our country’s emissions by 2030,” added Ruel Cabile, national coordinator of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas.
The PMCJ and Aksyon Klima Pilipinas are part of The Green Thumb Coalition, which claims to have 10 million supporters nationwide, urging presidential bets to prioritize climate change and environmental policies.
The group laments the lingering dependency of the country on coal as a power source.
Twenty-three new coal-fired power plants are set to start operating by 2020.
These power plants emit carbon dioxide, the potent heat-trapping greenhouse gas that contributes to the warming of the earth.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago who authored and sponsored in the Senate the Renewable Energy Act vows to fully and wholeheartedly implement the law. “It has been in operation for six years, but action has been slow, and our renewable energy supply remains small,” Santiago said.
If elected president, Santiago plans to launch large-scale introductions of several renewable energy options such as small hydro power for local electricity, large hydro power for grid electricity, solar collectors for water and space heating and geothermal energy for heat and grid electricity.
For Secretary Mar Roxas, it is high time to make a bold transition towards clean and renewable sources of energy. Roxas said the urgency to address climate change comes in the wake of a series of strong typhoons that hit the country. Calamities, he said, only bring hardships to our people when their livelihoods and communities are desecrated.
Roxas also said that coal and carbon are harmful to the environment. That is why, if elected president, he will supplement the existing coal-fired power plants with other sources of energy like natural gas, and that the energy mix in the country should be at 50-50 between coal and renewables.
Senator Grace Poe pushed for the signing of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change last April 22. The Philippines was one of the 175 nations which signed the historic international agreement at the UN Headquarters in New York. But Poe said,the Philippines must pass a law in consonance with the Paris Agreement to ensure that it will be implemented at the domestic level.
Poe plans to establish a Department of Disaster Resilience and Emergency Management, a separate, full-time, cabinet-level disaster resilience and emergency management agency, which shall serve as the focal agency for integrated disaster resilience, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and emergency management. The new agency shall be mandated to provide quick response to affected communities while also establishing resilience and sustainability through climate change adaptation, and to supersede coordination with a more integrated approach.
If Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is elected president, he will institutionalize climate change adaptation measures as well as develop a Climate Adaptation Fund for every region to enable adaptation in agriculture and food production, which are vulnerable to climate change.
Under his administration, climate-smart technologies will also be established such as the implementation of the rainwater impoundment and collection regulations.
Apart from the strict implementation of the Philippine Climate Change Act, Duterte will also make sure that environmental and land use laws are put into force.
Vice President Jejomar Binay plans to implement a National Climate Change Action Plan in 7 strategic priority areas: Food Security, Water Sufficiency, Ecological and Environmental Stability, Human Security, Climate-smart Industries and Services, Sustainable Energy and Capacity Development.
“Sa aking pag-ikot sa iba’t ibang probinsya lalo na pagkatapos ng bagyo, makikita mo na ang unang tinatamaan ng climate change ay yung ating mga kababayang magsasaka at mangingisda” (In my travels to the provinces, especially in the aftermath of a storm, you will see that the ones most affected by climate change are our farmers and fisher folks), Binay said.
That is why the Binay government, he said, will enhance social protection for farming and fishing communities and build their capacity to adapt to climate change. This includes a streamlined approach in utilizing the Quick Response Fund for immediate assistance to areas stricken by catastrophes and crises.
The Philippines is currently leading more than 40 nations in the Climate Vulnerable Forum, an international partnership of countries highly vulnerable to climate change. The group has made significant headway in pressuring big polluters to cut emissions to limit and reduce global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
While the Philippines is not a major contributor of greenhouse gases, the country is bearing the brunt of the harmful impacts of climate change.
That is why the commitment of the next president to strengthen climate mitigation and adaptation in the country is critical for the well-being and survival of our people.
cheers to a better brighter future!;P
P.S.
On election day…
We came
We saw voted
We left till next time…
Veni, vidi, hasta la vista baby arrivederci…
Proud to have voted for the leaders I truly believe in.
Now, the hard part selfless service begins in 3…2…1…
P.P.S.
What a great time to be Filipino!
Humor is intrinsic in the Filipino culture.
A little comic relief by the great
Rex Navaratte.
