ILOILO City – Local government units (LGUs) in the province of Guimaras are being urged to craft their respective climate change action plans and pass ordinances strengthening their implementation.
“Doing so, we hope, will make Guimaras ready to adapt, mitigate and become resilient to the terrible effects of climate change,” said Dr. Michael Raymond Aragon, senior consultant to the Climate Change Commission (CCC).
Aragon represented the CCC during the 1st Guimaras Climate Change Summit held at Playa de Paraiso Resort in San Lorenzo, Guimaras. The two-day event, themed “Resiliency against Climate Emergency, Disasters, Diseases and Poverty towards a health, safe and prosperous Guimarasnon”, was hosted by San Lorenzo town as co-convenor of the summit.
Aragon emphasized that climate change is not only an environmental issue but a human rights issue and must be addressed now.
He cited the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 2021 report which placed Guimaras in the No. 16 spot among 24 poor provinces in the country
“The devastating effects of the global climate emergency to our beloved province and in particular to the poor Guimarasnons is a violation of their right to the basic things in life like food security, healthcare, clean and safe environment. and many more guaranteed in the Philippine Constitution,” added Aragon who also is the founding chairman of national environmental watchdog Clean Air Philippines Movement, Inc. (CAPMI).
Joining the summit were concerned government agencies through their respective regional counterparts such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agriculture, Department of Health (DOH), Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agrarian Reform, and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, among others who all assured their support and commitment to this undertaking against climate change.
Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) assistant secretary, Dr. Virgilio Lazaga, meanwhile, served as keynote speaker of the event.
Lazaga emphasized that everyone should have the social, moral and political obligation to save the Earth.
“You and me belong to the Earth and we need to protect and prolong our lives, we must at all cost protect and prolong the life our planet,” he stressed.
DENR regional executive director Livino Duran, in his message of support, emphasized that climate change has been included as one of the agenda of Regional Development Plan 2023-2028 of Western Visayas which will be launched on July 14.
“Environment is an issue of life that is beyond principle and ideology, politics, boundaries and generations. Indi naton ini dapat ipamana sa aton mga anak. Meaning indi lang diri sa Guimaras but also in other areas in the region,” said Duran.
DOH-6 director Dr. Adriano Suba-an, for his part, said the department, together with the DENR and Commission on Population, have joined forces to combat climate emergencies, disasters and diseases through the “Heal the Earth Project” as integrated intervention supportive of Population, Health and Environment (PHE).
The project, he explained, aims to address environmental issues by capacitating communities to plan for sustainable intervention that promote ecological balance.
“The DOH is confident that with the aid of the local climate change plan of the LGUs, together with the collective determination of the different government agencies, we can create a province that is self-reliant and resilient,” he stressed./PN
