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Gov’t seeks budget hike for climate change programs

Published September 20, 2020, 6:49 PM

by Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz | Manila Bulletin

 

The government is seeking a 30-percent hike in its budget to implement the convergence program on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in 2021, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCAM-DRR), chaired by the DENR, said the Duterte administration submitted its proposal to Congress for the allotment of P152.35 billion for the Risk Resiliency Program (RRP).

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Gov’t seeks P152-B for climate, disaster risk reduction in 2021

The government is seeking a budget of P152.35 billion for the implementation of its convergence program on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction next year.

This was according to the Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCAM-DRR), chaired by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The Cabinet cluster said the Duterte administration has allotted P152.35 billion for the government’s Risk Resiliency Program (RRP) under the 2021 National Expenditure Program it submitted to Congress.

The amount is roughly 30 percent higher than the P117 billion allocated for the program this year, it added.

The increase was due to alignment of programs and activities to the priority policies, strategies and projects of the Inter-Agency Task Force Technical Working Group on Anticipatory and Forward Plan for the “new normal” in the CCAM-DDR sector.

DENR Undersecretary for Finance, Information Systems and Climate Change Analiza Rebuelta-Teh said the proposed funding will be used to build resilient and sustainable communities as the country continues to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

“We are still in the midst of a health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The country needs programs that will strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacities of its communities, especially in climate-vulnerable provinces and major urban centers,” Rebuelta-Teh said.

The RRP aims to increase the adaptive capacities of vulnerable communities; ensure the adequate supply of clean air, water, and other natural resources; increase the resilience of critical infrastructures; and enhance knowledge, access to information and institutional capacities of communities.

For next year, the RRP will prioritize 14 climate-vulnerable provinces, which vary in risk factors of rise in sea levels, extreme rainfall and heating events, increased ocean temperature and disturbed natural resources supply.

The provinces are Masbate, Sorsogon, Negros Oriental, Western Samar, Eastern Samar, Sarangani, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Southern Leyte, Zamboanga del Norte, Bukidnon, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat.

The program also covers four major urban centers—Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Iloilo and Metro Davao.

Earlier, DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said addressing climate change remains a top priority for the government even if it is currently preoccupied on controlling the spread of COVID-19.

Cimatu said the climate emergency is like the COVID-19 crisis “just in slow motion and much graver” for it potentially poses existential risks for future generations.

“The government—through the Cabinet Cluster on CCAM-DRR—will prioritize actions and investments that will reduce the long term health impacts and increase our resilience and adaptive capacity to both the coronavirus pandemic and climate change,” Cimatu said.

Aside from the DENR, other members of the Cabinet Cluster included in the proposed budgetary proposal are the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Agrarian Reform, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of National Defense-Office of Civil Defense, the Department of Science and Technology, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the Department of Energy, the Climate Change Commission, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Public Works and Highways. #

Habal-habal riders maghahakot ng basura sa mga estero

Santi Celario | Remate

September 15, 2020

 
Manila, Philippines – Nakita ng Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ang innovative na solusyon sa problema ng paghahakot ng basura sa komunidad ng estero sa kahabaan ng Tullahan-Tinajeros River System gamit ang kanilang bersyon mula sa “habal-habal”
 
Nabatid na ang “poor man’s motorcycle taxi” na habal-habal na isang improvised two-wheeled single motorcycle na ginagamit bilang passenger capacity lamang.
 
Subalit may sariling bersyon dito ang DENR na bilang isang utility vehicle na ginagamit bilang eco-friendly bicycle na may automatic foot break at may two-by-three sidecar para makahakot na mga basura ng kabahayan.
 

DENR TURNS TO ‘HABAL-HABAL’ TO TACKLE GARBAGE COLLECTION WOES IN ESTERO COMMUNITIES

Habal-Habal

  • Bgy Bangkulasi 1
  • Bgy Bangkulasi 2
  • Bgy 163
  • Bgy 163 - 2
  • Bgy Tinajeros 1
  • Bgy Tinajeros 2
  • Bgy Ugong 1
  • Bgy Ugong 2
  • Habal

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has found an innovative solution to trash collection problems in estero communities along the Tullahan-Tinajeros River System using its own version of the lowly yet dependable “habal-habal.”

Frequently dubbed as the “poor man’s motorcycle taxi,” habal-habal is a highly improvised two-wheeled single motorcycle usually ridden beyond its passenger capacity.

The DENR has its own version of the utility vehicle that uses an eco-friendly bicycle with automatic foot break and two-by-three feet sidecar, allowing it to carry household waste.

DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said the habal-habal will be used to collect garbage from estero communities that are not reached by dump trucks and whose uncollected trash eventually ends up in Manila Bay.

Citing a recent DENR study, Cimatu said that garbage generated by estero communities with narrow streets or alleys are not regularly collected since these areas are not accessible to dump trucks.

“The accumulated uncollected wastes do not only pose health risks to the communities, but also clog canals, causing flooding in these areas. Uncollected garbage also end up in coastlines and waters of Manila Bay,” Cimatu lamented.

Cimatu, who chairs the Manila Bay Task Force, said proper garbage collection and regular cleanups in esteros are crucial to the ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the historic bay.

“Tough problems involving the presence of informal settlers directly dumping to the esteros, non-compliance of industries with discharge permitting regulations and lack of sewage management system are also being addressed under the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program,” he added.

Cimatu said the DENR will be distributing habal-habals to 10 barangays within the Tullahan-Tinajeros River System, which have relatively high number of informal settler families and with areas that are hard to reach by garbage collection trucks.

These are Barangays 160, 162 and 163 in Caloocan City; Potrero, Catmon, Tinajeros, and Maysilo in Malabon City; Ugong and Marulas in Valenzuela City; and Sta. Lucia in Quezon City.

Tullahan-Tinajeros River Commanders and DENR Undersecretaries Jonas Leones and Analiza Rebuelta-Teh, together with DENR-National Capital Region Executive Director Jacqueline Caancan, will lead the turnover of habal-habals to the barangay beneficiaries on Sept. 16.

The turnover ceremony forms part of the local celebration of the International Coastal Cleanup Day, with the theme “Safe Oceans Start at Homes.”

During the event, the DENR will also distribute educational materials on climate and environmental protection, including UNICEF-assisted climate change flip charts and children storybook entitled “Ang Paglalakbay nina Niño at Niña,” as well as hygiene kits in support of the campaign against COVID-19.

The Tullahan-Tinajeros River System measures 36.4 kilometers, traversing 44 barangays, covering the cities of Quezon, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Malabon and Navotas.

Dredging of the 5.25-km portion of the river system has recently started, with help from diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corporation, yielding about 2,500 truckloads of silt and garbage as of late August 2020. #

DENR GAD Strategic Plan for 2020-2025 revisited

The DENR National Gender and Development Focal Point System (GADFPS) has initiated the review of the agency’s six-year strategic plan for proposed enrichments to align planned programs and activities of the environment and natural resources (ENR) sector with the current state of the country as it continues to face impacts and effects of climate change, health and gender issues.

With the hands-on facilitation of the national virtual meeting on August 6, 2020, DENR Undersecretary for Climate Change and the Chairperson of the DENR National GADFPS, Atty. Analiza Rebuelta -Teh, met the GAD Focal Persons and Planning Officers of the different central, bureaus, attached agencies and regional offices of the DENR. Providing inputs were In-house GAD Consultant, Shalimar Vitan (Concerns in the GAD Strategic Plan, and Feedback/Comments to the 2021 Draft GAD Plans and Budgets), DENR Climate Change Service Director and concurrent DENR GAD Office Director, Elenida dR. Basug (Linking ENR with Climate Change, Gender and Health in GAD Strategic and Annual Plans), ERDB Chief, Dr. Marilyn Lalican (Proposed Data sets for Baseline Data Gathering), and GAD External Consultant, Wilma Rojas (Laying Down the Proposed Enrichments to the GAD Strategic Plan).

Earlier, seven-series of webinars on the priority programs of the DENR as these are linked to climate change, gender and health, were conducted from July 8, 2020 to August 12, 2020. Webinars were conducted on “Pursuing Climate-, Gender-, and Health-responsive Programs in the following sectors: biodiversity, forestry, solid waste and hazardous wastes, air quality, water sector, land, and mineral resources development. DENR Undersecretary Teh explained the context of the webinars as to better understanding the links, and identifying entry points in mainstreaming, and emphasized the need to seriously consider going beyond mainstreaming gender in the priority programs of the DENR.

She apprised participants on the potentials of women as “game changers” and “active stakeholders”;
that women can be agents of change for resilient development, and that women-focused investments on resilience remain limited.

The webinars were ably co-facilitated by DENR Assistant Secretary for Climate Change and concurrent Director of Biodiversity Management Bureau, Ricardo Calderon, and the Director of DENR Climate Change Service, and the concurrent Director of DENR GAD Office, Elenida dR. Basug.

Invited DENR and non-DENR resource persons were experts from their field of specialization. They were as follows:

Sectors as linked to Climate Change:
1. BMB Division Chief, Ms. Armida Andres - biodiversity
2. FMB Director Lourdes Wagan – forest
3. EMB Region 1 Director Maria Dorica Naz-Hipe – solid and hazardous wastes
4. EMB Assistant Director Vizminda Osorio – air quality
5. NWRB Executive Director Sevillo David, Jr.- water resources
6. EMB Region 3 Division Chief, Engr. Raldy Pagador- water quality
7. LMB Director Emelyne Talabis – land management
8. DENR CARAGA Director for Mines Glenn Noble - mineral resources development

Sectors as linked to Gender and Development:

9. GAD Expert Katherine Vinegas- biodiversity management, mineral resources development
10. GAD Expert Wilma Rojas – forest management
11. Environmental Planner, and Socio-gender Consultant Grace Sapuay – solid and hazardous waste management, air quality management
12. DENR CAR Regional Executive Director Ralph Pablo – land management

Sectors as linked to Health:

13. Dr. Geminn Louis Apostol – solid and hazardous waste management, air quality management, and mineral resources development
14. Dr. Helen Sigua – forest management, water quality management, and land management

The participants were provided with a briefer, “Beyond Gender Mainstreaming: Linking Environment and Natural Resources (ENR), Climate Change, Health and Gender (Guide to Planning for Gender and Development in the ENR Sector) produced by the Office of the DENR Undersecretary for Climate Change and its Climate Change Service, to aid the participants through their enhancement process.

Deadline for submission of the revised/enhanced GAD Strategic Plans per sector is on August 21, 2020 for consolidation as an Updated DENR National Strategic Plan (2020-2025), and the GAD Plans and Budgets for 2021 by August 27, 2020 before these will be submitted to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) within September 2020. ###

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