The Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation, and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCAM-DRR), chaired by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), will bring to center stage the milestones towards climate and disaster resiliency during the “Duterte Legacy Summit 2022” on May 30.

CCAM-DRR cluster chair and DENR Acting Secretary Jim O. Sampulna will lead the presentation of the report, outlining how President Duterte’s strong political will has raised the bar for Philippine environmentalism.

“Over the past six years, government initiatives steered the country into the path of climate and disaster resiliency, through the whole of society approach,” Sampulna said, noting how this became more evident during the pandemic.

Anchored on the theme “Change has Come: We Have Matatag, Maginhawa, at Panatag Na Buhay, the “Duterte Legacy Summit 2022” that will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) will also serve as a culminating activity of the administration’s campaign on promoting its landmark programs and achievements.

The CCAM-DRR report highlights key areas where landmark progress in climate change resiliency were made due to the steps taken by the Duterte administration in building climate and disaster resilience for the affected communities by disasters and climate hazards; transformative actions to halt and reverse nature loss; supporting quality infrastructures to ensure resilience against extreme weather events and other hazards; innovation and technology to improve knowledge, forecasting and readiness for calamities; key management plans to guide the country towards climate resilience.

The environment chief said the Duterte government pursued a convergence strategy “defined by an institutional network of public and private support between government and stakeholders with strong multi-sector orientations and links to the academe and research institutions” as shown in the Boracay and Manila Bay rehabilitation programs, and the rehabilitation efforts in provinces wreaked by Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses in November 2020.

Likewise in particular is the coastal town of Del Carmen in Siargao whose residents did not experience as much devastation during the typhoon because of the massive mangrove reforestation and were able to quickly recover from Typhoon Odette, according to Del Carmen Fisherfolk Association (DCFA) secretary Judilyn Arreza,

DFCA is a peoples’ organization taking part of the Enhanced National Greening Program (ENGP) since 2016 and, according to Arreza, the town’s healthy environment was key in their economic sustainability especially in the aftermath of Typhoon Odette and the imposition of the lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic, noting catch yield of DFCA’s members has increased to as much as P1,000 per day on top of the economic benefits they get from Del Carmen’s ecotourism activities. ###