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Although the Philippines as a developing country is not among the
world’s biggest polluters, it is going to be one of the biggest
victims of global warming and climate change.
According to Josefino Comiso, a Filipino
physicist with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA), the Philippines is highly vulnerable to warming climate and
our ecology system that boasts of diversified plant and animal
species as well as our world-renowned coral reefs are under threat
of extinction.
Besides rising sea level and temperature, the
country must also contend with strong typhoons and heavy rains that
occur every year oftentimes resulting in deadly landslides and
floods.
In the midst of all these, what is our
government doing?
It is sad to say that there is no coherent and
sustainable program to mitigate the effects of global warming and
put in place a ready mechanism that would respond to situations like
landslides, flooding and even tsunami.
Overlapping functions
While it is true that on August 21, 2008,
President Arroyo appointed former Senator Heherson Alvarez as
Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change, his
office has similar, if not overlapping, functions with the
Presidential Task Force on Climate Change (PTFCC), which was created
under Administrative Order 171 on February 20, 2007.
The Presidential Task Force on Climate Change
was formed when Angelo Reyes was still the secretary of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). When he was
moved to the Department of Energy (DOE), AO 171 was amen-ded so that
even if he was no longer with the DENR, he kept the PTFCC
chairmanship and relegating now DENR Secretary Lito Atienza as vice
chairman.
The other members of the Presidential Task Force
on Climate Change are the secretaries of Science and Technology,
Interior and Local Government and Education, and twos
representatives from the private sector and civil society.
Foremost of the Presidential Task Force on
Climate Change functions is to conduct rapid assessment on the
impact of climate change on the Philippines, especially the most
vulnerable sectors such as water, agriculture, coastal areas, as
well as on the terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
The task force is also mandated to conduct a
massive and comprehensive public information and awareness campaign
nationwide to educate the public on climate change and its adverse
effects.
Likewise, it is tasked to collaborate with
international partners at the bilateral, regional and multilateral
levels to support global effort to stabilize greenhouse gas
emissions and institute mitigating and adaptive measures, especially
for developing countries.
But here lies the lack of centralized planning
or coordinative efforts on this very important undertaking.
The PTFCC, for example, did not include the
Department of National Defense, which is the frontline agency in
response, relief and rehabilitation efforts during calamities caused
by climate change and global warming. That it is being left out
indicates the lack of foresight of officials tasked to address this
serious problem.
And nobody has explained what is the
relationship now between the PTFCC and the newly created office of
Secretary Alvarez.
Carbon-cutting confab
Last Novembaer 20, 2008, Alvarez presided over
the Carbon Cutting Congress versus Climate Change (CCC-CC), which
was held in Malacañang. The congress was called to draft a
declaration that would be presented by the Philippine delegation to
the 14th Session of the Conference of Parties on Climate Change that
opened yesterday in Poznan, Poland. Alvarez headed the Philippine
delegation.
Both Reyes and Atienza snubbed the Malacañang
congress; only minor officials from their departments attended it.
But what was most lamentable was that on the same day, Atienza
addressed the League of Municipalities at the Manila Hotel and
exhorted the local officials to fight global warming and climate
change, almost the same concerns tackled at the Malacañang meet.
According to Alvarez, also a former DENR
secretary and founding chairman of the Earth Savers Movement and the
Global Legislators for a Balanced Environment (Globe) that included
then US Senator Al Gore, climate change “is the most engaging and
the most dangerous problem” that the human community is facing
today.
He said that with the politically disastrous
effects of a combination of global warming and the rising food and
fuel prices, “coordination and global cooperation must be
strategically systematized.”
We agree with him that there is a need for
coordination and teamwork in addressing this potentially
catastrophic situation. The most logical approach is to have one
body, such as the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global
Warming and Climate Change, to act as highest governing council that
would consolidate all programs and initiatives related to global
warming and climate change.
But will Atienza, Reyes and other Cabinet
secretaries agree to work under Alvarez?
opinion@manilatimes.net
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