Legarda Calls For Increased Protection Of Women, Vulnerable Sectors Against Disasters

MANILA-In observance of the International Women’s Day on March 8, Senator Loren Legarda today reiterated her call for increased protection of women, as well as children, the elderly and persons with disabilities, around the world in emergency situations such as disasters caused by natural hazards.

Legarda, United Nations Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific, noted that disasters affect about 200 million people all over the world yearly, half of them women or girls whose special needs and concerns are not properly addressed, putting them at greater risk during disasters.

“We recognize that nations are gaining gradual progress in promoting gender equality and women’s rights, but challenges will never go away and in most communities, there are continuing barriers to women empowerment. The vulnerability of women to disasters is among the challenges that must be addressed with urgency,” she stressed.

The Senator underscored the need to ensure the security and well-being of women and girls through gender-sensitive and risk-sensitive development policies, plans and programs which involve women as equal partners in disaster risk reduction planning and humanitarian response.

Legarda also stressed that there are other sectors more vulnerable to disasters, such as children, the elderly, persons with disabilities and indigenous people, whose special concerns must be given proper attention so that they become part of the solution to reduce risks and build resilience.

“These sectors are disproportionately affected by disasters because they have distinct needs that are not sufficiently addressed. But we have to realize that they can also make positive contributions to disaster risk reduction and management if we only give them the necessary support,” she stressed.

Persons with disabilities can be engaged in assessing vulnerabilities, and in establishing effective early warning systems in the communities, together with civil society groups concerned. Meanwhile, the elderly can provide vital information on local risks to health since they are familiar with local history, geography and culture. They can also be sought for advice on response and recovery efforts, owing to their experience and wisdom.

“We should also recognize the role of children and young people in building disaster-resilient communities. When we create an enabling environment for children to witness and practice DRR early on in life, we inculcate in them a level of disaster preparedness that will be passed on to the succeeding generations when they become adults,” Legarda said.

The Senator has filed Senate Bill 2502, which mandates the Department of Social Welfare and Development to set up a Children’s Emergency Center in every city or municipality declared under the state of calamity which shall provide the necessary child care services and shall coordinate with the lead agencies to effectively respond to the needs of children in the area.

“When we empower both men women, and capacitate the young and old, persons living with disabilities and ethnic groups, we reduce their vulnerability to disasters. Building resilience should be everybody’s attitude. With this kind of mindset, we can promote the scaling up of existing government programs to rectify the social and economic structures that breed disaster risk and trap the poor and vulnerable citizens in the vicious cycle of risk and poverty,” Legarda concluded.

ANGARA PUSHES FOR PPP TO HASTEN PH’S INFRA DEVELOPMENT

MANILA-In a bid to hasten infrastructure development in the country, Senator Sonny Angara has a filed a bill that seeks to promote and authorize public-private partnerships (PPPs) for the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure facilities and services.

"For the country to build on its recent economic gains and to ensure the proper investment environment in our country, the private sector must be further encouraged to make investments through a modernized and enhanced PPP law," said Angara, chairman of the Senate ways and means committee.

The lawmaker noted that the government has traditionally been in charge of providing and financing infrastructure in the country, but investment requirements had exceeded the capacities of the government, prompting the public sector to enable private participation in infrastructure development.

In the past two decades, a number of services in utilities, transportation, property development and information technology are provided through contractual arrangements such as the build-operate-transfer (BOT).

"The BOT law has been in existence since the 90s. Gains have been made with the passage of this law and yet, the full potential for the synergy of the public and private sectors in improving and expanding the country’s infrastructure, such as our airports and rail systems and even in the building of schools and hospitals, have not been fully taken advantage of," he added.

Angara's Senate Bill 2672 or the PPP Act provides for more liberalized government regulations and procedures to better address the needs and bureaucratic concerns of PPP investors.

The proposed measure provides for the automatic grant of administrative franchise, license or permit in favor of the winning bidder, subject to the compliance with the requirements of the regulator and payment of appropriate taxes and fees.

SB 2672 likewise aims to protect public interest by ensuring fair and reasonable pricing, timely delivery of quality infrastructure, goods and services, and by requiring full public disclosure of all PPP transactions.

"We must be more transparent and competitive in the process of selecting our private sector partners. We must learn from successful and failed projects in the past, as well as global best practices in PPP," the senator said.

In addition, upon certification and recommendation by the Investment Coordination Committee, and prior consultation with the Department of Interior and Local Government, the President may classify certain projects, such as energy, toll road, mass transit, water, sewerage and such other projects, as "projects of national significance."

All real properties which are directly used for such projects shall be exempt from any and all real property taxes, while all local taxes, fees and charges imposed by a province, city or municipality on the project proponent shall not exceed 50 percent of one percent of gross sales or receipts of the preceding calendar year.

The bill also seeks to institutionalize the PPP Center that will serve as a link between the government and the private sector.

It will be tasked to assist implementing agencies in identifying, developing, promoting, facilitating, monitoring and evaluating PPP projects. It must report to the Office of the President and Congress on the implementation of the PPP programs and projects of the government at the end of each year.

"With the additional incentives provided under our measure, it is our hope that we could attract more potential private investors to help the government fast-track and improve the construction of public infrastructure and services to boost the growth of the Philippine economy," Angara said. 

Senate okays resolution to address power shortage; seeks to amend Bio Fuels Act

MANILA-The Senate has approved on third and final reading a Joint Resolution which would allow President Benigno Aquino III to address any potential power shortage during  the summer.

Senator Serge Osmeña, chair of the Committee on Energy and the sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 12, said the measure would authorize the President to address the projected imbalance of power supply and demand in the Luzon grid, particularly in the months of April and May of this year.

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon,  author of the resolution, said that it was important for the country to avert a critical electricity situation due to the expected effects of the El Nino phenomenon, the 2015 Malampaya turnaround and continuing outages of power plants, which could affect both businesses and ordinary homes.

     “If we did not act, then it would have been a great inconvenience and grave disservice to our citizens, especially ordinary Filipinos who will have to endure the summer season without electricity,” he said.  

      Apart from bringing a solution to the foreseen summer outages, Drilon said that the resolution was part of efforts “to establish a clear energy agenda and to address the growing concern over the perceived inability of the country's power sector to keep up with the growing demand that is intricately linked to the Philippine economy's immense economic growth."

      While the average electricity demand was projected at 8,700 MW, Osmeña said, the highest demand of power on the hottest day and hour in April and May would peak at 9,000 megawatts (MW).

“Having 9,000 MW guarantees a brownout since a certain number of power plants break down while some go on scheduled maintenance because no power plant could operate continuously the entire year,” he explained.

Osmeña said the resolution proposed “a more efficient way to solve the power crisis in a much cheaper way” than what the executive department earlier recommended.

He said the President would not be given a blanket authority under the resolution nor would it provide exemptions from existing laws such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

“The resolution is not mandatory and would enable productions from hydro and gas plants to be tweaked,” Osmeña said.

The House version of the bill included the suspension of pertinent laws, rules and regulation and made it mandatory for self-generating facilities to participate in the Interruptible Load Program (ILP), a provision not found in the Senate version.

Under the ILP, owners of generating sets would be asked to deload from the Luzon Grid and to use their own gensets at certain hours.

Osmeña said the adoption of the ILP would cost consumers a low P7 to P8 per kilowatt an hour as compared to the P35 per kilowatt an hour under a Department of Energy proposal to lease 300 MW in gensets at a cost of P6 billion for two years or P10 million per MW.

“In this manner, up to 1,400 megawatts may be deloaded for a few peaking hours on certain days,” he said.

He said Mindanao and Cebu had adopted the ILP system since 2010 due to the chronic electricity shortages in the areas.

Meanwhile, the Senate also approved Senate Bill 2622 on third and final reading today. The measure seeks to exempt power plants from the mandatory implementation of Republic Act No. 9367, otherwise known as the Biofuels Act of 2006.

Osmeña said Senate Bill 2622, which would augment power supply when the Malampaya natural gas experiences supply shortages, would allow natural gas plants to use pure or neat diesel as their alternative fuel.

“The Biofuels Act mandates the use of biodiesel. Pure diesel cannot be utilized anymore anywhere in the Philippines, and since the power plants were built before Congress passed the Biofuels Act in 2006, they are not geared to deal efficiently with biodiesel, which clogs their filters,” he explained.

He cited the Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO), owner of the 1,200 MW Ilijan gas plant, which decreased its production rate from 600 MW to 420 MW, or a difference of 180 MW per power plant, because of its use of biodiesel.

Osmeña said an exemption from the Biofuels Law would allow the Ilijan gas plant to deliver 160 more megawatts.

Osmeña, however, said the exemption has limitations. He said the exemption could only be invoked when (1) there is a supply shortage as determined by the DOE; (2) the pure or neat diesel is an alternative fuel of covered plants; (3)  the use of the pure or neat diesel will solely be for the production of electricity; and (4) the exemption will be only for the duration of the supply shortage.

Osmeña said the Committee on Energy had consulted and coordinated with more than two dozen agencies, groups and parties to come out with alternatives to avert the looming power crisis.

“The intent is to optimize existing assets and to bring down the average cost of electricity for the benefit of the consumers,” he said. (Pilar S. Macrohon)

Senate seeks to replace 45-year old Pharmacy Law

MANILA-The Senate passed on third and final reading Senate Bill No. 2436 or the Philippine Pharmacy Act of 2014 which aims to regulate the practice of pharmacy, integrate the pharmacy profession, and enhance professional competence through mandatory continuing development and research.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, sponsor of the measure, said the proposed measure will replace the outdated Pharmacy Law (Republic Act No. 5921) to standardize pharmacy education, and regulate the registration and licensing of pharmacy graduates.

“Advances in science and technology, particularly changes in the health sector platform, coupled with the rapid expansion of the global economy, have made the 45-year old Pharmacy Law outdated, if not obsolete,” Trillanes said.

           “It is imperative that we update this law to keep the practice of the profession abreast with these developments and to make it relevant to how it is practiced in the country,” he added.

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said that the measure was part of efforts to modernize and improve the capacities of different key industries such as the health service, business and agriculture sectors, in light of new challenges faced by the country such as the ASEAN integration slated to begin this year.  

         “We need to ensure that important sectors like the pharmaceutical industry, which directly affect the lives of our countrymen, are not being left behind by their regional and international counterparts in adopting the latest structural innovations and systems that will allow them to provide better services and products,” Drilon said.

Trillanes, chairman of the Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization, said that the bill was intended to equip the pharmacists with the “necessary tools to further improve and maintain our vibrant pharmaceutical industry and provide them with the necessary competitive edge to be able to compete in the international arena.”

Trillanes said the proposed legislation calls for the establishment of a Professional Regulatory Board of Pharmacy. Under the measure, he said, pharmacists in government service shall receive a starting salary equivalent to Salary Grade 15 under Republic Act No. 6758 or the Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989. Those in the private sector, will receive an entry-level salary equivalent to at least 35 percent above the prevailing minimum wage in the National Capital Region.

The Philippine Pharmacy Act of 2014 also sought to integrate pharmacists under one nationally accredited professional organization, according to Trillanes.

He said one provision of the bill was to provide for a foreign reciprocity to allow a foreign-registered pharmacist to practice in the country, provided that his/her country of origin allows Filipino pharmacists to practice within its territorial limits.

           “The enactment of this measure is intended to complement the talent and competence of our professional pharmacists by providing them with an updated regulatory framework. This bill seeks to repeal Republic Act No. 5921 with a new law that is responsive to the current needs and practice of our professional pharmacists,” Trillanes said. (APPLE BUENAVENTURA, PRIB)

PIA, DENR set Regional Songwriting tilt Grand Finals on March 5

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga -- March 5 is a red letter day for the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as they hold the Grand Finals of “LiKhALIKASAN: Likhang Awit para sa Kalikasan” at The Event Center of SM City Pampanga.

 

“The contest seeks to instill awareness on positive behaviors and perspectives as resiliency safeguards against the effects of climate change; promote environmental awareness, protection and preservation; and recognize people empowerment and involvement towards measures leading to preserving the well-being of the environment as act of protecting not just it but more so protecting people’s lives,” PIA Regional Director William Beltran said.

 

It is the culminating activity in Central Luzon of the yearlong national climate change adaptation and mitigation advocacy campaign of DENR and PIA, which carries the brand “Nagbabago na ang Panahon, Panahon na para Magbago!”

 

10 finalists were chosen from dozens of entries submitted by budding composers from all seven provinces of the region.

 

Those who made the cut include “Let’s Make It Stay” by Mark Vincent Duero of Angeles City, “Kahanga-hangang Pilipinas” by Clement Samin Dela Cruz of Tarlac City, “Habang May Oras Pa” by Kenneth Quiambao Macapugay of City of San Fernando, “Pagtugon” by Ver Mercado Orquia of Angeles City and “Panahon Na” by Noel Manzano of Baler, Aurora.

 

Completing the list are “Kalikasan” by Jimmary Clavo of Iba, Zambales; “Nagbabago na ang Panahon, Panahon na para Magbago” by Frederic Buenaventura of Baliuag, Bulacan; “Tayo na sa Pagbabago” by Jay Garcia Gopez of City of San Fernando, “Ngunit bakit ganito?” by Darwin James Singca of Orani, Bataan; and “Tabing Ilog” by Aaron Rondilla of Samal, Bataan.

 

Entries will be judged in the finals based on the following criteria: Originality and Creativity (songwriting style, technique, skill) – 30%, Lyrics (emotional appeal, message appropriateness to theme)- 30%, Melody (recall, strength)- 30%, and Overall Appeal (suitability as recording and environmental advocacy material)- 10%.

 

The grand winner takes home P30,000 and plaque while the second and third placers shall be awarded with P20,000 and P10,000, respectively and plaque.

 

Seven other finalists, on the other hand, will each receive P5,000 and plaque. (Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu)

Drilon: Liberalized PHL legal profession needed for ASEAN integration

MANILA-Senate President Franklin M. Drilon today underscored the need to liberalize the Philippine legal profession to permit foreign lawyers to practice in the country, and help Filipino law practitioners to keep pace with the market and policy shifts as a result of the ASEAN integration. 

At the ASEAN Law Association Assembly last February 27, Drilon told justices, judges, and other leading law practitioners in the ASEAN region that the ASEAN integration poses a challenge to members of the legal profession. 

"As the integration calls for a free exchange of resources, we must ask ourselves: what does integration mean to the legal profession? What is its impact to the practice of law? In this era of integration, the ASEAN lawyer must learn to navigate multiple legal jurisdictions," Drilon said. 

"At current growth rates, it is predicted that the ASEAN would become the fourth-largest market, after the EU, U.S. and China, by 2030. However, full ASEAN integration poses a challenge to every ASEAN member country. The existing legal framework may not be sufficient for the region to achieve a completely free exchange of goods and services," Drilon said. 

He underscored that a stronger and more efficient legal apparatus will help the Philippines capitalize on all the economic and development opportunities provided by the ASEAN integration. 

"Currently, in the Philippines the practice of law is currently restricted only to Filipino lawyers. This proposal for liberalization allows for collaborative work between Filipino and foreign lawyers where the matter or transaction involves both domestic and foreign law," he explained. 

He said it is time to establish a procedure in which foreign lawyers and firms may be able to assist their clients in cross border transactions where the Philippines is involved. 

"The liberalization of law practice will help strengthen the country's legal profession, and will help the country face the many challenges in the political and business sector being created due to the ASEAN Integration starting this year," stressed Drilon. 

He however, said that the proposed liberalization of law practice must ensure that foreign lawyers will live up to the standards and principles of lawyering in the Philippines, a practice that requires loyalty to the rule of law, and fidelity to the cause of the client. 

The Senate leader then said that he hopes that the country's legal sector and policy makers will realize early the importance of adapting and liberalizing the country's  legal profession, and hoped that it will be a leader among ASEAN members in reforming and improving its practice of law. 

"While the practice of law in the ASEAN region may be a challenge, the liberalization of the legal profession will ultimately benefit the region as a whole. The long-term effect of a legal profession that recognizes no territorial boundaries goes into the success of the ASEAN integration itself." Drilon said. 

Senate to pass DICT bill

MANILA-The chair of the Senate science and technology panel said a consolidated version of five bills creating a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will be reported out for floor debates before Holy Week.

“Our timetable in the Senate is to pass it before it ends its second session year in June,” Recto, who is also the Senate President Pro Tempore, said.

“Insofar as the Senate is concerned, it will pass the DICT bill,” Recto said.

He believes the measure will also hurdle the House as the “leadership of both chambers, led by the Speaker and the Senate President, in several meetings, has deemed it a priority measure.”

“The marching order given to me by the leadership is to consolidate in the Senate the five bills – authored by Sens. Antonio Trillanes, Teofisto Guingona III, Loren Legarda, JV Ejercito, Sonny Angara – into one,” Recto said.

Recto described the DICT bill “as one of those ‘Groundhog Day’ measures, that predictably goes through the legislative wringer every Congress only to stall in the final round for lack of one final push.”

In the last Congress, both chambers passed the measure, but failed to convene the bicameral conference committee which would have reconciled the differences of the versions they had passed.

To prevent this from happening again, Recto said the Senate will finetune one area of the bill which has prompted “tepid support” from the executive – and that is to ensure that the proposed department’s organization will be lean.

“It will not create a huge bureaucracy, or burn a deep hole in the taxpayer’s pocket. It will be revenue-neutral, and will maintain, if not lessen, the present operating cost of the agencies which will be folded into it,” Recto said.

“For example, we’re trying to limit the undersecretaries and assistant secretaries. In the creation of regional offices, we won’t be making it mandatory. Why have a large physical office when one of its mandates is to promote e-governance?” Recto said.

Recto said senators recognize information and communications technology as the third utility, after power and water.

“It is also the third biggest source of dollars after electronics and OFW remittances. It is a growth driver. Every 10 percentage points in broadband penetration is said to boost the GDP by 1 percent,” he said.

On the public sector side, Recto said a government which spends P2.5 trillion a year “needs a DICT to get more bang out of the buck, and prevent bribe from being squeezed out of the peso.” 

“We are now living in the electronic republic, where views of the sovereign are advocated online, and services must be rendered to them on the same platform,” he said.

“Permits, licenses, land titles should now be electronically-applied for, processed and issued. Let us leave to the MRT the exclusive franchise of organizing long lines,” Recto said. 

Legarda Urges A United Front Against Climate Change

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda today urged governments of the world to build a united front against climate change and has asked the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) to join the cause.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, made the call during a discussion with ICAPP Chairman Jose De Venecia, Jr., who said that he will convene the ICAPP to join a global alliance to fight climate change and its impacts.

“ICAPP Chairman De Venecia has readily agreed to our call for all governments of the world to join the global action versus climate change and they will also urge the Council of African Political Parties (CAPP) and other global political parties to join,” she said.

Legarda said that this is in line with the joint Philippines-France statement, Manila Call to Action on Climate Change, which engages “the international community, all stakeholders and world opinion, on the urgency of addressing climate change seriously, efficiently, and equitably.”

The call to action, which was read by Legarda and French actress Marion Cotillard, was launched in Malacañang yesterday as a highlight of French President Francois Hollande’s state visit to the Philippines.

The Senator noted Hollande’s statement, “The Manila appeal is for the world to be more fair between developed countries and fragile ones, between wealthy countries and poor ones, between generations as well, those who had all their time to extract resources from the planet and who now have a duty to act so their children, their grandchildren as well can live.”

Legarda recalled that in 2008, The Manila Call for Action of Parliamentarians on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation was adopted by parliamentarians from the Philippines, Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Uganda and the East African Legislative Assembly.

The 2008 call for action was a result of the consultative meeting for global parliamentarians, which Legarda convened as UN Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific.

“We launched the 2008 Manila Call for Action with the goal of creating an enabling environment for promoting disaster risk reduction, to mainstream it into socioeconomic development, and make it a national and international priority. Yesterday, the Philippines-France Manila Call to Action stressed the need to act now to address climate change and its impacts. Then and now, our call has always been: collective action towards sustainability and resilience,” said Legarda.

May 2 must be ‘National No Brownout Day’

MANILA-Energy officials better ensure that May 2 is “National No Brownout Day” as any outage anywhere will turn them into “punching bags” by people who would be deprived of watching on TV the mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.

Sen. Ralph Recto said the executive branch should use the emergency powers it is asking and which Congress is poised to grant to prevent blackouts this summer, when electricity use is at its peak, “especially on May 2.”

“The effectiveness of the emergency powers will be tested on May 2,” Recto said.  

“I think one promissory note we should be asking from the Department of Energy (DOE) is that there will be adequate supply of electricity on the day of the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout,” he said.

"If the people won't be able to cheer Manny because power is out, they will jeer the government," Recto said.

“You have the powers, you will have hundreds of millions of pesos, you have the time, so please see to it that there will be no brownout not only on May 2 but throughout summer,” Recto said.          

Malacanang has invoked a section in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) in asking Congress for emergency powers to contract additional capacity to avert an impending power crunch.

Section 71 of EPIRA states that “upon the determination by the President of the Philippines of an imminent shortage of the supply of electricity, Congress may authorize, through a joint resolution, the establishment of additional generating capacity under such terms and conditions as it may approve.”

Billed as the fight with the richest purse in history, the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout is on May 2 in Las Vegas, USA.

International parliamentarians convene in Manila for human rights meet

MANILA-More than 100 parliamentarians, representatives of human rights institutes, and members of civil society groups from all over the Asia Pacific region will convene in Manila tomorrow, February 26, to discuss ways to increase regional involvement to the protection and promotion of human rights.

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr. will address the foreign delegates from at least 20 countries who will troop to the two-day seminar’s seven sessions, to be held from February 26 to 27, 2015 at the Diamond Hotel, Manila City.

Drilon said that the Senate of the Philippines and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), will host the regional seminar for Asia Pacific parliaments entitled, "Translating international human rights commitments into national realities: The contributions of parliaments to the work of United Nations Human Rights Council."

Drilon, who once served as President of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, will serve as the Lead Convenor of the international conference, while Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, is Conference Chair. Senator Loren Legarda, former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima will also join the seminar as resource persons.

"We welcome the chance to host this human rights event. The country still faces a lot of long-standing issues on protecting human rights amid social strife and security concerns. We will learn a lot from the seminar, and hopefully, they will translate into sound policies and programs here and across the region," Drilon, who is currently a member of the IPU Executive Committee, said.

The Senate President further said that the seminar seeks to enhance awareness among members of parliaments of the existence of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) and its Universal Periodic Review (UPR), and the need for their full legislative involvement in the HRC's work.

"The seminar is also looking to foster greater involvement of members of parliament in the three different reporting stages of the UPR," Drilon added.

He noted that a recent IPU survey revealed that many parliaments around the globe are not yet familiar with the HRC's duties, as well as the importance of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) as an instrument in ensuring that human rights are protected and promoted.

Pimentel, for his part, said that apart from inter-body cooperation, the seminar will also look at how parliaments in the region have promoted human rights at their respective national levels and how they can bring this down to local government councils.

"The event will also seek to foster better cooperation at the national level between parliaments, local government councils and other human rights stakeholders, in particular national human rights institutions and civil society actors. The attendees also intend to formulate practical steps on how the HRC can better engage parliaments and human rights institutions on their actual programs," Pimentel said.

"The world, especially this region, is still confronted with many challenges and issues concerning human rights, and it is our duty as parliamentarians to identify the most pressing problems in our own backyards, and lead the way in providing relevant and effective solutions," Pimentel said.

The Manila seminar is part of a series of regional events designed to enhance the contribution of parliaments to the HRC and the UPR, in response to panel discussions of the IPU, HRC and the OHCHR begun last May 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland which recognized the critical role of parliaments in ensuring domestic respect for human rights. Previous conferences have been held in Romania, Uruguay and Morocco. 

Legarda Urges Gov’t to Shift to Low-Carbon Economy

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda urged the government to consider a long-term transition to a low-carbon economy, noting that investments in clean energy and low-carbon infrastructure will determine the future of our nation and the future generations.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, stressed that the idea of a low-carbon economy may seem ideal at first but if we look at the worsening effects of conventional energy sources such as fossil fuels to our health and environment, it should not be hard to understand the need to adopt the said concept.

Citing a study from the World Health Organization, Legarda said air pollution has caused seven million premature deaths worldwide in 2012. Moreover, she stressed that the traffic congestion in Metro Manila alone is costing us an equivalent of four percent of our GDP.

“We can start with building our cities in a smart way. Better connected, more compact cities based on mass public transport are economically more dynamic, safer and healthier, and have lower emissions,” Legarda said, citing the study, Better Growth, Better Climate: New Climate Economy Report.

She added, “The concept of road-sharing among pedestrians, cyclists and motorists should be adopted. The Bayanihan sa Daan movement we are supporting promotes a paradigm shift from the motor vehicle-based transportation system to a multi-modal system, wherein people are not dependent on their own motorized vehicles every time they go out, instead, they can choose different modes of transportation depending on their needs—walking or biking for short distances, and safe, reliable, inexpensive and convenient public transportation system for long distance trips”.

As a concrete strategy, Legarda said our government must encourage investments on renewable energy and ensure the sustainable use and management of our land and other natural resources as studies reveal that restoring 12% of the world’s degraded lands can already feed another 200 million people, raise farmers’ incomes by US$40 billion a year, and also cut emissions from deforestation.

Legarda is the author of the National Land Use Bill which seeks to provide a unified legal framework that will ensure a rational, holistic and just allocation, use and management of the country’s land resources.

Last week, the Philippine Senate, the British Embassy and the Chevening Alumni Foundation organized a roundtable discussion on the topic, “Is low carbon economy our future?”

The highlight of the forum was a presentation by Mr. Matt Nottingham of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office about key findings of the study, Better Growth, Better Climate: New Climate Economy Report, which stresses the idea that there should be no tension between economic development and a low carbon economy. In fact, this paradigm shift could be the very answer to achieving high-quality, resilient and inclusive economic growth.