Loren lauds audacious environmental initiatives

In a speech on the eve of Earth Day celebrations worldwide, Senator Loren Legarda trumpeted yesterday "fresh and audacious" local initiatives to effect an unprecedented environmental renaissance in pioneering Philippine communities.

"On the month that we celebrate Earth Day, let us focus on viable environmental agenda, on doable programs. We should make public their deeds," said Legarda at the Senate floor.

"We should be past the stage of paralysis. We should be present-generation workers for the environment and the present is about action programs and action men for the environment," added the chair and founder of the environmental organization Luntiang Pilipinas.

She cited four examples of environmental success stories, namely: Albay's efforts to fight climate change and the establishment of the Center for Initiatives and Research in Climate Adaptation (CIRCA); the laying of the groundwork for the sustainable marine resource management in the Cebu town of Sta. Fe in Bantayan Island; the "karusel" in Puerto Princesa; and El Nido's nature's nest and sanctuary.

"These stories for the environment of local communities - inspiring, trailblazing, pioneering - are slivers of light in a country of sludge, garbage, dumps, mine tailings, bald mountains and discarded plastic scarring our once-magnificent seas," she said.

The senate, Legarda said, should support pioneering environmental initiatives with incentives, while integrating and harmonizing environmental laws and issuances, from the Code of Kalantiaw to the present laws.

Legarda has filed a bill seeking just that, titled "An Act Providing for the Framework in the Conservation, Development, Management and Utilization of the Environment and Natural Resources."

The senator cited Albay's determination not to be at the mercy of climate change, leading to the Albay Declaration on Climate Change of 2007, as well as CIRCA's efforts to create a virtual army of environmental stakeholders as it educate communities on climate change.

"Sta. Fe is a study in contradiction. Its white beaches and the pristine waters serve like a picturesque cover to the harsh realities of grinding poverty. Its marine resources have been exhausted by over-fishing, illegal fishing. The seas off Sta. Fe, once rich fishing grounds, can no longer provide for the fishing town," she said.

Nonetheless, Legarda said local stakeholders of Sta. Fe are undertaking actions to reverse the despoliation of its marine resources, generating a draft Local Fisheries Code and a coastal resources management program and introducing the concept of "no-fishing zones" on marine protected areas.

She also expressed marvel at the "karusel," a mini train that plies along the Puerto Princesa Bay Walk powered by little human exertion.

"I was there during its launch on Feb. 14. City Mayor Ed Hagedorn, an avid environmentalist, is now studying the viability of using the "karusel" to augment the transport service of the city proper," she said.

Legarda also supported Puerto Princesa's use of the trikebayan, which uses P48 worth of electricity in a day's run, the cost of a liter of high-octane gasoline.

Lastly, she marveled at how El Nido has preserved its natural beauty over the years as a premier showcase of biodiversity in the world. "I have been inspired by how ordinary folks - the boatmen, the resort staff - have ingrained the value of preserving the natural wonders of their place," she added.

Credited in 2001 by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) for championing pro-environment pieces of legislation and for Luntian's tree-planting crusade, Legarda lauded the men and women behind the environmental initiatives.

"I have been witness to the dedication and intensity of purpose, the burning passion to do something bold and concrete for the environment. I have seen how they have triumphed past the usual skepticism and cynicism directed at environmental workers to design, implement and create their own successful environmental programs," she said.

"We should tell and retell their success stories for the other local communities to emulate," she added.