Senate commends Sen. Legarda

The Senate today adopted a resolution commending Senator Loren Legarda for her appointment as a Global Champion for Resilience by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

Senator Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV, who introduced Resolution 1676, said Legarda deserved to be lauded for her efforts in helping preserve and conserve the environment.

Under Legarda's leadership, the resolution said, concerned government departments and agencies like the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Department of Interior and Local Government, among others, adopted and pursued disaster risk reduction and mitigation policies to curb environmental degradation.

The resolution noted how Legarda worked for the passage of landmark laws in the Senate to protect and conserve the environment such as the Clean Air Act (Republic Act 8749), Conservation and Protection of Wildlife Resources Act (RA 9147), Environmental Awareness Education Act (RA 9512), Renewable Energy Act (RA 9513), Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003), Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act (RA 10121), People's Survival Fund Law (RA 10174) and the Climate Change Act (RA 9279).

Legarda is currently the chairperson of the Senate Committees on Climate Change, Cultural Communities and Finance.

She was first recognized as the Asia-Pacific Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction during the Third Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2008.

On November 30, 2015, she was appointed by UNISDR as its Global Champion for Resilience. She is the second global leader to be bestowed with such recognition, following the appointment of former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the first Global Champion of Disaster Risk Reduction in 2011.

"Senator Legarda remains resolute in appealing to the global community on behalf of nations most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, addressing world leaders and delegates to step up to the responsibility of improving the resilience of communities and averting the climate change," the resolution said.

"She has championed women's rights and asserted their active role in environmental protection, disaster risk reduction and climate change through her participation in international fora," the resolution added.

Legarda is a relentless crusader for the environment and as such deserves to be commended, the resolution further said.