Mt. Makiling preservation gets big boost

Senator Loren Legarda yesterday expressed elation over the effort made by University of the Philippines - Los Banos to relocate the Mt. Makiling forest reserve boundaries to ensure the physical integrity and protection of its forests resources and biodiversity.

The relocation is contained in the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between UPLB and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region IV-A, the signing of which was witnessed by Legarda yesterday.

Under the MOA, the improvement of nursery facilities of the Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystem (MCME) subsidiary nursery will also be done in earnest to speed up the production of quality planting materials of important indigenous and endemic forest trees and palm species.

"This nursery will be a big boost to support the restoration and or rehabilitation program of Mt. Makiling and nearby mountains as well as the greening of surrounding municipal and city parks," said Legarda, an ecological warrior who bats for the planting of two billion trees under her Luntiang Pilipinas project.

Through the initiative of Legarda, P5 million have been appropriated by DENR-IV-A for the said "barangay nursery project" and additional P1.5 M for the relocation projects of Makiling's boundaries.

UPLB is mandated by RA 6967 to administer and control the entire Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve, the metes and bounds of which is defined under Proclamation No. 552 (S of 1933), 224 (S-of-1937), 692 (S-of-1960).

Legarda, meanwhile cited the urgent need to identify the communities and low-lying areas exposed to potential danger waiting to happen in the face of frequent rains.

"Once these vulnerable communities are identified, their risks may now be assessed and appropriate mechanisms to ease their vulnerabilities can be identified," Legarda said during her visit to University of the Philippines-Los Banos yesterday.

"A few days back we witnessed that evidence of climate change is indeed unequivocal and daunting," she told participants of the round table discussion on challenges posed by climate and environmental changes at UPLB attended by who's who in the realm of climate change, including UPLB Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco, and DOST Undersecretary Graciano Yumul Jr.

Also in attendance were Drs. Rex Victor Cruz (Dan of College of Forestry and Natural Resources), Vicky Espaldon (Dean of SESAM), Ramon Razal (former CFNR) among others.

Legarda, chairperson of the sub-committee on climate change, also announced a welcome development in their crusade for the protection of the environment following the significant increase of 39% in budget allocation for the environmental protection and conservation programs of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

"For the first time in history, the Executive Department is giving priority to environmental protection, but how much will be allocated for programs on climate change, that I do not know," she said.

"While I personally think that the P3.9 billion additional budget for a 'Green Philippines' leaves much to be desired, the challenge for us is to be creative," Legarda said.

"We could pool whatever resources we have in order to achieve the maximum results in our crusade to protect our environment and our population from devastating effects of climate change," she added.

"A huge task is set before us. And we need to have a concerted effort from the government, the private sector and the people to effectively manage our natural resources and, at the same time, mitigate or reverse the negative impacts of climate and environmental changes."

Legarda has already sponsored Senate Bill No. 2583 which she said she had already presented for consideration of her colleagues in the Senate Plenary after conducting public hearings and technical working group meetings.

"Hopefully this committee report (No. 99) will speed up government's response to the problem of climate change," she said.

Among the salient features of the proposed law are the provisions on the call for the creation of Climate Change Commission, formulation of Framework Program on Climate Change, and National Climate Change Action Plan.

The Climate Change Commission, to be headed by the President as chairperson, will serve as national policy-making body on climate change, while Framework Program and the Action Plan will be formulated to "mainstream and integrate climate change in policy formulation and poverty-alleviation strategies.