Zubiri vows Senate commitment to environment protection
Urges colleagues to fast-track approval of environment-friendly measures

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri over the weekend expressed optimism the Senate would sail through its commitment to protect the environment and pass vital measures that would address the effects of climate change.

Zubiri, an environmental advocate, said: "I am confident that the Senate will not fail the people. Though the global celebrations may end, environmental stewardship - in the Senate - continues."

"The Philippines is a very vulnerable archipelago and our countrymen are at great risk. As Earth Day marks a worldwide observance highlighted by the honouring of environmental martyrs, let us not forget to lay the correct policies that will shape the world where succeeding generations of Filipinos will have to live in," he urged his fellow senators.

The Majority Leader noted various measures seeking environmental protection and proposing ways to address global warming are now pending in the Senate.

Currently in the plate of the Senate are many crucial legislative measures, among them the proposed log bans in Negros Occidental and in Southern Leyte, and the declaration of the Bessang Pass Natural Monument and Landmark, which are all pending Second Reading under the Senate plenary's Ordinary Business.

The proposed La Mesa Watershed, the Apo Reef Protected Area and the Creation of the Climate Change Commission are pending Second Reading under Special Orders while the bill on the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park remains pending in the House of Representatives.

Other bills pending the Senate environment and natural resources committee are the National Land Use Policy and Protection of a wide range of Natural Treasures, including the UNESCO World Heritage Site El-Nido-Taytay Protected Area in Palawan, the Turtle Islands Sanctuary in Sulu Sea, and the Sinarapan Lake Sanctuary in Camarines Sur, which hosts the world's smallest fish.

There are also the proposed measures proposing the crafting of the Organic Agriculture Act, the ban on endosulfan and aerial spraying.

"In terms of environmental laws, the Philippines cannot be far behind, with the Philippines Clean Air Act touted to be the best in the world," Zubiri said.

He pointed out that since April 22, 1970 or the first Earth Day celebration in the United States and then in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, the Senate has passed at least 25 environmental laws, the most recent of which is the Biofuels and Renewable Energy Acts, both in tune with the global campaign to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

"From this vantage point, I am optimistic that we can deal with our environmental obligations as well as preserve livelihoods in tune with a clean, productive and vibrant environment. Another great task is to help communities who depend on forests, rivers and other water bodies cope with the effects of climate change, especially the poor who do not have the option to relocate or pick up a new livelihood," Zubiri said.