• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI), a social development and advocacy network, is urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to officially declare a climate emergency in the country, and recognize the severity of the environmental crisis.
PMPI national coordinator Yolanda Esguerra, in a press conference March 7 in line with their 7th general assembly at Acacia Hotel in Bacolod City, said they “continue to push for the attainment of climate justice for the most vulnerable, and demand that the government address the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable communities, while advocating for equitable solutions and urgent action”.
Esguerra said PMPI will go to the grassroots and rally the support of stakeholders, including signature campaigns and declarations from churches and institutions, to prove to Marcos that there is a clamor for the country to do something about climate change.
“Since the Philippines is the most vulnerable country all over the world on the impact of climate change, we have to do something about it to protect our communities. There will be signature campaigns, we will ask institutions and churches to declare climate emergencies, and we will send all these declarations to the executive so that makita ni PBBM na there is this clamor,” she stressed.
Esguerra also stressed the need for the immediate passage of the Rights of Nature (RON) bill that was filed in Congress in 2022, and will push for local ordinances protecting local and regional ecosystems.
“Recognizing nature’s intrinsic value is essential for regenerative development. By granting legal standing to ecosystems, humans will be obliged to change our relationship with nature, including our production systems, law, and governance,” she added.
San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, meanwhile, stressed the importance of renewable energy, saying it is a more reliable source of power.
He also enumerated breakthroughs in the continuous fight for a 100-percent coal-free Negros, including preventing the establishment and operation of a 300-megawatt LNG power plant in San Carlos, and to ban mining in Sagay once and for all.
Negros Occidental declared itself coal-free on March 6, 2019. The Capitol said youth and church leaders from across the province marched on the streets and called for the rejection of coal-fired power plants on the island. “The Negros Occidental government took a decisive step through Executive Order 19-08, declaring the province a source of clean and renewable energy, and a coal-free” zone.
“We owe it to ourselves, to our ancestors, and to the next generation to provide them with a safe, clean, and livable planet,” Alminaza said at the assembly participated in by some 250 delegates from all over the Philippines.
The four-day PMPI assembly, which culminated March 7, focused on “Twenty: Transformative Work on Environment and Nature’s Rights Through the Years”. | CGC
