That really seems like a magical place. This is a great move by Unesco! Making it a World Heritage site will make Filipinos more aware of places like this.

Mt. Hamiguitan video


part I

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part II

twh2mhs7j6A&feature=player_embedded

part III

5ZTAs6V2ql8&feature=player_embedded

CTI highlights RP’s vital role in marine ecosystem (http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/regions/10594-cti-highlights-rps-vital-role-in-marine-ecosystem-.html)
Regions
Written by Jonathan L. Mayuga / Correspondent
Wednesday, 20 May 2009 21:28

THE declaration signed by six countries including the Philippines to protect, restore, rehabilitate and cause the sustainable development of the Coral Triangle pushes Filipinos further in playing a significant role in the protection and management of the country’s natural marine wealth, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said.

“The Philippines is at the apex of the Coral Triangle, considered to be the richest marine region in the world. More important, all portions of Philippine seas are part of the Coral Triangle,” Atienza said.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/images/stories/Daily_Images/2009/May/05212009/regions-pic01.jpg

A SCHOOL of fish swims above bleached corals in the southern Great Barrier Reef in this file photo released to the media. The Philippines, together with Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia and the Solomon Islands has signed the Coral Triangle Declaration, pushing the country into the forefront of global efforts to save and protect the world’s largest coral reef. BLOOMBERG

“Filipinos must, therefore, wholeheartedly support and adhere to the substance and spirit of the Coral Triangle Declaration,” he said.

Atienza made the pronouncement as leaders from the so-called Coral Triangle countries—the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia and the Solomon Islands inked the pact during the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security Leaders’ Summit held at the Grand Kawanua Convention Center in Manado, Indonesia.

The initiative, a government-level action plan, calls for a stronger international cooperation to stop ocean pollution, provision of funds for sustainable development in poor countries, and deeper research on the effects of climate change on marine life.

The six heads of state are expected to implement the regional plan of action that will serve as a blueprint for cooperation on sustainable management of coastal and marine resources.

“President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called on countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific to ensure the protection of the endangered Coral Triangle, and she very accurately presented the Philippine picture on what the country is doing on matters of adaptation and mitigation of the impact of global warming on the coral triangle area,” Atienza said.

Atienza said President Arroyo has signed Executive Order 797 mandating the Philippine national plan of action that follows the general outline of the CTI regional plan and adapts the guiding principles enunciated by the six Coral Triangle countries in 2007.

Quoting scientists’ findings, Atienza said a combination of climate change, over-fishing and pollution is destroying ecosystems in the Triangle, which is a vital source of food for millions of people and serves as a nursery for marine life from turtles to tuna.

“Like all other ecosystems, our marine areas, including the corals and all biodiversity found beneath our seas and oceans, are also vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change,” he said.

A report by environmental group World Wide Fund for Nature this week said climate change could wipe out the Coral Triangle by century’s end if nations do not commit to deep cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

The death of the reefs could leave more than 100 million people without livelihoods, triggering destabilizing mass migrations to cities and neighboring countries, it said.

“One new element found in the regional CTI action plan that is not yet part of some of the similar marine agreements is the climate change factor.

“The regional action plan is a concrete measure on how each of the CTI countries will be able to work together and help each other in adapting to climate change,” Atienza said.

Covering some 5.7 million square kilometers, the Coral Triangle is considered the global center for marine biodiversity, with over 600 reef-building coral species, or 75 percent of all known coral species in the world and more than 3,000 fish species.

Atienza cited the pioneering effort of the Philippines in biodiversity conservation. He said the country has been establishing marine reserves as early as 30 years ago or 10 years before the World Conservation Union advocated the creation of marine protected areas. Today, he said, around 500 marine protected areas have been established all over the country.

He also said that through the initiative of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the government has institutionalized the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) as a policy framework for promoting marine development in the country.

“The passage of Executive Order No. 533 by President Arroyo which adopted ICM as a national strategy is another proof of the continuing effort to promote the sustainable development of the country’s coastal and marine environment and resources not only for purposes of achieving food security but also to fight poverty in the coastal areas while preserving ecological integrity.”

Atienza said more than 64 million Filipinos, or 60 percent of the national population, live in some 822 coastal cities and municipalities. The Philippine coastline spans 36,289 kilometers, one of the longest in the world.

Manila Water allots P2.26B for river cleanup (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20090525-206918/Manila-Water-allots-P226B-for-river-cleanup)

By Riza T. Olchondra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:07:00 05/25/2009

Filed Under: Water Supply, Environmental pollution

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Water Company Inc. is spending at least P2.26 billion for sewage treatment projects in Marikina City as part of a larger program to help clean river systems in its concession area in Metro Manila.

Manila Water said in a statement that it is building the P. Olandes Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) which will have the capability to treat 10 million liters per day (MLD) of wastewater. The project will cost P262 million.

Wastewater program manager Ronald Muaña said the Olandes STP would address the domestic wastewater treatment requirements of Blue Ridge, St. Ignatius, Libis, Cinco Hermanos and Barangay Olandes.

Aside from the Olandes STP, two others are in the pipeline: Ghe 20 MLD Calumpang STP and the 100 MLD Balubad STP.

Asked for an estimate of the projects, an official of Manila Water declined to say how much these would cost because these would soon be bided out.

“But it will be safe to say that the (upcoming) projects, including two treatment facilities and more than 20 kilometers of interceptor network, will cost more than P2 billion to complete,” the source said.

The three STPs are targeted for completion this July.

These will ensure that wastewater from households and street drains are treated before being discharged into the Marikina River.

Manila Water has programmed a total of P59 billion in capital expenditures to clean up not only the Marikina River but also the Pasig and San Juan Rivers.

The World Bank is assisting the effort through the $83-million Manila Third Sewerage Program (MTSP).

Of the program cost, the World Bank provided $64 million in financial assistance while the rest would be shouldered by Manila Water.

“This project demonstrates effective private-public partnership for improved sanitation services,” the World Bank said when it extended assistance to the MTSP in 2005.

The World Bank said it supports the goal of decreasing water pollution because of the “damage it does to the environment and people’s health as stipulated in the 2004 Clean Water Act.”

The enactment of the Clean Water Act of 2004 consolidates the different laws and unify efforts to fight water pollution.

Manila Water also credits the Philippines’ local government units for the progress in its sewage treatment efforts.

Muaña said the Marikina City government, for example, has passed a resolution for the proper construction and maintenance of septic tanks in support of the water firm’s desludging program called “Sanitasyon Para Sa Barangay (Sanitation for the Barangay).”

Marikina River cuts across the center of the city, originating upstream in Rodriguez (Montalban) before flowing down to San Mateo and Marikina.

Over the years, the river’s water quality has been steadily deteriorating due to the rapid increase in population and development.

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/2913/gw830h557it7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
A bonsai tree,at the peak of Mt.Hamiguitan (photo courtesy ot TPEF research team)

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9846/p1010072cf9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The thousand hectare pygmy forest



There is a similar site in Cagdianao, Province of Dinagat islands but it is being threatened by a mining quarry. Will look for the pix so i could post it here.

Globe, Smart, Sun Cellular unite to save Pasig River (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=468826&publicationSubCategoryId=130)
From philstar.com
Updated May 18, 2009 12:00 AM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/4686/gen7.jpg
In a show of unity for ABS-CBN Foundation’s Kapit Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig are (from left) William Pamintuan, senior vice president for legal services, Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc.; Girlie Aragon, project director, Kapit Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig; Napoleon Nazareno, president and CEO, Smart Communications Inc.; Gina Lopez, managing director, ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.; Ernest Cu, president and CEO, Globe Telecommunications Inc.; and Connie Lopez, managing director, ABS-CBN Interactive.

MANILA, Philippines - Telecommunications giants Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and Sun Cellular have come together to pledge support for ABS-CBN Foundation’s “Kapit Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig” (KBPIP), a project that aims to clean up the Pasig River.

Taking off from Clean and Green Foundation’s lead, the KBPIP has reinvented “Piso para sa Ilog Pasig” into a text campaign in which concerned individuals may contribute by texting GIVE [space] ILOG then sending it to 2366 for Globe, Touch Mobile and Sun Cellular or 231 for Smart and Talk & Text.

Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu, Smart president and CEO Napoleon Nazareno, and Digitel Mobile Philippines senior vice president for legal services William Pamintuan signed a memorandum of agreement last May 15 with ABS-CBN Foundation managing director Gina Lopez to seal the partnership.

“Globe is very pleased to be part of this endeavor by Gina (Lopez),” said Cu. “I thought the idea was fantastic from the minute that she presented it to me over lunch one day. And it goes very well hand in hand with Globe’s CSR efforts and again, we pledge our commitment to KBPIP,” he said.

“We (at Sun Cellular) are indeed privileged and proud to be part of this worthwhile undertaking,” Pamintuan said.

“Together with our fellow friends in the telecommunication industry, we believe that this is a worthwhile endeavor that all Filipinos should really support,” he added.

“With our fellow telcos Globe and Sun, we are prepared to join with you, Gina, in making the Pasig as it once was – a river of light and life. Let us bring life back to Pasig. And we’ll do it together because I’m certain that if we work together, there is nothing that we cannot do,” Nazareno said.

ABS-CBN Interactive, the multimedia subsidiary of ABS-CBN, has also helped the Pasig River cause.

Headed by managing director Connie Lopez, ABS-CBN Interactive assisted the KBPIP by ironing out the mechanics for the Piso para sa Ilog Pasig text campaign.

Launched in March 2009, the Piso para sa Ilog Pasig campaign has already received around 100,000 text hits.

The campaign also got a boost when different artists jointly plugged the text mechanics in ABS-CBN during the Earth Day celebration last April 22. The texts for Piso para sa Ilog Pasig will contribute to the funding for a cleaner Pasig River.

“We haven’t really gone full swing yet but from today onwards, we (at the KBPIP) are really going to hit the bone especially when the school starts,” she said.

“To save the La Mesa Watershed, we got five million signatures in three months – 3.5 million of those signatures came from the young. So I’m going to hit the schools again together with my team,” Lopez said.

“There’s no way that we can’t do this if we work together,” she said. “Smart, Globe and Sun are my connection to the public. I really thank them for being our conduit,” she said.

“There are a billion texts sent out daily. There are 12 million people in Metro Manila. If everyone texts just once a day – we will clean this river. And it will be done as a grassroots movement. With the people... It can be done. I will give a regular report to the public on how much money we collect and what we do with it. We can clean this river if we work together,” she added.

Bravo!!!:)

Globe, Smart, Sun Cellular unite to save Pasig River (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=468826&publicationSubCategoryId=130)
From philstar.com
Updated May 18, 2009 12:00 AM


Salamat...

maraming pera mga companies na ito..:cheers:

Individual household tree planting and national campaign for eradication of illegal logging must be implemented.

http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/ararevisayan.jpg

One of the world's rarest deer has been found in a tiny patch of Philippines forest that is being cut down by farmers and loggers, according to a British-Filipino scientific expedition.

The team said it "found fresh deer droppings, deer tracks and evidence of feeding activity" by the Visayan spotted deer during the group's three-week sortie into Mount Mandalagan in the north of Negros island last month.

"This is a critically important find to discover such an important animal alive and well in its natural habitat," expedition leader James Sawyer said in a statement released after the British members' return to London.

Not much larger than a dog, the short-legged, rainforest-dwelling deer that feeds at night is the largest endemic species of the west Visayan islands.

It is notable for its distinctive pattern of buff-coloured spots scattered across its dark brown back and sides.

Cervus alfredi are found only in the central Philippines and before the herds dwindled through heavy hunting and rapid habitat loss, they were present on the islands of Cebu, Guimaras, Leyte, Masbate, Negros, Panay and Samar.

Only a few hundred are now thought to remain on Panay and Negros due to intensive hunting and extensive deforestation as land is cleared for farming.

The northern Negros herds themselves had not been seen "for many years," according to the expedition statement.

The expedition also proved that "Philippine forests still harbour many rare and unique species, found nowhere else in the world," said the team's research leader Craig Turner.

The forest, which comprises the core of the protected North Negros Natural Park, is described by the expedition as "a biodiversity hotspot of great importance" and "one of the top 10 most vulnerable forest ecosystems globally".

The team said it would present its findings at Britain's Royal Geographical Society on September 3.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01298/buttonquail_1298326c.jpg

Hunters snared the Worcester's buttonquail (Turnix worcesteri) in the Caraballo mountain range last month and a film crew took pictures and video footage of the live bird at a poultry market, the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines said.

The rare bird was previously only known through drawings based on dead museum specimens.

Club president Michael Lu said the group was "ecstatic" about the find, but they also "feel sad that the locals do not value the biodiversity around them".

He added: "What if this was the last of its species? Much more has to be done in creating conservation awareness and local consciousness about our unique threatened bird fauna."

"This is a very important finding," said Philippines-based Arne Jensen, a Danish ornithologist who heads the bird club's records committee.

"Once you don't see a bird species in a generation, you start to wonder if it's extinct, and for this bird species we simply do not know its status at all."

The quail's breeding area remains unknown, though ornithologists suspect it resides in the high mountain grasslands of the Cordillera mountain range to the west of the Caraballos on the main island of Luzon.

Records indicate that the quail, which was named after Dean Conant Worcester, an American zoologist who worked in the Philippines in the early 20th century, was being sold at a Manila wet market in 1902. Since then, just a few single specimens have been documented in Nueva Vizcaya and Benguet provinces, which form part of the two mountain ranges, the club said.

Artificial reef project kicks off in Kamanga (http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p090529.htm&no=A4&r=r12&y=&mo=)
by Macky Macavinta

Maasim, Sarangani -- An estimated 50 artificial coral reef domes are deployed today during the opening of the Artificial Reef Deployment project of the local government of Maasim in partnership with Conal Holdings Corp.

A total of 500 artificial domes will be deployed within a span of three months across three sitios of Maasim. These are Tampuan, Looc and Mangelen.

More areas would be identified for the deployment of additional domes.

This project spearheaded jointly by LGU Maasim and Conal Holdings on June 21, 2008 is in compliance with Republic Act 7160 which states "The participation of the private sector in local governance, particularly in the delivery of basic services, shall be encouraged to ensure the viability of local autonomy as an alternative strategy for sustainable development".

Artificial reefs are used as aggregating devices that will provide marine life shelter thus promoting the growth of underwater species from algae to corals as well as fishes. This is part of promoting a "self-sustaining marine community".

Conal Holdings Corporation is the proponent of a power plant set to be constructed in Kamanga. It would provide an estimated 200 megawatts of electricity to the Southern Mindanao grid by 2011.

Green integrated design approach (http://www.inquirer.net/propertyguide/buildingblocks/view.php?db=1&article=20090529-207856)

At the rate we are spending the Earth’s natural capital, we are compromising future generations’ ability to meet their own needs.

Is this due to overpopulation in the planet? Consider the following: The Earth’s population of 6.7 billion if placed in the United State’s Texas with a land area of 691,000 square kilometer will have a population density of 21 percent over that of Singapore.

As we know, Singapore has only one-half of Metro Manila’s population density of 16,000 per sq km. Metro Manila’s population density is similar to that of Jakarta, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, and Seoul. And yet the second most densely populated region in the Philippines next to Metro Manila, Calabarzon has a population density of hardly 600 people per sq km.

If the cause of the Earth’s degradation of natural resources is not overpopulation, this writer believes it is this present generation’s high consumerism. Our tremendous appetite for material goods has indeed put a big strain on the natural functions of our planet. To achieve a sustainable society is therefore an important goal of each responsible citizen.

Buildings are the source of 40 percent of waste worldwide, and use 40 percent of the world’s raw materials. This puts building industry practitioners in a good position to put forward the sustainability imperative.

Integrated design approach

A sustainable way to design, construct and operate a building that is gaining momentum is the integrated design process or IDP.

In a recent workshop, BCI Asia speaker Dr. Nirmal Kishnani, editor in chief of FuturArc Magazine, said IDP puts emphasis on a fundamental change in thinking and in ways of operating. It brings all design and construction disciplines together with the owner and end user, to formulate a shared vision about the building to be put up.

The IDP is a whole-systems way of thinking that gets all concerned to spend a good amount of time up front for integrated planning and design. It is all about teamwork, and the principal architect is not seen as the one who gives form to the project. He is only an active participant in exploring alternative ideas among team experts who play active roles at the start of the process.

This approach is also termed front-loaded design because it is costly in terms of time and money in the beginning of the design process. But the mistakes avoided, life cycle cost savings made, and environmental integrity of the project far outweighs initial costs.

Failures of typical design program

In the traditional design program, the team members think in compartments. Hardly does each discipline think in relation to the total project.

Big picture goals and targets are not discussed. Team members do not feel committed to a shared vision and are comfortable with compliance with their own area targets.

Cost is fragmented in the different areas of the work. Estimates made are not arrived at after thorough study of building optimization. A piece of design tends to be the basis for value-engineering individual components. Optimizing components in isolation tends to work against the idea of achieving synergies. For example, choosing cheaper glass with lower thermal performance results in upsizing the mechanical systems.

Costs are seen as up front expenditure, and rarely as total cost across the life of the building.

Lastly, professionals are paid according to the cost of the building, not on how the building will perform.

Achieve integrated design process

First it is important to appoint a project team early and to treat the process as a collaborative effort.

Second, a schedule of periodic review workshops with the whole team present must be made.

Third, benchmarks for the project are established.

Fourth, use benchmarks to set few clear, simple targets.

Fifth, set aside a part of the budget for greening.

Sixth, as the project progresses from conceptual to developed design, test ideas along green principles.

Seventh, see the project across its life when choosing a material.

Last, reward the team for long-term performance.

Holistic design and planning uses the interconnection between disciplines. Solutions are arrived at that address multiple problems at the same time. For example, a residential community designed with narrower streets results in less storm water runoff, enabling simpler site detention basins to handle storm water, with no need for storm sewers. A bigger area left for trees improves ambient air and reduces the need for air conditioning.

Up front goals should be set early in the conceptual process. They should be quantifiable, such as, we want 50 percent energy saving.”

These goals can be reversed, changed at each stage of the project. But we know that the greatest opportunity for making changes in the design at the least cost happens at the early part.

Other green considerations would include reduced energy and water consumption, improved indoor quality, recycling and material reuse, improved durability, longevity and low maintenance.

i think isa sa mga dapat unang matutunan ng mga Pinoy ang tamang pagrercycle:)

PIA Press Release
2009/05/30

Davao to turn green with USAID support
Davao City (30 May) -- Davao City's long-term goal of ultimately turning green is expected to become a reality with the help of the United States Agency for International Development.

USAID Office of Energy and Environment Chief Daniel C. Moore recently assured Councilor Rachel Zozobrado that USAID will "continue to support Davao City's initiatives." This was in response to resolution No. 01888-09 where the city council requested the National Economic Development Authority to include the city in the projects that will be implemented under the USAID-NEDA Assistance Agreement signed in September last year.

With that resolution, Moore said, the Davao City Sanggunian has reaffirmed its commitment to partner with USAID to continue to tackle the city's critical environmental concerns.

"Davao City has been a strong lifetime partner of USAID in addressing environmental problems through a number of partnerships," Moore said.

Among these, he said, is the Philippine Environmental Governance Project specifically aimed for coastal and forest resources management as well as solid waste management. Also included is the Sustainable Energy Development Program for cleaner through alternative fuels promotion and the Energy and Clear Air Project to reduce pollutive emissions.

"Davao City has one of the world's cleanest drinking water and these environment-focused programs will help us maintain the city's competitive advantage," Zozobrado said. (PR/PIA XI) [top]


PIA News (http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&r=R11&y=09&mo=05&fi=p090530.htm&no=01)

i think isa sa mga dapat unang matutunan ng mga Pinoy ang tamang pagrercycle:)

the infra for an effective recycling system is not yet in place (at least here in our place, baka sa iba meron na). Even if you recyle, the recycled materials have nowhere to go but on the same dump site with the other waste.:bash:

Government accused of destroying environment (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=474949&publicationSubCategoryId=63)
By Katherine Adraneda

MANILA, Philippines – Lawyers and environmental groups accused the government of “patrimonial malpractice” for destroying the environment amid projected impacts of global climate change.

Environment activist and lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr. led the launching of the simultaneous filing of “petitions to inquire” before concerned government agencies and local government units (LGUs) in various parts of the country to find out their compliance with environmental laws.

Dubbed as the Global Legal Action against Climate Change (GLACC), Oposa said the simultaneous filing of letters and petitions would spark political will in protecting the environment.

Oposa said the GLACC is a “transformation movement” aimed at raising public awareness to compel national and local government units to implement laws protecting the environment.

Oposa said LGUs and government agencies are under obligation to respond to their petition within 15 days, or face the “beginning of legal proceedings” against them.

“We have so many laws, in fact, enough to protect our environment but we have a problem in the enforcement or implementation of these laws. So, we tell our government officials to take action and carry out their mandate under the law,” Oposa said.

Oposa clarified that their group is not against the LGU and government agencies concerned.

“This action (petition) is to actually extend our hands of cooperation,” he said.

“If they are willing to comply then we can help them do it, we have the backing of technical experts on how we can do it… the time for talk is over; it’s time to take action.”

Oposa said they have filed over 200 petitions over the past two days, all of them sent to local chief executives and heads of national government agencies.

The petitions call on government officials to take immediate action on solid waste management and marine conservation, among other critical measures to protect the environment.

In launching the GLACC, the group also sent petitions to President Arroyo, through Presidential Adviser on Climate Change Secretary Heherson Alvarez and Undersecretary Carlos Garcia, requesting an update of the activities and accomplishments of each of the national agencies and task groups enjoined under Executive Order 774.

The executive order reorganizes the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change (PTFCC), tasking various government agencies to implement the Solid Waste Management Act, protect watersheds, and lead the swift implementation of the Renewable Energy Law.

^^^^

Truly.

The next president should be more aware and bias for environmental protection.

^^ Yeah especially in the Metro , the air quality is so bad.

And outside the metro what the government should do is educating people , I was so shocked to see people littering , urinating and defecating in beautiful places like beaches or forests.

Maybe we should ban pic-nics ?

SM pursues environmental programs (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=475101&publicationSubCategoryId=77)


MANILA, Philippines – The SM group of companies, a staunch advocate of environmental initiatives and eco-friendly pro-grams, reaffirmed its commitment to protect the environment and nurture the country’s natural resources at the recent commemoration of Earth Day at SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

At the Earth Day event, the SM group underscored the urgency of pursuing long-term environmental programs amid the increasing threat of climate change and the adverse effects of global warming.

In keeping with its environ-mental initiatives, the SM group pledged to pursue corporate social responsibility programs that promote solid waste management, recycling, clean air, water conservation, and energy efficiency. SM will continue to promote environmentally sound practices among tenants, retailers, consumers, communities, and the general public.

SM Supermalls’ Trash to Cash program encourages the public to sell recyclable materials such as paper and cardboard, empty ink cartridges, plastic bottles, and used batteries to buyers accredited by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Through SM Supermalls’ Trash to Cash initiative, waste segregation and the collection of recyclable materials are achieved responsibly and profitably.

Backed by over 8,000 tenants, SM has saved approximately 20,000 seven-year-old trees as a result of its recycling programs.

SM Supermalls’ Sustaining the Future project is taking concrete steps to improve waste manage-ment, water conservation, air quality, and energy efficiency.

SM Supermalls also launched a conference that generates aware-ness of eco-friendly products, practices, and solutions. Dubbed Green Retail Agenda, this envi-ronmental awareness campaign encourages stakeholders to go green through the use of sustai-nable materials.

Anchored on the theme “Tubig at lupa buhayin, hangin linisin, batas tuparin”, the Earth Day commemoration at SM Mall of Asia was attended by DENR Secretary Lito Atienza, United States Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney, Earth Day Network Philippines chairperson Elisea Gozun, and SM Supermalls vice president for operations (central) Lisa Silerio.

Silerio said “Earth Day marks another milestone in SM Super-malls as we reinforce our commit-ment in promoting programs that care for, protect, and enhance the environment. Earth Day reminds us that we have responsibilities that extend beyond our business, beyond our own backyard. It chal-lenges us to take seriously our role as caretakers of the natural envi-ronment.”

The Earth Day celebration was highlighted by the signing of a memorandum of agreement by the DENR and the city government of Mandaluyong, Quezon City, San Juan, and Caloocan City.

Bamboo nurseries set up in five cities (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=475102&publicationSubCategoryId=77)
By Rudy A. Fernandez

MANILA, Philippines – Interested in going into a bamboo-based business venture? Now, you have places to go for affordable but quality planting materials of different bamboo varieties.

Five nurseries for this purpose have been set up under a government project titled “Package of ERDB S&T Interventions on Nursery Establishment and Propagation of Commercial and Ornamental Bamboo Species”.

The project is spearheaded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (DENR-ERDB) and Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD).

The project team is led by ERDB science research specialist Paulino Umali Jr. Members are botanist Cristina Roxas and forester Lucas Gonzales.

ERDB told The STAR that bamboo nurseries have been set up in Mangatarem, Pangasinan; Magalang, Pampanga; Lipa City, Batangas; Los Baños and Nagcarlan, both in Laguna. Another nursery is planned to be put in Kawit, Cavite.

One farmer-cooperator was chosen in each site.

“Through this project, we are teaching farmers the effective and efficient techniques in bamboo propagation which ERDB has developed through research. One of our goals is to help them establish nurseries that sell cheap but quality planting materials of commercial and ornamental varieties of bamboo,” Umali said.

Propagation activities in the Pangasinan and Pampanga sites are going on. The propagules to be made available are ornamental varieties such as Chinese Goddess, variegated, wamin, dwarf, hedge, black, and yellow bamboos; and yellow buho.

“The nurseries that we are developing will sell not only ornamental bamboo varieties for landscaping but also those used for commercial purposes and plantation establishment. These varieties include kawayan tinik, giant bamboo, and machiku,” Umali said.

The project will also establish linkages between suppliers and buyers of the planting stocks to make sure that investors in bamboo nurseries will have markets to sell their produce. At the same time, buyers will be directed to nurseries that sell inexpensive but quality bamboo propagules.

Bamboo has a wide range of uses, among them for furniture, handicraft, coinstruction, and landscaping parks and lawns. Its edible shoots are marketed here and abroad.

Bamboo is also a good reforestation species because its roots can control soil erosion and, like trees, it can absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

DENR holds forum to promote low-carbon economy today (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=475479&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
By Katherine G. Adraneda

MANILA, Philippines - A forum to promote low carbon economy is set today at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), as part of initiatives on “greening” local industries to help in global efforts to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change and global warming.

DENR Secretary Lito Atienza said the forum, which will be held at the agency’s social hall, is expected to emphasize the importance and benefits of utilizing low carbon production practices for the country’s local industry sector.

The forum is among the DENR’s activities to highlight the celebration of June as the Philippine Environment Month, and in support of the World Environment Day last June 5 amid international consensus to combat climate change.

“The shift to a low carbon economy will change how industries operate, the products that we use and our lifestyles. Businesses and consumers can benefit from significant savings and resource efficiency measures that will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and help make our climate a safer one,” Atienza noted.

According to Atienza, resource persons for the forum are technical experts and leaders in the business sector, who will talk about topics on low carbon production patterns in various industry sectors.

Among those who will present their company’s best practices are representatives from the Philippine Business for the Environment, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Renewable Energy Association of the Philippines, and Holcim Philippines, Inc.

Particularly, the DENR chief said the conference discussion would focus on policies, strategies, regulatory and institutional framework as well as support services required by industry to shift to more sustainable patterns of production.

How countries in the region can best benefit from new opportunities created by the shift to a resource-efficient and low-carbon economy will also be tackled at the conference, he added.

Further, Atienza said the forum is in preparation for the Philippine hosting of the International Conference on Green Industry in Asia on Sept. 9-11 this year at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

He said the DENR is spearheading the hosting of the conference, in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/3173/0608akp01.jpg (http://img411.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0608akp01.jpg)
Philippine Eagle Foundation Biologist Jo Cruz assists a young visitor during the Animal Encounter at the SM City Davao on Sunday, June 7. The Animal Encounter is one of the highlights of the 11th Phillippine Eagle Week (PEW) celebration. PEW is celebrated every June 4-10, proclaimed under Presidential Decree 79 to raise awareness and support for the protection of the country’s national bird. PEW celebrations in the city are spearheaded by the Philippine Eagle Foundation in partnership with various government agencies, companies and individuals. AKP Images/Ruby Thursday More

Philippine Eagle Week celebrations bared

by Rebecca Espera

Davao City (2 June) -- "Kaligtasan ng Agila at Kalikasan, Kasaganaan ng Sambayanan", is the carrying theme for the celebration of the 11th Philippine Eagle Week (PEW) which will be this June 4-10, 2009 at the SM City Davao Entertainment plaza.

There will be a motorcade during the first day of the week long celebration that will start at Magsaysay going to Philippine Eagle Center. On the same day there will be an open house for the public to witness and have the opportunity to take photographs of the featured wildlife.

The highlights of the celebration are: Wildlife Photography Workshop and Competition in the company of Mr. Froilan Gallardo scheduled on June 5-8, a chance to see eagles and other wildlife up close in an animal encounter weekend on June 6 and 7, a variety show on June 7, with a wide array of exhibits and displays from PEF and its partners.

This celebration will be focusing more on the maintenance of the natural habitat of the eagles which would also benefit not just wildlife but also humans alike. Thus, the PEW is seeking to give significance to current efforts on Philippine Eagle and wildlife conservation to foster its aims.

The celebration is intended for stewardship and community accountability along with the means to inform each person and communities on how they can help keep our endangered eagles.

The said celebration is purposely an encouragement meant for Filipinos to be aware of the value of our likely possessions and responding to it by means of contributing to the eagle conservation work through donations, volunteerism or by taking on greener lifestyles. These efforts can mean a lot to the sustainability of our ecosystem. (PIA-XI) [top]

Green group urges ban on use of plastic bags (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20090611-209895/Green-group-urges-ban-on-use-of-plastic-bags)
By Alcuin Papa

Echoes UN call to reverse marine pollution

MANILA, Philippines—Local waste and pollution watchdog EcoWaste Coalition on Wednesday called on the government to heed the recent call of the United Nations to ban plastic bags which contribute to the pollution of our seas and the death of marine life.

Manny Calonzo, president of the EcoWaste Coalition, said it was time for the public and the government to take seriously the point made by Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) during World Oceans Day, that “single-use plastic bags that choke marine life should be banned or phased out rapidly everywhere." Steiner also stressed that “there is simply zero justification for manufacturing them any more, anywhere."

“We urge the government to impose an immediate phase-out on single-use plastic bags to protect the oceans and spur lifestyle change. We are one with UNEP and the ocean conservation groups in pressing for bold global and local action to save our marine ecosystems from further destruction due to plastic bags, cigarette butts and other garbage,” Calonzo said.

He added that they would mobilize concerned groups and individuals to urge the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to act on the UNEP’s plea.

“We will launch a signature drive that will petition the government to unilaterally ban plastic bags, promote ecological substitutes and practices, and incorporate marine litter prevention and reduction in the national solid waste management strategy,” Rei Panaligan, coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition, said.

Last June 8, the UNEP and the Ocean Conservancy released the report “Marine Litter: A Global Challenge,” which drew attention to the “environmental, economic, health and aesthetic problem” caused by marine litter.

The report's findings indicate that despite several international, regional and national efforts to reverse marine pollution, alarming quantities of rubbish thrown out to sea continue to endanger people's safety and health, entrap wildlife, damage nautical equipment and destroy coastal areas around the world.

The major land-based sources of marine litter, according to the report, include wastes from dumpsites located on the coast or banks of rivers; rivers and floodwaters; industrial outfalls; discharge from storm water drains; untreated municipal sewerage; littering of beaches and coastal picnic and recreation areas; tourism and recreational use of the coasts; fishing industry activities; ship-breaking yards; and natural storm related events.

The major sea-based sources of marine litter include shipping (merchant, public transport, pleasure, naval and research vessels) and fishing (vessels, angling and fish farming) activities; offshore mining and extraction (vessels, and oil and gas platforms); legal and illegal dumping at sea; abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear; and natural disasters.

Last Monday, the EcoWaste Coalition proposed to the National Solid Waste Management Commission the phase out and ban single-use plastic products and packaging that have low or non-existing recycling levels.

The coalition has been actively campaigning for the use of “bayong” (native woven bag) and other reusable alternatives to replace disposable bags.

“We now know how the pervasive plastic pollution is killing or maiming the wildlife, ruining the beaches and threatening the livelihood of our fishers and coastal communities. The time for decisive and vigorous action is now,” the coalition said.

RP one of unsafest places on Earth (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20090617-210874/RP-one-of-unsafest-places-on-Earth)
By Michael Lim Ubac

GENEVA—Because of its exposure to natural hazards, the Philippines is one of the unsafest places on earth.

Based on a new Mortality Risk Index (MRI) released by the United Nations’ International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) on Monday, the Philippines ranks No. 12 among 200 countries and territories whose populations are most at risk from earthquakes, floods, tropical cyclones and landslides.

The top five unsafe places based on the MRI are Bangladesh, China, Colombia, India, and Indonesia.

These countries are most threatened by four “sudden onset hazards” that have increased in frequency and resulted in more deaths in the last 30 years—the period covered by the study.

The results of the study were released during a press conference at the UN office here in Switzerland presided by Margareta Wahlstrom, UN assistant secretary general and special representative for disaster risk reduction, and Sen. Loren Legarda, the UNISDR regional champion for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation for Asia Pacific.

On the other hand, the top five safest countries and territories are Bahrain, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Isle of Man.

These places have registered “zero” hazards—no earthquakes, floods, cyclones and landslides—from 1977 to 2007.

Grim scenario

Emmanuel de Guzman, UNISDR advisor for Asia Pacific, explained the country’s poor ranking in the MRI: “The Philippines is not only situated within the Pacific ring of fire, it is also visited by 20 devastating typhoons every year, resulting in the loss of lives and livelihood, destruction of infrastructure, worsening poverty and further setbacks to economic gains.”

Sen. Legarda said the Philippines was one of the 10 “most vulnerable” island-countries in the world, “but at the same time, one of the richest in terms of biodiversity.”

“So this grim scenario around the world compels governments to incorporate disaster risk reduction strategies into development policies, and create contingency and adaptation plans in the national-local levels,” she said.

The new MRI was made public on the eve of the opening of the Second Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Reduction (DRR) here in Geneva, which aims to assess strategies to reduce disaster losses around the planet.

Climate change

According to Legarda, the MRI is part of the Global Assessment Report on DRR, by far the “most authoritative study on the prevailing threats to nations which show that disaster risks are increasing, driven by poor urban governance, vulnerable rural livelihood and ecosystems decline.”

She explained that natural hazards can’t be stopped.

“But we can mitigate their impact and prevent disasters,” she said, explaining that “vulnerabilities come in any form—like unsafe schools and hospitals because they were built, not based on risk assessment studies but on the type of infrastructure and poverty level.”

“These natural risks are turbo-charged by climate change, which will magnify the disaster impact on the poor and most vulnerable sectors,” Legarda said.

Climate change, also dubbed as global warming, is caused by a host of factors with the massive concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as the chief culprit, resulting in rising global temperature and sea levels.

Legarda’s address

With the planet in peril, Legarda Tuesday called for a new development paradigm that would help save the planet and usher in a safer environment amid the worsening effects of global warming.

Legarda, addressing the opening session of the four-day Second Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Reduction (DRR) here, called attention to the role played by humanity’s “insatiable desire” for wealth that has left the environment irreparably destroyed.

The senator called on world leaders gathered at the Centre International de Conférences de Genève to “decisively seize and reduce disaster risks more effectively.”

She blamed the effects of natural hazards, aggravated by unbridled progress around the world, on the “failing economic model” of the west.

Time to make a change

“The time to make that a difference is now. Humanity’s future depends upon us. Let us be the change we seek,” Legarda said.

She also said that today’s state of socioeconomic affairs championed by the United States and the rest of the developed nations should not be “business-as-usual.”

“It is high time for the world to slow down this contemporary development practices,” said the senator, in remarks which could unsettle Western nations that have championed capitalism as the main driver of economic growth since the 18th century.

Legarda lashed at contemporary development practices, describing it as “irresponsible since they have allowed disaster risks to grow, to spread and to prevail until today.”

Storm clouds gathering

In a prerecorded message at the beginning of the program, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon warned that “the storm clouds are gathering” as he called for a concerted action globally to mitigate the effects of a warming temperature.

“Risk reduction is an investment,” he said, pointing out that it was humanity’s defense against climate change.

The UN secretary general was supposed to deliver the keynote address to conclude the opening program, but as he was absent, Legarda was the last one to deliver her speech, which was the most applauded.

Heads of state

The heads of state present were Hans-Rudolf Merz, president of the Swiss Confederation; Anote Tong, president of Kiribati; Raila Odinga, prime minister of Kenya; Bruce Golding, prime minister of Jamaica; and Libertina Amathila, prime minister of Namibia.

They all spoke during the opening of the session along with other African and Asian leaders like Issatou Njie Saidy; vice president of Gambia; Rafael Alburquerque, vice president of Dominican Republic; Liew Vui Keong, deputy prime minister of Malaysia; and Mohammed Abdul Razzague, minister of food security and disaster management of Bangladesh.

The four-day global summit brings together a wide cross-section of the global disaster risk reduction experts and advocates, including heads of state, senior ministers, UN agencies, nongovernment organizations and scientific and technical experts.

This year’s assembly attended by over 1,500 delegates will examine the increasing disaster risks around the world, which are exacerbated by climate change, with the aim of reducing disaster losses and risks to make the planet safer.

ADB: Asia Pacific key against climate change (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20090617-210905/ADB-Asia-Pacific-key-against-climate-change)
By Amy R. Remo

MANILA, Philippines—Countries in the Asia-Pacific region have been urged to draw long-term solutions and invest more in green technology to combat the adverse effects of climate change.

The Asia Pacific region already accounts for about a third of global greenhouse emissions.

Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda warned that Asia's share of global greenhouse gas emissions could even run up to more than 40 percent by 2030, "quickly making this region the main driver of climate change."

"(The Asia Pacific region) is certainly at a critical crossroad. In recent decades, rapid development has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty while bringing the region as a whole to higher living standards," Kuroda said in his speech at the High-Level Dialogue on Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific. The forum, which runs until Friday, is hosted by ADB.

"Along with this economic expansion however, has been a rise in environmental pollution -- including greenhouse gas emissions," Kuroda added.

Rajendra K. Pachauri, director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), also stressed that the Asia Pacific region should take the lead in drawing up solutions because of the fast growth in its population compared with those of other regions.
"Even if we halt emissions to zero today, the effects of climate change will continue for seven decades," Pachauri warned.

According to the ADB, reducing gas emissions to sustainable levels is the key, with Asia's response deemed as most critical since the region's sharp economic growth in recent decades has made it the fastest growing source of new emissions and it will soon be the largest absolute source.

An Oxfam international study estimated that at the least $50 billion would be required per year to support adaptation measures in developing countries like the Philippines if current emission rates were stabilized.

Pachauri, who is also the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) in India, also noted that the region has been most vulnerable to climate change in terms of fresh water supply, crop yields, coastal and marine ecosystems, and employment, among others.

Pachauri said that the impact of climate change has been aggravated by multiple stressors such as population growth and conflict.

ADB further warned that rising temperatures and extreme weather events would likely reduce crop yields by as much as 10 percent as early as 2020, putting 132 million people at risk of extreme hunger by 2050.

"Global consensus already tells us that 1.2 billion people could experience freshwater scarcity by 2020," Kuroda added. Fresh water supply is expected to decrease in Southeast, Central, East and South Asia.

Experts also urged developed countries to reduce gas emissions by 2020, by as much as 40 percent to avoid adverse effects of global warming, which is expected to lead to floods, higher sea levels, droughts and worsening storms.

A total of 24-34 percent of coral reefs would likely be lost while the region's coastal megacities, which included Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta, Karachi, Mumbai and Shanghai will face increased flooding and damage from unpredictable weather patterns.

Pachauri said that these scenarios should thus prompt countries worldwide to band together to reduce gas emissions. Combating climate change should become part of development strategies, he added.

"This requires a new paradigm of development, new metrics to measure development," he said.

Kuroda also called on countries to "escalate our efforts to put the region on a path of low carbon growth."

Although 75 percent of the power sector gas emissions in 2020 were already "locked in," investments in the next decade would be critical to a low carbon future in the longer term, ADB said.

To help countries make adjustments and adaptations to counter climate change, ADB has developed a three-pronged strategy.

For one, it is now analyzing climate change consequences and identifying cost effective measures to improve infrastructure and shield populations from adverse impacts. It is now earmarked Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta and Kolkata for its analysis.

Second, ADB is now "climate proofing" infrastructure and project designs to ensure they take into account predicted future changes and other negative climate events.

The third consisted of specific, defensive measures to reduce climate change impacts, particularly in Central Asia, where it is helping countries develop drought-resistant crops, improve irrigation, among others.

First Gas renews commitment to effort vs global warming (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=479495&publicationSubCategoryId=77)


MANILA, Philippines – Lopez-controlled First Gas Power Corp. (First Gas) has reaffirmed its commitment to help in the worldwide effort against global warming and climate change by supporting the recently concluded World Environment Day (WED) celebrations organized and hosted by Batangas City.

WED, annual event mandated by the United Nations, aims to drum up public awareness about the need to protect the environment and mitigate problems, like destructive floods and other extreme weather conditions, that accompany global warming.

First Gas, which operates two clean, natural gas-fired power plants in Batangas City supported preparations of Batangas City in hosting the 2009 WED. Ed Aurelio C. Reyes, secretary-general of WED Philippines, commended Batangas City and its mayor Eduardo B. Dimacuha, the concurrent chairman of WED Philippine 2009, for holding so far the most well-organized WED celebration.

As a unit of First Gen Corp. (First Gen), the support of First Gas to the UN-mandated event transcends the weeklong WED celebrations.

First Gen, the primary holding company for the power generation and energy-related businesses of the Lopez Group, is the country’s leading clean and renewable company.

Like other First Gen units, First Gas undertakes environmental activities that require not just token attention but daily care and scientific monitoring. Showcased during the weeklong celebration was the monitoring result on the underwater environment at the jetty of the power station, showing video footages of the thriving marine environment underneath it.

Photos of the forest tree nursery project at the plant site were also made part of the exhibit.

The nursery project is in support of the Green Philippines Program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Over 14,000 tree seedlings were donated to various stakeholders to coincide with their respective tree-planting activities during the celebration.

Aside from tree-planting activities, the environmental projects of First Gas include an integrated program to protect and enhance a mangrove area adjacent to its 1,500-megawatt plants.

Mangroves play an important role in protecting the environment, because - aside from serving as a nursery for young fish and crustaceans - they also work like a biological filter for estuarine waters and act as a carbon sink to capture and store carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

From a mere patch of a mangrove in 2001, with only three recorded species, the mangrove area of First Gas has become home to at least 28 species, making it a habitat where fish fingerlings and crabs hatch and thrive to maturity. First Gas regularly releases these fish and crabs to the adjacent rivers to help the marginal fishing community increase its harvest.

First Gas also conducts a regular cleanup of its beach area behind its power plant facilities. With the regular cleanup, the beach has become a rare nesting site for some Olive Ridley turtles. The First Gas compound has also been home to several species of migratory birds, such as the Chinese egrets and intermediate egrets during their annual flight.

The environment activities of First Gas forms part of First Gen’s commitment to remain the country’s leading clean and renewable energy firm. Under that commitment, First Gen has integrated greening activities into its business plans and programs, designed to sustain resources, such as water, that are vital in operating its plants.

DENR streamlines issuance of environmental permits (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=479780&publicationSubCategoryId=66)


MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has announced plans to implement a “drastic” streamlining of the procedures in the issuances of environmental permits in a bid to stamp out corruption and lure more local and foreign investors into the country.

In press conference, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza said the prompt issuance of permits would strengthen the monitoring of industries or activities that impact on the environment such as mining, eco-tourism and agro-forestry in the regional level.

Atienza noted that the streamlining of issuances of permits entails the removal of “unnecessary” requirements with the filing of application for environmental permits.

Atienza said the streamlining would include the issuance of environmental compliance certificate (ECC), certificate for non-coverage (CNC), mining permits, among others.

The DENR chief said he is merely “awaiting the President’s nod” as he expressed confidence that President Arroyo would approve the DENR proposal.

“As long as applicants are able to submit basic requirements of DENR environmental concerns, they are given a set of conditionalities to ensure that they take care of the environment,” Atienza pointed out.

According to Atienza, the DENR targets to shorten the issuance of CNC from two to three months to just one day; of ECC from more than three months will to only three weeks;of mining permits from 17 weeks to just seven weeks.

“We are taking serious moves to conduct reforms that will benefit all. Streamlining will reduce corruption if the rules are very simple…then there is no room for graft and corruption,” Atienza said.

“If we will not streamline…we will never attract, primarily local investments. If rules are unreasonably tight and strict…graft and corruption is imminent,” he also said.

KIpt_BIrIzM&feature=related

Thousands plant trees in Davao Oriental
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:25:00 06/22/2009

Filed Under: Environmental Issues

BANAYBANAY, Davao Oriental, Philippines—Thousands of students, environmentalists, village officials, mothers, farmers, and fishermen in the province went out to the streets Monday morning and formed a human chain, lining up along the 266-kilometer stretch of road that connects this town and the farthest coastal town of Boston, to plant around 100,000 forest and fruit trees.

The event was part of Davao Oriental’s target to plant one million trees this year as the provincial government’s commitment to the campaign against global warming. At the end of 2011, it is hoped that the trees planted, not only along the roadsides but also in former forested areas, will reach five million.

There are at least 90 protected areas and tourist spots in Davao Oriental’s 11 towns, including Mt. Hamiguitan, known for its bonsai forest which has been declared a national park and nominated as World Heritage Site to the Unesco.

The province remains known for its thick and mineral-rich forest covers, although many of these areas—also identified either as national protected areas and ancestral domain of indigenous peoples—are now being threatened by mining and illegal logging operations. Even a portion of Mt. Hamiguitan is being eyed by foreign companies for nickel mining.

Governor Corazon Malanyaon said the tree planting event is hoped to “re-green” the entire province and to contribute to the “abatement of global warming and control of environmental degradation.”

Malanyaon recently issued Executive Order 06 that institutionalized the One Million Tree Project and declared every 22nd day of June as tree planting day for Davao Oriental.

Heherson Alvarez, presidential adviser for global warming and climate change, lauded the project as it signaled that the government’s campaign against global warming, through the Carbon Cutting Coalition versus Global Climate, is gaining headway in the provinces.

“We have to wake up as the country is extremely vulnerable (to environmental catastrophe),” said Alvarez who was here Monday as the guest speaker.

PDI (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20090622-211904/Thousands-plant-trees-in-Davao-Oriental)

DENR ordered to expand reforestation projects
The Philippine Star (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=481508&publicationSubCategoryId=63)


MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo ordered yesterday the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to expand reforestation projects in the country.

Mrs. Arroyo has “instructed the Cabinet, particularly the DENR, to pursue an expanded reforestation program” for the country which has among the highest deforestation rates in the region, National Economic and Development Authority Deputy Director General and deputy presidential spokesman Rolando Tungpalan said.

“This is the message I personally convey when I meet with the donor community insofar as the importance of the forest protection and forest cover both to development and protection is discussed,” Tungpalan told a news briefing at the Palace.

Tungpalan noted the statements made by Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara citing the study of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that showed the Philippines has one of the highest annual deforestation rates in East and Southeast Asia at 1.4 percent.

Tungpalan said the Philippine government is seeking to increase official development assistance from Japan for reforestation.

Under negotiations is $106 million forest management program from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The government is also negotiating the $3.7 million Mindanao Sustainable Settlement Area Development Project; $84.25 million Project on Forestlands Management in Cagayan and Pampanga; and the $120 million Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Program from the ADB and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Between the ongoing foreign-funded reforestation and environment projects are the National Programme Support for Environmental and Natural Resources from the World Bank amounting to $52.5 million.

Other foreign-funded reforestation projects include the $59 million Integrated Coastal Resources Management from the ADB; and the $10.1 million Community-based Forest Management-Visayas from Germany.

Scientists alarmed: climate is changing faster than predicted
By ELLALYN B. DE VERA
Manila Bulletin (http://mb.com.ph/node/204354)


Some 2,000 international scientists warned that “climate change is picking up pace,” as new evidence of the climate phenomenon has been discovered.

The 36-page report summarized from 1,400 studies by some 2,000 scientists showed that there is new scientific evidence that ocean temperatures, sea levels, extreme climate conditions and the retreat of the Arctic sea ice have picked up more pace than experts predicted in the 2007 report by the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

It said huge stores of gases such as methane trapped for hundreds of years in the Arctic permafrost due to human activity “may be starting to leak into the atmosphere.”

Scientists said methane is a more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, which has been known to have contributed to the “speeding up of the (global) warming process.”

“The natural capacity of the oceans and forests to absorb CO2 created by the burning of fossil fuels has also been compromised,” the research showed.

The summarized report from 1,400 studies, which were presented at a climate conference last March in Copenhagen, was written and reviewed by many of the scientists who compiled the benchmark IPCC report in 2007.

The condensed study was released last June 18.

“The world faces a growing risk of abrupt and irreversible climatic shifts,” scientists warned.

The experts pointed out that “deep and early emission cuts” are critical to slow down the warming process.

“Rapid, sustained and effective mitigation is required to avoid dangerous climate change,” they said, as they convinced world leaders who will convene in Copenhagen, Denmark in December to make serious efforts to formalize a new climate agreement before the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

The Kyoto protocol is an agreement among countries that set the standards for cuts in carbon emissions to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The Philippines proposed a cut in greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30 to 40 percent from 2013 to 2017, and more than 50 percent from 2018 to 2022 from 1990 levels.

The new table of emission reductions will be agreed upon and presented by parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change during the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.

United Nations (UN) officials stressed that renewable and clean energy offer the world hope not only in combating climate change but also in reversing the global economic crisis.

“The prospects for renewable energy have never looked better, even in the face of recession," UN General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto said.

RP firms emerge as most friendly (http://http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=481941&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
By Ma. Elisa P. Osorio Updated June 29, 2009 12:00 AM


MANILA, Philippines - Filipino businesses were ranked as the most environment friendly when compared to other countries, based on a survey conducted by the Grant Thornton International Business Report released by audit, tax and business advisory firm Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A).

According to the survey, the Philippines emerged at the top, with 78 percent of local privately held businesses (PHBs) saying they consider their business community to be ‘very friendly’ or ‘friendly’ to the environment.

The other countries in the top five were India, Thailand, Denmark and Finland. The report said that despite the global downturn, a number of Philippine businesses are still prepared to introduce ‘green’ practices even if those green practices have a negative effect on the bottom line.

“This is a very encouraging sign, that the Philippine business community is taking the ‘green movement’ seriously as opposed to just treating it like a fad or a trend,” said Greg Navarro, managing partner and CEO of P&A.

“I think that more and more business leaders are embracing the idea that environmentally friendly practices do not have to be in opposition to their business strategies. They can actually incorporate these practices into their mission and build a sustainable business,” he added.

The IBR survey also asked respondents if they would establish environmentally friendly projects even if these were to negatively impact their bottom line. Majority or 64 percent of Filipino business leaders said they would, compared to 34 percent who said they would forgo such practices.

“Despite the downturn, profit is clearly not the only factor driving PHBs, which makes sense,” Navarro said.

“At this point, adopting ‘green’ practices is becoming a self-rewarding decision, since consumers are also more conscious about patronizing companies that work at being environmentally friendly. It is heartening to know that consumers may be willing to pay premium prices for free-trade products or services rendered by green companies,” Navarro added.

Examples of companies that have worked to balance business and environmental needs are Megaworld and Ayala Land. Both property developers have set aside significant areas of their developments for open space and greenery, a major portion that could easily have been used for additional residential or commercial units.

Editorial - An important movement
Sunday, 28 June 2009 12:56
PDF
BY the end of 2009, a million new trees shall have been planted and cared for in various parts of Davao Oriental. By 2010, a total of two million trees shall have gone up and eventually reaching five million in 2011.
This ambitious, albeit doable tree-planting program called Million Trees Movement, was started last June 12 with the simultaneous planting of 200,000 trees along the 300-kilometer highway connecting the province’s 11 towns.
The synchronized multi-sectoral activity, timed with the country’s 111th Independence Day celebration, was led by Governor Corazon N. Malanyaon who was in the town of Banaybanay, particularly in Barangay Pintatagan where the governor likewise formally opened the Welcome Park.
The importance of the re-greening of Davao Oriental, where the region’s remaining timber stand is just about gone, cannot be gainsaid, to borrow a hackneyed term. Nobody can deny the role trees play in mitigating the horror of creeping global warming. No wonder, the formal launch was graced by the presence of Secretary Heherzon Alvarez, presidential adviser on climate change. Alvarez witnessed the covenant signing of Davao Oriental’s membership in the Carbon Cutting Coalition v. Climate Change.
The province’s commitment to the Coalition includes supporting national policies and enactment of ordinances for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and reduction of greenhouse gases through energy conservation, solid waste management, and stemming of deforestation by arresting and punishing violators. On top of these, Governor Malanyaon has launched a massive information campaign on climate change and what every citizen can do to mitigate it.
As carbon cutting coalition member, Davao Oriental has joined Cebu and Davao del Norte as provinces committed to the reduction of carbon emissions.
It’s too early to tell, but properly implemented, the re-greening program may yet be the best thing that ever happened to Davao Oriental.
But, of course, many Dabawenyos are probably wondering whether the families who got rich from the logging boom would join in the massive re-greening program not only in Davao but the entire country. These families are very much around and continue to wield economic and political power.
Guess who?

Edge Davao (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=517953)

^^^^a very commendable effort!:cheers::)

grabe global warming ang init nitong june! daapt umuulan na! damnit!

just finished watching "HOME"

jqxENMKaeCU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU

we would all die if we dont help each other.

dont be wasteful. be practical.

don't buy a car if there's no serious need for it. honestly, i want the government to implement a program that would enable people to use mass transit like bus or trains. and dont buy too many house if you dont really need them. and please dont go make babies just because you are in heat. dont often change your celfons and gadgets because in it are components that are harvested from the earth. a small contribution can mean a lot. we have only one home, the earth. over-exploitation of its resources will kill it and when earth is dead, all of us will die too.

^^ no video?

Philippines going green with buri grocery bags
http://archive.gulfnews.com/world/Philippines/10330102.html

By Gilbert Felongco, Correspondent
Published: July 09, 2009, 22:46

Manila: The Philippine government plans to promote a native bag made from woven buri, as a biodegradable alternative to plastic grocery carriers.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Merly Cruz said consumers plan to launch a campaign to promote the lowly buri bag as an alternative to their ubiquitous plastic counterparts.

Cruz said consumers' bias against plastics are is obvious. It is non-biodegradable and can contribute to environmental problems such as clogging of waterways and pollution.

Buri bags on the other hand, can be reused several times and have a pleasing appearance.

Editorial - An important movement
Sunday, 28 June 2009 12:56
PDF
BY the end of 2009, a million new trees shall have been planted and cared for in various parts of Davao Oriental. By 2010, a total of two million trees shall have gone up and eventually reaching five million in 2011.
This ambitious, albeit doable tree-planting program called Million Trees Movement, was started last June 12 with the simultaneous planting of 200,000 trees along the 300-kilometer highway connecting the province’s 11 towns.


^^ this is indeed an excellent project! :cheers::cheers::banana::banana:

sana meron din ganyan sa ibang parts ng Pilipinas...

kung meron nyan dito sa Luzon, i'm willing to join... :)

^^ this is indeed an excellent project! :cheers::cheers::banana::banana:

sana meron din ganyan sa ibang parts ng Pilipinas...

kung meron nyan dito sa Luzon, i'm willing to join... :)

I agree. It would be helpful if there is a legislation in limiting the use of plastic bags...

I agree. It would be helpful if there is a legislation in limiting the use of plastic bags...

^^ buti nga eh sumisikat nauuso na ngayon yung mga bag na hindi gawa sa plastic... it's good to see that people are becoming more aware of the effects of climate change... :)

DENR no longer issuing tree cutting permits (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/167145/DENR-no-longer-issuing-tree-cutting-permits)

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) will no longer issue tree-cutting permits to preserve the remaining vegetative cover of the country.

Instead, proponents will be issued tree balling permits instead so they can transplant the trees in other areas, DENR Secretary Jose Atienza Jr. said.

“We are making it clear that we will not allow any cutting down of trees to give way to any development project anywhere in the country, even those covered by environmental compliance certificates (ECCs), mining permits or any other construction and development permits for that matter," Atienza said in a statement.

From now on, he said project developers and proponents must design their projects in accordance with the position of the trees in the area.

If clearing the area could not be avoided, Atienza said the affected trees shall be transferred to other areas through tree-balling.

During a recent consultation meeting, Atienza proposed a reduction in the number of days allotted for the processing of ECC and certificate of non-coverage (CNC) by removing the unnecessary requirements blocking investments into the country.

He also announced the strengthening of the DENR’s capability in monitoring environmental compliance of projects by securing the active participation of NGOs, people'" organizations and other stakeholders in multipartite monitoring teams that will be established for each project.

The Philippines has a land area of 30 million hectares.

But the DENR’s Forest Management Bureau said that while close to 16 million hectares of the land is categorized as forest land, only 7.2 million hectares remain actual forested areas as of 2003.

The DENR defines forests as areas measuring at least one-half hectare, where canopies of trees cover a minimum 10 percent of the territory concerned and where trees are least five meters high.

The DENR and Environmental Science for Social Change, Inc. have also previously said that the remaining hectares of primary forests have already been “heavily degraded."

It said that land use conversion, illegal logging, the slash-and-burn farming practice or kaingin, pests and diseases as well as forest fire as among causes of forest depletion.- with Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV

:cheers:

good job

http://www.irg-p.com.ph/images/bluetheme/header.jpg

Ongoing Projects

ECO–Asia Clean Development Programme (USAID funded)

The U.S. Agency for International Development has initiated the ECO-Asia Clean Development Programme to promote policy and market transformation in Asia and encourage strategic investments in clean technologies in the region. Specifically, the programme will identify and promote activities that increase investment in clean technologies and lead to their expansion and scale-up. The programme is a 3-year regional programme covering China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Based on a comprehensive regional analysis of clean energy priorities, the programme has identified three priority areas where it will focus its actions to achieve results: (1) end-use efficiency, with focus on compact fluorescent lamps; (2) improved efficiency of coal power supply; and (3) support to accelerate financing of clean energy technologies. Program activities in these sectors will be built around three pillars: increasing policy and market incentives, mobilizing finance and deploying clean energy technologies, and regional information sharing to accelerate deployment.

For the above project, the IRG-Philippines is providing the services of the Project Coordinator for the Philippines tasked among others to lead the development and implementation of specific activities in the Philippines within the priorities of the programme, provide technical inputs to programme elements that are specific to the Philippines and develop and sustain relationships with Philippine stakeholders.

about IRG-P (http://www.irg-p.com.ph/aboutus/index.html)

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/1016/philippineeagle1.jpg (http://img510.imageshack.us/i/philippineeagle1.jpg/)
A photo by Klaus Nigge of National Geographic (http://www.blogcatalog.com/search.frame.php?term=philippine+eagle+photos&id=1110e4264c256d0162ff2a00e7a24613)showing the feeding of a baby Philippine Eagle in the captive-breeding program at the Philippine Eagle Foundation near Davao, Mindanao. Workers cover their hands with eagle-head puppets when feeding eagle chicks to help prevent the birds’ imprinting on humans.
Philippine Eagle locally known as Haribon or Haring Ibon (Bird King) is considered the largest eagle in the world. But these birds are nearing its extinction because of the massive exploitation of our forests.


Green Philippines (http://www.blogcatalog.com/search.frame.php?term=philippine+eagle+photos&id=1110e4264c256d0162ff2a00e7a24613)

hehehe, peke yung Nanay nya:D
ang laki nga, sisiw pa lang parang mas malaki pa sa manok.

Haven't seen a thread here that talks about clean water, so here it is.

:cheers:

Do we already have desalination plants here in the Philippines?

Haven't seen a thread here that talks about clean water, so here it is.

:cheers:

Do we already have desalination plants here in the Philippines?

Merged with the Environmental Protection thread? Hmmm, too general, I think water supply deserves a thread of its own, since its "other end" Sanitation and Sewage has its own thread.

It's like the parts of a house, there are the cold and hot water lines, which is a system, and then there's the sewage lines, which also uses water but is a different system. Lumping it under environmental protection is like putting "cold and hot water" lines under the parts of the roof.

*bump*

Do any of you know of Desalination Plants here in the Philippines?

Global body hails RP environment programs (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=494244&publicationSubCategoryId=77)
By Marianne V. Go

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a global partnership comprising 178 countries, international institutions, private sector groups and non-government organizations committed to address global environmental issues, lauded the Philippines for its high absorptive capacity in carrying out projects funded by the institution.

The projects pertain to biodiversity, climate change, protection of marine life in international waters, and other initiatives on the sustainable management of the world’s natural resources.

The praise was relayed by GEF officials led by Alfred Duda, its senior advisor on international waters; Nicole Graneur, its program director for biodiversity and Rawleston Moore, its adaptation and country relations officer to Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap during a meeting at the institution’s headquarters in Washington DC.

Yap is in Washington as part of the official delegation of President Arroyo to the United States.

The GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.

The GEF has so far provided financial aid totaling $173 million (roughly equivalent to P8.3 billion) to the Philippines.

During his meeting with GEF officials, Yap thanked the organization for its continuing support for DA projects and the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), of which the Philippines is a member.

Projects funded by the GEF include the preservation of the Verde Island Passage between Batangas and Mindoro.

The Verde Island passage is considered “the center of the center” of the world’s marine biodiversity with the highest number of species —1,736 in all, found in a single 10 by 10 kilometer square area.

Yap reiterated the Philippines’ called for concerted global action to protect the Coral Triangle, a 5.7-million-square-kilometer area in the Indo-Pacific Ocean that contains 67 percent of the world’s marine resources, against manmade threats such as over fishing, the proliferation of non-biodegradable wastes and other forms of ecological degradation.

The Philippines and five other countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste border the Coral Triangle.

The Coral Triangle is in great peril from direct human induced stresses such as sedimentation, over fishing, proliferation of non-biodegradable wastes, as well as coral bleaching and other effects which are the direct results of climate change.

Fisherfolk can take advantage of climate change, says BFAR (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=494245&publicationSubCategoryId=77)


MANILA, Philippines - Instead of becoming victims of climate change, the country’s fisherfolk can adapt to this unwanted phenomenon even to their own advantage.

This is the objective behind the many technologies that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will showcase in the forthcoming Agrilink, Foodlink and Aqualink, the country’s biggest and most prestigious annual international trade show on agribusiness, food and aquaculture.

BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento said his agency was embarking on a campaign that would educate the public on how to take advantage of climate change.

The campaign, according to Sarmiento, may include the declaration of a “Climate Change Awareness Week” involving symposia and other public educational activities.

“The rise of sea level resulting from climate change creates wider area for the culture of certain marine species like abalone, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and other varieties of shell and fin fishes that adapt well to extreme shifts in weather patterns,” Sarmiento said.

For similar reasons, some 700 hectares of rice lands in Bulacan and Pampanga have been slowly converted into fishponds for brackish water tilapia because of saline water intrusion.

BFAR is also encouraging fisherfolk to shift from fish hunting to fish farming using its sea cage technology and mariculture parks.

Fisherfolk can rent fish cages from BFAR, which will also provide them with fingerlings, while aquaculture firm Tateh Aqua Feeds will supply them the initial feed requirements.

“Actually, the answer to climate change is farming, not hunting. Climate change affects migratory patterns and spawning processes in the wild, making it hard for fisherfolk to hunt. On the other hand, hatcheries, wherein the weather can be controlled and adjusted, will bring forth continuous breeding and more fruitful yield,” Sarmiento pointed out.

“We are thus teaching the most vulnerable sector — the marginal fishermen — how to adapt to changing weather conditions. We are also teaching them new trades because scientists say that climate change will mostly affect wildlife. So we’re already preparing the fishermen,” Sarmiento added as he stressed its impact on food security on four fronts – availability, stability, access and utilization.

Apart from promoting and educating fisherfolk on the effects of climate change, BFAR plans to import 500 pairs of cold-tolerant tilapia from Israel and another 500 pairs of grass-eating tilapia, which Sarmiento believes can help arrest the increasing prices of feeds where fish meal is a major component.

These are just some of the measures that BFAR will unveil at the Agrilink, Foodlink, and Aqualink 2009 slated at the World Trade Center Metro Manila on Oct. 8 to 10.

For more information, call event organizer Foundation for Resource Linkage and Development (tel. 8384549, 8384852; fax 8384573; or email frld@pldtdsl.net).

Supported by 20 national trade associations with ABS-CBN as media partner, the triple events include an international exhibit, technology seminars, live plant and animal display, product demonstrations, marketing presentations, wholesale and retail, and many other business activities.

Australia gives RP P123 million for climate change mitigation projects
By Helen Flores
philstar.com
(http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=498289&publicationSubCategoryId=130)Updated August 22, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Australian government donated yesterday P123 million to finance three new projects that aim to further strengthen the country’s capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Australian ambassador to the Philippines Rod Smith said the Philippines is one of the two countries in Southeast Asia that are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The other is Indonesia which the Australian government is also assisting in its disaster risk reduction programs, Smith said.

Peter Jensen, Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) Development counsellor, said the Philippines is “very good” in terms of implementing disaster risk reduction programs.

Smith said the projects that will be implemented by various government and non-government agencies include: “Improving Disaster Risk Reduction Knowledge Management Systems in the Philippines,” “Strengthening Natural Hazard Risk Assessment Capacity in the Philippines,” and “Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in Local Development Planning and Decision-Making Processes in the Philippines.”

“Australia supports the Philippine government’s effort in disaster risk reduction. While disasters cannot be avoided, we can significantly reduce the exposure and vulnerability of our people by increasing their knowledge and understanding of natural hazards,” Smith said during the 13th Asia Pacific Policy Forum at the Renaissance Hotel in Makati City.

Smith said the Australian government will work with the National Economic and Development Authority and the United Nations Development Program on the implementation of the project dubbed “Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in Local Development Planning and Decision-Making Processes in the Philippines.”

Smith said the project will help integrate disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in local development planning.

He said the Australian government will also work with different stakeholders in enhancing the National Action Plan on Climate Change that will focus on disaster risk reduction.

The project will receive a funding of P87.5 million and will be implemented this year until 2011.

Smith said they will provide additional funding of P500, 000 to the National Disaster Coordinating Council for the continuous implementation of the project “Strengthening Natural Hazard Risk Assessment Capacity in the Philippines.”

The project – which is being undertaken by the NDCC along with the Collective Strengthening of Community Awareness of Natural Disasters and Geoscience Australia – includes technical assistance on introducing climate change vulnerability modeling and enhancing the Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System (REDAS) tool developed by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

The program will also provide assistance to other scientific agencies such as the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, National Mapping and Resources Authority, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration to increase understanding of how risk and impact can be assessed for other natural hazards and how these can be integrated into the REDAS.

“Australia will provide technical assistance to NAMRIA to improve the quality and timeliness of geospatial information. NAMRIA will work with other agencies involved in disaster risk management and to produce more accurate and timely information to emergency stakeholders and threatened communities to assist them to better prepare for natural disasters,” Smith said.

The third project entitled “Improving Disaster Risk Reduction Knowledge Management Systems in the Philippines,” will be implemented by Oxfam-Philippines, an international non-government agency that works on livelihoods, education, work in disasters, and ensuring poor communities have access to and control of their assets.

The project will be given a P19-million funding and will be implemented in one and a half years, Smith said.

“Australia will support Oxfam to ensure that good community practice and knowledge on disaster risk reduction informs national policy,” Smith said.

He said many communities in the Philippines have developed coping mechanisms that can be replicated more broadly.

bougainvilleas are ok
But I also suggest to plant pine trees,palawan cherries and bamboo trees too....why bamboo trees? because it contributes 10 times more oxygen than normal trees and it can last 100 years and is self-generating.

Maiiba pa ang look ng METRO MANILA..
unique..we can blend pine trees and bamboos to creat a melting pot of american and asian trees

Small Leyte town assembles bamboo car

By Vicente Labro
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:34:00 09/06/2009

Filed Under: Environmental Issues, Road Transport

TABONTABON, LEYTE, Philippines—Move over electric cars, bamboo cars are the next eco-friendly transport.

A farming town has started to assemble cars using bamboo and other indigenous materials in pursuit of the green agenda. It has also fabricated equipment for waste recycling.

Tabontabon, a fifth-class municipality of over 10,000 people and situated 30 kilometers south of Tacloban City, began the environment-friendly projects on the initiative of its mayor, Dr. Rustico Balderian.

Balderian, 53, a physician serving his first term as mayor, recalls that the car assembly venture arose from the town’s need for an alternative means of transportation.

Jeepneys seldom ply the route because it takes hours for the vehicles to fill up with passengers. The main mode of transport is the motorcycle, locally known as habal-habal which, according to the mayor, is prone to accidents.

To solve the problem, Balderian says he looked around for a form of transport that can compete with the habal-habal, jeepney and multicab in terms of cost and efficiency. With the help of residents and out-of-school youths, he experimented with a three-wheeler and a car with a one-cylinder engine.

Three car models

They finally settled on a two-cylinder engine that runs on coconut-based biofuel with the body made of indigenous material.

Their efforts resulted in three prototypes of the eco-friendly cars assembled under the Tabontabon Organic Transportation Industry (Toti) livelihood project.

The Eco 1 model car, designed by Balderian, is made of indigenous materials, except for the engine, tires, chassis and flooring. It can seat 20 people, including driver, and can run on one gallon of biodiesel for eight hours.

It can climb a 20-percent incline. Its body, including the roof, is covered with woven mats. It has a steel plate flooring.

The Eco 2 model car is 70 per cent made of bamboo, including body and flooring. It can seat six passengers and has a stereo system. It can run on one gallon of biodiesel for eight hours and can climb a 20-percent incline.

The Eco 3 model car is an improved version of Eco 2. Bamboo makes up 90 percent of the car, including chassis. It can accommodate six passengers.

The three car models have been driven around town and even participated in a parade in Tacloban City.

Stronger than steel

Balderian says the use of locally available bamboo, whose tensile strength is greater than steel, lowers production cost. Bamboo is also pliant and light.

“Bamboo cars are environment-friendly and could help mitigate the adverse effects of climate changes,” he says.

According to the mayor, it takes around five tons of ore to produce a ton of steel plate and to transform the ore into steel plate, some five million Btu of heat is needed.

Balderian claims the car body can last 10 years as the bamboo and indigenous materials will be laminated or treated with polyurethane to withstand the heat and rain.

There is also no danger of the vehicle catching fire as polyurethane is fire-resistant, he adds.

Mass production

Balderian estimates that the Eco 1 car will cost about P200,000. Since it runs on coconut biofuel, it will not be dependent on the more expensive fossil-fuel.

Some of his fellow mayors, he says, have already signified their interest to buy these environment-friendly cars.

Balderian says their group is seeking a classification for these “eco-vehicles” from the Land Transportation Office.

So far, they have only produced three prototypes and will only assemble additional units if there are orders.

If there is enough interest, they plan to mass-produce the cars.

Solid waste management

Tabontabon has other ventures such as the fabrication of shredders, boilers and bio-reactors, not only for use in the town’s solid waste management program but also to sell in other provinces.

So far, the mayors of Mayorga in Leyte and Villareal in Samar bought the solid waste management package, each costing P650,000.

“Other bio-reactors take 14-21 days to produce fertilizer. Our bio-reactor can make fertilizer in five days,” Balderian says. The fertilizer can be sold at P5 a kilo.

Other projects

Other livelihood projects include the making of slippers, bags and bricks out of plastic waste.

Balderian says the town’s environment and livelihood projects are anchored on a campaign against climate change.

“If we will not work together to mitigate climate change, Tabontabon, which is located 15 kilometers from the sea, will become a coastal town in about 40 years,” he warns.

E-vehicles, hydro, wind power, clean energy in PowerTrends 2009
September 6, 2009, 4:47pm
Manila Bulletin

The country’s largest event on renewable energy, PowerTrends 2009, will be held on September 9-11, 2009, at the World Trade Center Metro Manila.

PowerTrends 2009 is focused on the latest technology, products and services available to investors, funders, engineering and architecture professionals, and technology and equipment suppliers interested in energy projects that meet their criteria for economic demand, cost efficiency, environmental safety and high returns.

PowerTrends 2009 is held side by side with the business forum PowerTech 2009 (September 9-10). Both are organized by Leverage International. Interested parties may contact the events secretariat at leverage@leverageinternational.com.

These two events are expected to be visited by ministerial and private sector participants to the Ministerial Conference on Green Industry in Asia: Managing the Transition to Resource-Efficient and Low Carbon Industries by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

On display in PowerTrends 2009 are e-vehicles including the e-Jeepney, an electric jeepney that seats 14 people; e-Quad, a vehicle designed similar to electric tricycle /tuktuk but with four wheels; e-bike, a bicycle with a small electric motor; and e-car, a small two-seater electric car.

The exhibition will feature also offerings of Alstom Philippines, subsidiary of the global Alstom group, for hydro and wind power.

Alstom’s range of hydropower products include turbines, generators, control systems and hydromechanical. With more than 400 gigawatts of turbines and generators, Alstom has the largest worldwide installed base accounting for 25 percent of the world’s hydro facilities.

Alstom’s wind power offerings allow its customers to manage wind farms as standard power plants. With its unique drive train concept and innovative features such as electrical pitch controls, Alstom brings a highly reliable and proven product range to the market.

The Renewable Energy Association of the Philippines pavilion will display different models and technologies of wind turbines including micro turbines, solar panels, pico-hydro, micro hydro, solar heat collector, solar-assisted air-conditioner, batteries, inverters, solar street lights, waste conversion to energy and municipal solid waste to diesel (a very new technology).

^^when will be the time that our streets in the Philippines will be replace by this E-jeepneys...hope it won't take too long for this to happen.:)

Published: February 2008
Philippine Eagles

Lord of the Forest
Can the endangered Philippine eagle survive in the shrinking forests of its island home?
By Mel White

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7915/philippineeaglehdr.jpg (http://img142.imageshack.us/i/philippineeaglehdr.jpg/)

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7506/07philippineeagles665.jpg (http://img171.imageshack.us/i/07philippineeagles665.jpg/)

Photograph by Klaus Nigge

If the irrevocable transition of one species from rarity to extinction causes a rent in the fabric of our planet, exactly how big a hole would be left by the loss of the Philippine eagle? No disrespect is meant to the basking malachite damselfly or the fine-lined pocketbook mussel, because all creatures—and plants too—help turn the infinitely complex cogs of the biosphere. But the loss of this glorious bird would steal some of the world's wonder. It glides through its sole habitat, the rain forests of the Philippines, powerful wings spread to seven feet, navigating the tangled canopy with unexpected precision. It is possible that no one has ever described this rare raptor, one of the world's largest, without using the word "magnificent." If there are those who did, then heaven heal their souls.

In the kind of irony all too familiar to conservationists, however, the very evolutionary adaptations that made it magnificent have also made it one of the planet's most endangered birds of prey. There is no competition for prey from tigers, leopards, bears, or wolves in the Philippine archipelago, the eagle's only home, so it became, by default, the king of the rain forest. Expanding into an empty ecological niche, it grew to a length of three feet and a weight of up to 14 pounds. A nesting pair requires 25 to 50 square miles of forest to find enough prey—mammals such as flying lemurs and monkeys; snakes; and other birds—to feed themselves and the single young they produce every other year.

"The birds had the islands all to themselves, and they grew big," says Filipino biologist Hector Miranda, who has studied the eagles extensively. "But it was a trade-off, because the forest that created them is almost gone. And when the forest disappears—well, they're at an evolutionary dead end."

National Geographic (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/02/philippine-eagles/mel-white-text)

AFP supports rehabilitation of Pasig River
By Faizza Farinna Tanggol (philstar.com) Updated September 09, 2009 12:00 AM



MANILA, Philippines - Contingents from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) headed over to “Bayanijuan sa Calauan,” the official resettlement site of Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP), to show support for the Pasig River cause, sealing their long-term commitment through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) last Aug. 24.

Present during the signing were ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. managing director Gina Lopez, AFP chief Gen. Victor Ibrado, AFP civil-military operations deputy chief of staff Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Sealana, and Bayanijuan head Mariles Gonzales.

The AFP has generously agreed to provide manpower to help complete the housing units in Bayanijuan sa Calauan in Laguna and logistical support for the Philippine International Marathon: A Run for the Pasig River on Nov. 8.

The AFP has also committed to conduct medical-dental missions in Bayanijuan sa Calauan at least once a year.

The military has been cooperative in the actual relocation efforts way before formalizing its partnership with the KBPIP, consistently lending military trucks to transport the relocatees.

“There are people who don’t know what the Armed Forces represents,” Ibrado said.

“Now, they can see that the soldiers are also people, we are also Filipinos. We are prepared to help citizens in whatever way. We are prepared to not only give them protection against bad elements in the society, but also help them in their livelihood,” he added.

After the signing, the AFP contingents manifested their commitment to the partnership by holding a community day in the resettlement site by declogging drainage canals, sieving sand, clearing overgrowth, and painting houses.

“This collaboration is very important,” said KBPIP volunteer services officer Larah Ortega-Ibañez. “As the Armed Forces of the Philippines, they are mandated to provide security, but more than that, to also uphold the welfare of our countrymen. The civil-military operation is a vital arm where they do community service – that is what we at KBPIP are tapping.”

On March 2008, the ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources signed an MOA for the rehabilitation of the Metro Manila river basin, with initial focus on Pasig River and its tributaries. This gave birth to Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig, which was formally launched last February.

Since June this year, the KBPIP has begun its own relocation operations for the families living near the banks of Estero de Paco. To date, 221 families have been relocated to Bayanijuan sa Calauan.

The ABS-CBN Foundation and the National Housing Authority also signed an MOA to co-manage the 107-hectare resettlement site.

* * *

Find out how you can help. Call KBPIP at its Bayan hotlines 410-2753 to 55 or e-mail at ilogpasig@abs-cbn.com or kapitbisigparasailogpasig@gmail.com. Contribute to Piso Para sa Ilog Pasig by texting GIVE ILOG to 2366 for Globe, TM, Smart, Talk ‘N Text, and Sun Cellular, or deposit directly at BDO account number 393-0078222, Scout Albano, Quezon City branch.

The greening of Cebu
C'EST CEBU By Honey Jarque Loop (The Philippine Star) Updated September 10, 2009 12:00 AM

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From a small power distribution network in Mindanao in the ‘30s, the Aboitiz Group’s active involvement in the Philippine power sector continues to grow.

Aboitiz Power Corporation, which was incorporated in February 1998 as a holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation and distribution, recently launched Cleanergy, the company’s new brand of energy taken from clean and renewable sources .

The distinguished invitees that represented the different business sectors in the community gathered at the Salon de España of the Casino Español de Cebu for cocktails before the program proper.

On hand to welcome everyone were Erramon Aboitiz, CEO and president of Aboitiz Power Cebu , vice chairman Jon Aboitiz, and CEO of Aboitiz Construction Group Roberto Aboitiz. The guest of honor and keynote speaker was Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia.

“Cleanergy is our commitment to leave a lighter impact on the earth’s climate and help sustain its energy resources for the future,” said Erramon Aboitiz. “Cleanergy is about responsible energy sources. We have that in our portfolio with our very strong hydro background and now geothermal. Once open access becomes effective, we will go out to the market with Clearnergy, making it accessible for all customers to adopt this brand of electricity.”

Governor Garcia emphasized not merely the launch of a new brand of an old institution, but more importantly their renewed commitment to the long haul with heavy investments in clean, renewable energy. All of these at a critical time when power needs are increasing with continuous economic growth and expansion in Cebu.

True to its pledge, the company will continue to find and offer better energy solutions to power the country reliably and competitively, as well as sustain the Philippines resources to create a better future for generations of Filipinos.

“We envision a sustainable future with Cleanergy where businesses and people power their activity with clean and renewable energy,” added Aboitiz. “Whether the power be used in houses, malls or buildings.”

Manila Declaration on green industry adopted

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/12/2009 9:00 AM



MANILA - Representatives from more than 20 Asian countries adopted the Manila Declaration on Resource Efficient and Green Industry, an initiative that promotes low-carbon business systems and operations.

According to Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, the Manila Declaration is the first common sustainable development initiative in the region. He said it may also be labeled as the "successor of the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols," which committed nations to reduce production of greenhouse gases (GHG) and ozone-depleting substances.

"Today, there is a need to go beyond GHGs," Atienza said.

The Manila Declaration called on the government to work with private industries, the academe, and other organizations in adopting green development measures. It provides the framework to spur Asian nations to adopt environmentally sustainable practices, ranging from installing better regulatory policies to encouraging individuals to adopt eco-friendly lifestyles.

The declaration also encourages the accelerated transfer of clean technologies among developing nations of Asia as it recognizes the need for adequate funding and technologies.

Officials from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Lao PDR, Maldives, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam signed the Manila declaration at the International Conference on Green Industry in Asia (ICGIA).

Fiji, Belgium, and Russia were also represented in the ICGIA conference, an event organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the UN Environment Programme, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Policies to be enforced with the signing of the Manila Declaration is in line with the Copenhagen Conference and the UN Climate Change Conference this year, and the second Asia-Pacific Water Summit in June next year.
as of 09/12/2009 9:00 AM

Environmentalist Odette Alcantara passes away (http://http://www.gmanews.tv/story/172934/environmentalist-odette-alcantara-passes-away)
09/23/2009 | 11:58 AM

Civic leader and environmentalist Odette Alcantara died yesterday a day after collapsing from an aneurysm, according to close friends. She was 68.

Alcantara was widely known in the environmental movement as a tireless advocate who networked people across many walks of life. "She would say, kahit anong ginagawa mo, you're part of the solution," said Binggirl Clemente, a colleague in the Earth Day Network, a global organization of which Alcantara was the Philippines' country coordinator. "She was the one driving our energy, always telling us, don't stop!"

Alcantara was having her weekly lunch last Monday with her grown-up children and grandchildren at the family-owned Heritage Art Gallery in Cubao when she collapsed.

While she had many friends, and often invited them over to her home in Quezon City to sample her gourmet dishes, she was also recalled as a fighter for her causes. "Talagang walang inuurungan. Sabi nga niya, she is not mataray, she is taray personified," former environment and natural resources secretary Elizea "Bebet" Gozun said. "Yet she was such a loving and caring friend."

"She was always so encouraging and sweet to me," said Grace Padaca, governor of Isabela, "once taking a flower from a vase on her table to give to me after a speech I gave on forest protection."

Alcantara advocated national policy changes but also made sure to set an example in her backyard, making her Blue Ridge community a model in zero waste management, with its systems for composting, re-use, and recycling. Blue Ridge is now a training center for other communities with zero-waste aspirations. According to Clemente, "her motto was L-A-H-A-T: Lupa, Araw, Hangin, Ako, Tubig. Lahat magkaugnay."

Her family and friends are planning a series of celebrations of her life starting this week at the family home in Blue Ridge A, culminating on her birthday on October 1. Then her environmental friends will hold a tree-planting activity in her honor on October 3. According to Clemente, "Tita Odette would tell us that when she goes, 'I don't want flowers, I just want trees.'"

She is survived by four sons, her husband Mario, and perhaps a better planet because of her.
- Howie Severino, GMANews.TV

This is very applicable to the Philippines...


Developing countries and global warming
A bad climate for development
From The Economist print edition
http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displayStory.cfm?STORY_ID=14447171


Poor countries’ economic development will contribute to climate change. But they are already its greatest victims...

LATE April Mostafa Rokonuzzaman, a farmer in south-western Bangladesh, gave an impassioned speech at a public meeting in his village, complaining that climate change, freakish hot spells and failed rains were ruining his vegetables. He didn’t know the half of it. A month later Mr Rokonuzzaman was chest-deep in a flood that had swept away his house, farm and even the village where the meeting took place. Cyclone Aila (its effects pictured above) which caused the storm surge that breached the village’s flood barriers, was itself a plausible example of how climate change is wreaking devastation in poor countries.

Most people in the West know that the poor world contributes to climate change, though the scale of its contribution still comes as a surprise. Poor and middle-income countries already account for just over half of total carbon emissions (see chart 1); Brazil produces more CO2 per head than Germany. The lifetime emissions from these countries’ planned power stations would match the world’s entire industrial pollution since 1850.

Less often realised, though, is that global warming does far more damage to poor countries than they do to the climate. In a report in 2006 Nicholas (now Lord) Stern calculated that a 2°C rise in global temperature cost about 1% of world GDP. But the World Bank, in its new World Development Report*, now says the cost to Africa will be more like 4% of GDP and to India, 5%. Even if environmental costs were distributed equally to every person on earth, developing countries would still bear 80% of the burden (because they account for 80% of world population). As it is, they bear an even greater share, though their citizens’ carbon footprints are much smaller (see chart 2).

As December’s Copenhagen summit on climate change draws near, poor countries are expressing alarm at the slow pace of negotiations to replace the Kyoto protocol. Agreed (partially) in 1997, this bound rich countries to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions by 5.2% from 1990 levels by 2012.

Counting the cost of global warming is hard because no one really knows how much to attribute to climate change and how much to other factors. But one indication of its rising costs is the number of people around the world affected by natural disasters. In 1981-85, fewer than 500m people required international disaster-assistance; in 2001-05, the number reached 1.5 billion. This includes 4% of the population of the poorest countries and over 7% in lower-middle-income countries (see chart 3).

In all, reckons the World Health Organisation, climate change caused a loss of 5.5m disability-adjusted life years (a measure of harm to human health) in 2000, most of it in Africa and Asia. Estimates by the Global Humanitarian Forum, a Swiss think-tank, and in a study in Comparative Quantification of Health Risks, a scientific journal, put the number of additional deaths attributable to climate change every year at 150,000. The indirect harm, through its impact on water supplies, crop yields and disease is hugely greater.

The poor are more vulnerable than the rich for several reasons. Flimsy housing, poor health and inadequate health care mean that natural disasters of all kinds hurt them more. When Hurricane Mitch swept through Honduras in 1998, for example, poor households lost 15-20% of their assets but the rich lost only 3%.

Global warming aggravates that. It also increases the chances of catching the life-threatening diseases that are more prevalent in poorer countries. In many places cities have been built just above a so-called “malaria line”, above which malaria-bearing mosquitoes cannot survive (Nairobi is one example). Warmer weather allows the bugs to move into previously unaffected altitudes, spreading a disease that is already the biggest killer in Africa. By 2030 climate change may expose 90m more people to malaria in Africa alone. Similarly, meningitis outbreaks in Africa are strongly correlated with drought. Both are likely to increase. Diarrhoea is forecast to rise 5% by 2020 in poor countries because of climate change. Dengue fever has been expanding its range: its incidence doubled in parts of the Americas between 1995-97 and 2005-07. On one estimate, 60% of the world’s population will be exposed to the disease by 2070.

Next, as Mr Rokonuzzaman’s story showed, poor countries are particularly prone to flooding. Ten of the developing world’s 15 largest cities are in low-lying coastal areas vulnerable to rising sea levels or coastal surges. They include Shanghai, Mumbai and Cairo. In South and East Asia the floodplains of great rivers have always been home to vast numbers of people and much economic activity. Climate change is overwhelming the social and other arrangements that in the past allowed countries and people to cope with floods. National budgets can ill afford the cost of improving defences. The Netherlands is also affected and is spending $100 per person a year on flood defences. In Bangladesh that sum is a quarter of the average person’s annual income.

The biggest vulnerability is that the weather gravely affects developing countries’ main economic activities—such as farming and tourism. Global warming dries out farmland. Since two-thirds of Africa is desert or arid, the continent is heavily exposed. One study predicts that by 2080 as much as a fifth of Africa’s farmland will be severely stressed. And that is only one part of the problem.

Global warming also seems to be speeding up the earth’s hydrologic cycle, causing both floods and droughts (more rains fall in shorter periods, with longer gaps between). In addition, by melting glaciers, global warming reduces nature’s storage capacity. Two-thirds of the world’s fresh water is stored in glaciers. Their melting leaves poor countries with less of a buffer to protect farmers against changing weather and rainfall patterns.

This kind of increasing unpredictability would be dire news at the best of times: hit by drought and flood, the land becomes less productive. It is compounded by another problem. The higher-yielding, pest-resistant seed varieties invented in the 1960s were designed to thrive in stable climes. Old-fashioned seeds are actually better at dealing with variable weather—but are now less widely used. Reinstituting their use will mean less food.

In India the gains from the Green Revolution are already shrinking because of local pollution, global warming and waning resistance to pests and disease. A study for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology forecast that yields of the main Indian crops would decline by a further 4.5-9% over the next 30 years because of climate change. A recent assessment based on a large number of studies of what might happen in the long run if carbon continues to be pumped into the atmosphere found that world farm production could fall by 16% by the 2080s, and possibly by as much as 21% in developing countries. Although the timescale makes such figures no more than educated guesses, there is not much doubt that climate change is undermining the gains from intensive farming in developing countries—at the very time when population growth and greater wealth mean the world will need to double food production over the next three or four decades. By 2050 the world will have to feed 2 billion to 3 billion more people and cope with the changing (water-hungry) diets of a richer population. Even without climate change, farm productivity would have to rise by 1% a year, which is a lot. With climate change, the rise will have to be 1.8%, says the bank.

If these myriad problems have a silver lining, it is that they give developing countries as big an interest in mitigating the impact of climate change as rich ones. As the World Bank says, climate-change policy is no longer a simple choice between growth and ecological well-being.

Sideways to Copenhagen

In principle that shift should make a climate-change deal in Copenhagen more likely, by increasing the number of countries that want an agreement. But two big problems remain. First, the poor countries want large amounts of money. To keep global warming down to an increase of 2°C, the World Bank calculates, would cost $140 billion to $675 billion a year in developing countries—dwarfing the $8 billion a year now flowing to them for climate-change mitigation. The $75 billion cost of adapting to global warming (as opposed to trying to stop it) similarly overwhelms the $1 billion a year available to them.

Second, poor countries see a climate-change deal in fundamentally different terms. For rich countries the problem is environmental: greenhouse gases are accumulating in the atmosphere and must be cut, preferably using the sort of binding targets recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. For developing countries the problem is one of fairness and history: rich countries are responsible for two-thirds of the carbon put into the atmosphere since 1850; to cut emissions in absolute terms now would perpetuate an unjust pattern. Poor countries therefore think emissions per head, not absolute emissions, should be the standard.

Moreover, targets set at national level have little effect in poor countries where public administration works badly. So rich and poor also disagree about the conditions attached to any money for mitigating or adapting to climate change. The rich see this as a sort of aid, designed for specific projects with measurable targets, requiring strict conditions. Poorer countries see the cash as no-strings compensation for a problem that is not of their making.

The cost of climate change gives developing countries a big interest in a deal at Copenhagen. But what sort of deal they want—and how hard they push for it—is another matter altogether.

How to ease swelling of lake stirs big debate
Business Mirror
Written by Jonathan Mayuga & Butch Fernandez
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/16912-how-to-ease-swelling-of-lake-stirs-big-debate.html

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza on Monday urged members of the Senate Oversight Committee on Climate Change to review the law that created the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), the agency tasked to lead, promote and accelerate sustainable development in the Laguna de Bay region.

He said the environmental degradation of the lake was partly responsible for the massive flooding in Metro Manila during the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy two weekends ago.

Atienza also asked lawmakers to revisit the LLDA’s mandate, as well as its structure, “either to strengthen or abolish” the agency.

He told the public hearing conducted by the Senate oversight committee, headed by Sen. Loren Legarda, that because of its poor state, the lake failed to absorb the floodwaters from areas of Metro Manila during the typhoon.

He said the proliferation of illegal structures on Laguna de Bay because of the unchecked operation of fish cages and fish pens caused the lake to become heavily silted, thereby preventing the natural flow of water.

The environment chief’s revelation that the LLDA has no budget allocation surprised lawmakers.

Meanwhile, Legarda made LLDA officials “answerable” for failing to check the proliferation of illegal fish pens and other structures clogging the free flow of floodwaters that engulfed lakeshore residential communities in the recent flooding.

“It is about time something is done about the LLDA; either give it ample powers so it could effectively address the problems in the lake once and for all, or abolish it,” Atienza suggested in the public hearing, called to assess the situation and craft measures to prevent another catastrophe similar to that wrought by Ondoy.

Legarda assured Atienza she would summon LLDA officials at the next hearing to determine what to do with the environment-related problems at the Laguna Lake.

The senator told reporters, “The LLDA is answerable for the problems there. Why are they tolerating these illegal fish pens? That is a problem that has been there for decades.”

She said the LLDA, along with the erring local government units, could also be held liable for allowing other illegal encroachments constricting the lake, resulting in record-high floodwater levels that inundated nearby Metro Manila towns and cities.

Stepping into the breach, President Arroyo directed LLDA chairman Edgardo Manda and Secretary Atienza to “work together to resolve all the issues facing them,” Malacañang Deputy Spokesman Anthony Golez told Palace reporters.

Legarda agreed that an agency like the LLDA should not depend on fees or fines imposed on violators for it to operate and do its job of promoting the lake’s development.

“I agree with Secretary Atienza that the LLDA should be strengthened. It is impossible for LLDA to operate without a budget,” she said.

The Pasig River, a major tributary that is supposed to lead floodwater to Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay, is now being rehabilitated.

Rehabilitating Laguna de Bay has also started with the dismantling of the illegal fish cages and fish pens in the lake. However, lack of funds and noncooperation from some local governments stalled the dismantling operation.

Lake swallows villages

No longer habitable for 700,000 residents


By Romulo Ponte
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 01:34:00 10/08/2009

Filed Under: Ondoy, Flood, Disasters (general), Government

SAN PABLO CITY—Dry land has disappeared in hundreds of villages swallowed by Laguna Lake, making these uninhabitable for more than 700,000 people in Laguna province.

The floods came, and never left, with the water level in the lake rising by at least 10 feet (the height of an average house), according to a report from the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

Hundreds of lakeshore villages in the towns of Mabitac, Pakil, Siniloan, Pangil, Paete, Kalayaan, Lumban, Sta. Cruz, Pila, Victoria, Calauan, Bay, Los Baños, Cabuyao, Biñan and San Pedro, and the cities of Calamba and Sta. Rosa virtually “disappeared” from the map.

Some villages in the towns of Pagsanjan and Sta. Maria were also flooded.

Floodwaters in these towns and cities were several feet deep.

More than a week after the onslaught of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana), the flood has not subsided in these lakeshore villages.

The social welfare officer of Laguna said in his Oct. 4 report to the Social Action Center (SAC) of the San Pablo Diocese that 13 persons were killed, 750,248 people were displaced and 20 towns submerged in the province when the lake overflowed due to Ondoy.

The province has about 2.5 million residents.

Highway submerged

Two residents from Pakil town, who came to the SAC office in San Pablo on Oct. 5 to get relief goods for their neighbors, said that despite being spared by Typhoon “Pepeng” (international codename: Parma), the lake’s water level continued to increase because the Caliraya Dam released water into the lake.

The residents said the coastal highway along Paete and Pakil remained flooded and unpassable.

Public and private commuters had to negotiate through interior roads of the town centers of Paete and Pakil to get through Pangil, Siniloan and nearby areas. The roads in the town centers remain flood free.

“There is always heavy traffic occurring inside Paete and Pakil towns as the bulk of commuters collectively crowd the narrow streets of the municipalities,” said the residents, who did not give their names.

Although not submerged in floodwaters, four other towns also reported damage and destruction caused by Ondoy, namely, Alaminos, with 234 persons affected; Calauan, with 218 people displaced; Rizal, with four barangays affected; and Liliw, where five houses were damaged.

The Provincial Social Welfare and Development (PSWD) said in its report that the worst town affected by the flooding was Biñan where it recorded 198,700 people or 45,125 families affected.

Three houses in the town were washed away by the floods during Ondoy’s fury.

After Biñan, the most severely affected town was San Pedro. The flooding affected 153,636 of its people (25,606 families).

It was followed by Sta. Cruz, the capital town, where 102,590 individuals or 20,498 families were displaced.

In Sta. Rosa City, 77,052 people (14,951 families) were displaced; Cabuyao—46,001 people (7,670 families); Calamba City—38,819 people (8,024 families); and Los Baños—29,730 people (5,496 families).

http://images.inquirer.net/media/newsinfo/inquirerheadlines/nation/images/pic-10080142130572.jpg

Map shows the villages (in blue) along the shores of Laguna Lake that have remained flooded more than a week after the onslaught of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana).Philippine Daily Inquirer.10/08/2009

Local business leaders draft climate-change covenant


Written by Cai U. Ordinario / Reporter
Friday, 09 October 2009 04:57
Business Mirror


PHILIPPINE business leaders have taken it upon themselves to become greener by drafting a climate-change covenant that will not only change the way they do business, but also change the way the entire private sector deals with the reality that is climate change.

The Philippine Imperative (TPI) coconvener Elisea Gozun said that after the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy, many businessmen, and Filipinos in general, realized that climate change is not only a theory or a concept that will happen many more years after today.

Gozun, former environment secretary, said that with the floods, Filipinos were able to realize that, indeed, climate change is real and already being experienced today. With this, the climate-change covenant comes at an opportune time to encourage and help the private and public sectors adapt to climate change.

“[The covenant is] just a draft at this time. [This will] focus on the agreements [made by the private sector that are grounded on the] principles of climate change. We already have a consensus, and there are suggestions on how to implement it,” Gozun said on the sidelines of the Business Imperative for Climate Change CEO Conference on Thursday.

“We will put together all the suggestions and we will send it back to them for review before signing the covenant. This is because we want to emphasize the ownership of businesses [of the covenant],” she added.

During the conference, businesses like Holcim, Alsons Aquaculture Group and First Gen Corp., as well as the League of Cities of the Philippines, related how their businesses are coping with climate change and what measures they have undertaken to make their business processes “greener.”

Gozun noted that the presentations were very useful in enlightening other businessmen on how to make their processes “greener” and more environment-friendly.

She said the presentation made by First Gen Corp. CEO Piki Lopez was very useful since the company even admitted that it’s initial direction when First Gen listed at the local bourse in 2005 was not so environment-friendly.

Gozun said that by presenting a “then and now” scenario, First Gen was able to catch the attention of other businessmen.

Lopez said that to date, most of their energy sources are alternative-energy sources, including several geothermal plants and hydropower plants.

Besides utilizing green technology, the company also embarks on projects that help grow their business like reforestation through the establishment of nurseries and replanting, according to Lopez.

Resorting to indigenous sources of energy would also lower energy costs that place the country’s important sectors like manufacturing at the losing end, Lopez added.

“We need to meet the energy requirements of a growing economy but this requires scale. [That is why we] need more indigenous sources of energy which will [also] lead to competitiveness. We’re building an energy company for the future,” Lopez said.

Eventually, Gozun said that the covenant will be presented to the government in the hope of influencing the Medium-term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) and encouraging more businesses, including small and medium enterprises to adopt green practices.

More than 40 businesses participated in the discussions. Among them were First Philippine Holdings Inc., Maynilad, Holcim, Mariwasa, RCBC, Nestle, Ayala Corp., Ayala Land Inc., SM, Manila Water Co., Unilever, First Gen Corp., BusinessMirror, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Shell, Petron, Alsons Aquaculture, San Miguel Corp., SGV and Co., Jollibee Corp., and Cemex.

more on Davao Sanitary Landfill..




Our dumpsite
01/06/2009 - 13:02 Saturday, January 17, 2009
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By Stella A. Estremera
Sunstar Davao


STUDENTS looking for a sob story and pitiful photos of soot-covered children at the city's dumpsite for their social science classes will have to look somewhere else.

The city mayor has been mentioning it in his television program on Sundays, the city's sanitary landfill is almost done and the city can even become the only highly-urbanized city to have a functioning landfill.

It's something the city can be proud of, he once said.

Having seen the dumpsite in 2004 just before it was converted into a restricted dump the following year, it was hard to believe how a place designed for garbage could make anyone proud.

But that the dumpsite is also a regular part of the itinerary of visiting employees and officials of other local government units should make you wonder what's in there that are bringing in excursionists...And so we went on an excursion as well and found...

Nothing. Not a single garbage. That's what was at the old dumpsite in New Carmen. What was once covered with garbage and stank to high heavens is now a rolling terrain of vetiver grass and young mahogany and fruit tree seedlings.

Had the engineer of the landfill contractor not said the hill we were facing used to be the old dumpsite, I wouldn't have realized that we were in the same place as I was almost five years ago. Down the hill was the almost-finished sanitary landfill facility.

Constructed at P261 million, it is designed to contain 1.2-million cubic meters of residual garbage -- or garbage that can no longer be recycled -- in five to eight years, said Engineer Eliza Guimbaolibot of the IPM Construction, a Manila-based company specializing in sanitary landfills.

The end-design, she said, will include a retention pond for leachates or the garbage juice. No treatment plant, she said, since the design and contract they bidded for doesn't include that. Just the retention pond. But it seems like with time, even leachate or garbage juice can be recycled for as long as it is not allowed to freely pour down water sources,

"We used to water the vetiver glass with the leachate, the growth was good," she said.

Vetiver or Chrysopogon zizanioides is most often used for erosion control because its roots grow downward, up to even six meters down, and not in horizontal mats like all other grasses. Because of its downward root system that digs deep into the soil, it holds the topsoil together. Thus vetiver is used as a stabilizing hedge for stream banks, terraces, and rice paddies.

With all those vetivers growing, fragrant essential oil can also be harvested, if anyone would want to. Vetiver oil is in 90 percent of all western perfumes, an entry from Wikipedia says.

What used to be a mountain of garbage is now a field of vetivers with blue PVC pipes sticking out from the ground.

As one gets a whiff of a leaking gas stove, you are reminded never to light up for a smoke.

"There was a worker here who lit a cigarette, he burned his brow," Engineer Guimbaolibot said. The reason, those blue pipes sticking out from the ground are actually releasing methane gas. Government is not utilizing the free cooking gas, these are just released to the air.

It's true, the project is 90-percent completed, but it's taking longer than it should. The reason: Davao's regular rains. There are days when they cannot work because their equipment couldn't move around. But they expect the project to be completed within two to three months.

In the meantime, the city's garbage is being thrown at a temporary dumpsite in Barangay Lacson, Calinan district.

It's a vast private property owned by the family of Cecilio "Boy" Manaois. It's around 36 hectares of rolling terrain that has a guardhouse that only allows authorized persons to enter.

Once you reach the dumpsite, it's a scene straight out of "Wall-E" and not Payatas; dump trucks rumbling down the well-graded dirt roads, the air filled with smoke from the garbage, and very few people milling sifting through the rolling terrain of garbage.

Among the men is a father of five, who maintains a shack in the clump of shacks in the dumpsite.

"That's our sleeping quarters. We don't call it a house since we have our houses outside the dumpsite," he said. His family is at New Carmen, he said, and he goes home every weekend.

Only the men who have passed background check and approval by the landowner are allowed inside. Each scavenger has a record of sorts. No one else can enter and scavenge. Also, no family member is allowed inside, no wives, no children. Only full-grown men.

It's more organized, he said, but they're earning less now.

"The garbage dumpsite owner's buying price is very low. Like scrap bronze, which we could sell at P300 per kilo in the New Carmen dumpsite before is only bought for P90-P100 per kilo here," he said. "The landowner is the one who sets the price."

Scrap cartons are bought at P0.30 a kilo down from a maximum of P0.70 per kilo before. All other recyclable trash is bought at prices way below the price they were sold before.

All garbage recycled is sold off to the landowner, he said.

The man, who asked not to be named, added that they can no longer ask for "cash advance." That's not allowed.

In New Carmen, he said, when there was free enterprise, they had "suki" buyers who would allow them to get some cash advances. Not here, he said.

But that's part of the arrangement made with the City Government when it was looking for a temporary dumpsite. The area was offered to be used for free on condition that all the recyclables go to the landowner.

Monopoly? Yes, but then, there were no takers before. No one wanted the city's tons of garbage, except this landowner. Call it entrepreneurial.

Manong, whose children's ages range from 5 to 22, said there are 30 of them in their area and 15 more in an area farther off. He also estimates that at least 90 truckloads are dumped everyday.

Data from the city environment and natural resources office shows that the city collects 1,000 cubic meters of trash everyday using 10 compactor trucks with 18 cubic meter capacity each, three open dump trucks with 7 cubic meter capacity each, 40 ten-wheeler trucks with 14 cu. m. capacity, and eight six-wheeler trucks with 7 cubic meter capacity each.

Manong has been scavenging in New Carmen for five years before the dumpsite was transferred. Now he's in Lacson doing the same, and intends to move on and follow the garbage trail once it packs up and leaves for the new landfill.

That's his livelihood he said, and he still has a five-year-old child to feed. Anyway, even the prospect of a new landfill means garbage being sorted and recycled because only residual waste should be thrown into the landfill as it will cost hundreds of millions more to build another one.

In the meantime, the sanitary landfill project is a sight to behold. The mountain breeze reminding you of what it once was before it became a garbage dump -- a rolling terrain of greens. Just make sure you don't take a deep breath where the blue pipes are sticking out from the ground.[/QUOTE]


http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/3889/landfillyv9.png (http://imageshack.us)


equipments
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/9324/67252765un3.png (http://imageshack.us)


gas pipes for methane
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/6799/landfill5cf5.png (http://imageshack.us)


lechate pipes
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/1733/landfill3oz5.png (http://imageshack.us)


http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2425/landfill6iu9.png (http://imageshack.us)

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/109/20753193346da777260arc9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

they call this vetiver grasses to be planted on the slopes of the landfill for the purpose of holding the soil and eliminating odor eminating from the landfill.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2121/thedump016.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/thedump016.jpg/)

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/1007/thedump004.jpg

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/630/thedump005.jpg

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/9845/thedump009.jpg

old landfill now covered and patches of grass are now growing.

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/3848/thedump011.jpg

new hatches....

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7749/thedump007.jpg

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/7896/thedump012.jpg


Note: Scavengers are a thing of the past, they are not allowed , instead they're employed either as segregating waste materials or maintenance works.

^^

Sanitary landfill completed before Duterte’s term ends
Written by: Dalumpines , Jose G.
Monday, 12 October 2009

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2121/thedump016.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/thedump016.jpg/)


MAYOR Rodrigo Duterte vowed the completion of the modern sanitary landfill in Barangay Carmen, Tugbok District before his term of office ends in 2010.
Speaking in the public affairs program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa,” the mayor said it will be the first sanitary landfill compliant with the Solid Waste Management policy of the government.
He assured that the project is friendly to the environment since the collected garbage will be covered by plastic material up to the layer where its mound of accumulated debris can be used in planting trees.
“As sure as the sun rises in the east, the project will be completed before my term ends,” Duterte said.
He stressed that Davao City has the sole capability to manage its solid waste without battling for space with other urban areas in the region, a problem many cities in Metro Manila experiences.

Duterte revealed it took his administration five years to facilitate the completion of the project from the feasibility study and the preparation of the corresponding documents, loan application to the bank and the project construction.
City Environment and Natural Resources Office head, Jocelyn C. Espina, earlier said Davao City is producing about 732.96 tons of wastes every day but it can only collect half of that volume on account of its expansive area.
The city government has 10 compactors so it contracted 80 private truck operators to augment its collection efforts but presently, it only managed to serve 96 of the 182 barangays. “We could not serve the remote barangays because if you measure the land area of the city from end to end, it will reach about 145 kilometers,” she told the Times. “We are spending P8 million to P8.5 million to pay the private contractors each month.”
“A large part of the garbage collected or 62.3% is considered biodegradable and another 16.3% is recyclable,” Ms. Espina said, which leaves only 20.3% in residual and 1.1 percent of toxic wastes to be collected and stored in the sanitary landfill the city government is constructing.

The local government earmarked P261 million for the sanitary landfill with a cell, where wastes will be stored and composted, measuring 3.8 hectares.Two years ago, in order to encourage more people to segregate, the city government thought of experimenting a sanction system of repeat offenders.
The Cenro suggested a scheme applied to jaywalkers where violators were asked to gather in a public place and be given a seminar on how to segregate the garbage plus community service.The proposal for community service was street sweeping for five days for the first offense, 10 days for the second offense, and 20 days for the third offense. The idea, however, did not pan out. (With report from Joel Escovilla)

Minanao Times (http://www.mindanaotimes.com.ph/?p=4166)

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DAVAO Light and Power Company executive vice president Manuel Orig leads employees in planting Narra and Mahogany tree saplings during the simultaneous activity of the Aboitiz Group of Companies in Punta Dumalag over the weekend. EDGAR ARRO


Dalight turns green
Written by: Avinante , Levi
Monday, 12 October 2009

OFFICIALS AND personnel of Aboitiz Group of Companies held a tree-planting activity last October 10 at the Aboitiz property adjacent to the Pawikan Nesting Area at Punta Dumalag in Matina Aplaya.
The activity is a part of the simultaneous tree planting activity undertaken by the Aboitiz nationwide — the Aboitiz One Million Trees Challenge.
In Davao, employees from the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC), Aboitiz Equity Venture, Aboitiz Foundation, Aboitiz Transport System, City Savings Bank, Hedcor, 2go, SuperFerry, and Union Bank gathered to plant over 2,500 hardwood seedlings (Molave, Narra, Mahogany) and 500 mangroves.
“The trees that you will plant today will have a long-term beneficial effect in our planet,” said DLPC executive vice president Manuel Orig in his opening remarks.
The project is part of the company’s corporate social responsibility program which allows employees to help restore balance of the diversity in the area. It is also very timely in the light of creating awareness to stop global warming, the group said in a statement.

Barangay Captain Jimmy Poliquit of Matina Aplaya is thankful for the willingness of the Aboitiz Group to reforest the area.
A Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the DLPC and the legitimate organizations in the area, the Barangay Council and the Aplaya Fishing Village Cooperative, in order to assign responsibilities in keeping the newly planted trees alive. Aboitiz said they will provide facilities and funds for the area’s maintenance.
The barangay officials will be the one who will sustain the marine-protected area together with the Aplaya Fishing Village Cooperative—they will take care of the plants for the first year.

“ANG MAGTANIM ay di biro…” these employees could have been singing this song. But they all know that planting trees is for the future.

DON’T shoot me while I’m… planting this seedling.

WITH smiles from the two tree-planters, this plant will surely also be giving smile to everyone.

Folks from the Matina Aplaya Barangay Council and Aplaya Fishing Village Cooperative.

EMPLOYEES from the subsidiaries of the Aboitiz Group of Companies.

DAVAO-BASED students from the Aboitiz Future Leaders Business Summit. (With reports of Jesse Boga)



Mindanao Times (http://www.mindanaotimes.com.ph/)

Una Ka Bai holds coastal clean-up, tree planting
Written by: Times Editors , Times Editors
Friday, 09 October 2009

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IT was a sunny Saturday as around 300 participants took part in the first Coastal Clean Up and Tree Planting activity organized by GMA Network held October 3 at the Peñaplata Mangrove Reserved Area in Island Garden City of Samal (Icagos).
City Hall officials led by mayor Aniano Antalan and vice mayor Orly Amit, city councilors, leaders and members of Igacos’ Sangguniang Kabataan federation, barangay leader led by Enone Almazan, environment officials led by environmentalist Edward Sisor, police, barangay health workers, police, city tourism officers, city information officer, general service office staff, Samal Scubasurero, students and teachers (from Samal National High School and Villarica National High School), members of Hugyaw Production, and barangay residents joined hands with the Kapuso personalities in collecting waste and planting trees in the reserved mangrove area.

At least a truck-load of garbage was collected, and around 200 seedlings were planted.
In partnership with the local government unit of Icagos and the Barangay Penaplata, the activity marked the 2nd anniversary celebration of GMA Davao’s morning infotainment program, Una Ka Bai, Una Sa Balita, aired every 7:00am to 7:30am from Monday to Friday over GMA Channel 5.
In his message, Antalan called on everyone to protect and care the environment and learned from the lessons experienced by most cities in Metro Manila during Typhoon Ondoy. He thanked GMA Network for leading significant activities in the island during important occasion and confirmed that he is now truly a Kapuso.
Vice-mayor Amit also announced that the city has already banned the production of wood charcoal which is usually market outside the island. He said the wood charcoal business, a major livelihood of some residents, has caused the degradation of the city’s remaining forest.
Una Ka Bai, Una Sa Balita hosts Derf Maiz, Sarah Hilomen, Lench Lanley “Papa Lench” Guillermo, Nicole “Mama Grasya” Layno, MK Sobrecarey and Filipina-German Susie Rexrodt, GMA Program Manager Darios Relatado, Executive Producer Lorena Sullano, production crew and staff also joined the activity as part of its outreach program which highlights GMA’s corporate value of providing Serbisyong Totoo to the community.

Mindanao Times (http://www.mindanaotimes.com.ph/?p=4133)

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http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/topstories/topstories/view/20091013-229855/Pacquiao-pal-hit-over-resort-on-Boracay-coral-reefs


ILOILO CITY, Philippines—Boracay stakeholders have called for an immediate stop to construction activities over coral reefs and no-build zone areas on the island by a resort owned by a businessman reported to be close to boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and Environment Secretary Jose "Lito" Atienza Jr.

In a joint statement, business groups Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI) and the Boracay Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI), deplored the construction activities of the Boracay West Cove Resort at Sitio Diniwid in the village of Yapac, Malay town.

"We express our anger and frustration about the ongoing illegal and destructive construction activities of the West Cove resort at the Diniwid Beach on Boracay Island. The construction activities on the coral reefs and cliff are causing irreversible harm to Boracay's already damaged natural resources," the business groups said in the statement.


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The photos of construction activities showed coral reefs already wrapped in concrete with a hut being built over them. A concrete bridge connects the coral reefs to the resort.

The resort, owned by Manila-based businessman Crisostomo "Cris" Aquino, earlier drew criticisms from owners of resorts and other stakeholders in Boracay for alleged violations including the building of structures on a cliff and over coral reefs.


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Aquino is a close friend of Pacquiao, who is a protégé of Atienza.

"We are alarmed because these environmentally destructive activities have been going on for too long despite our protests," BFI President Loubelle Cann told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Cann said that these activities "are putting to waste all our efforts and resources to rehabilitate and save Boracay's environment."


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In an interview on Tuesday, Aquino said the structures they were building were just temporary so that the guests could reach the hut from the resort even during low tide.

The owners of resorts in Boracay questioned Atienza in August on the inability of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to stop the alleged violations. They asked why the resort continued to operate even without permits from the local government and the DENR, and in violation of a municipal ordinance barring the construction of structures on no-build-zone areas.


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Atienza said the resort was legalizing its operations by entering into a Forest Land Use Agreement for Tourism Purposes (FLAgT), which would allow the continued operation of West Cove.

A FlagT, under DENR Administrative Order 2004-59, allows the temporary use, occupation and development of any forest land for tourism purposes for a period of 25 years and renewable for the same period.


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The agreement covers forest lands to be used for bathing, camp sites, eco-tourism destinations, hotel sites and other tourism purposes.

Aquino, in an earlier interview, revealed his resort’s pending application for FlagT covering 10,586 square meters.


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Atienza ordered the processing of the application after it was filed on March 9, Aquino said.

The resort developer explained that they applied for business and other permits but he could not be issued these permits until they could secure a FLAgT.


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The resort has been operating without business and other permits since 2007, according to municipal officials.

"We cannot understand why the management of the resort is allowed to undertake these illegal and environmentally destructive activities. For the past two years, it appears that they are enjoying too much immunity and can do anything they like even without a single permit," the business groups said in their statement.


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Atienza has repeatedly said that his agency would crack down on violators of environmental laws on the island.

The community in Sitio Diniwid has been undertaking a signature campaign against the construction activities.


http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/topstories/topstories/view/20091013-229855/Pacquiao-pal-hit-over-resort-on-Boracay-coral-reefs



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Boracay West Cove Resort at Sitio Diniwid in the village of Yapac, Malay town, involve in the construction activities over coral reefs as per news reports.



The embedded photos were courtesy of Google Photos.
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Save RP as home for birds to create jobs (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20091014-229979/Save-RP-as-home-for-birds-to-create-jobs)
By Anna Valmero

BATAAN, Philippines — Protection of the country's forests and wetlands are beneficial not only to migratory birds that flock to the country during wintering months but also to the country’s local economy, officials said.

Keynoting the fifth Philippine Bird Festival at Balanga City in Bataan last week, Tourism secretary Ace Durano said that aside from ecological benefits, the presence of migratory birds in the country will propel tourism in the country and give jobs to Filipinos.

Thousands of rare migratory birds from Asian mainland, Japan, and Australia such as the black-winged stilts, Philippine duck, and the Chinese egret flock to the country’s wetlands between the months of October and March and tourists who visit birding sites can create alternative livelihood for local communities, said Durano.

The presence of migrating birds in the country’s wetlands and forests signal that the environment is “healthy” to support both wildlife and human needs, said ornithologist Arne Jensen, who is also one of the 12 founders of Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP).

WBCP is a non-profit organization composed of volunteers that promote bird watching activities to promote appreciation of bird life in the country and conservation efforts.

Said Jensen, the number of shorebirds recorded in Balanga wetlands during the Asian Water Bird Census in January topped other four sites in the country, after WBCP recorded 15,521 birds.

A bird watcher since last year, Durano said the department of tourism (DoT) is increasing efforts to promote local communities as bird watching destinations, where local and foreign tourists can observe or photograph birds in the wild.

Durano said the department of tourism is grooming the country as a top bird watching destination with its rich biodiversity including 600 bird species, of which 200 are endemic species or can only be found locally based on data from WBCP.

Since March 2008, DoT sponsored the publication of two books on bird watching in the Philippines with information and photographs by WBCP members, said WBCP president Mike Lu.

“Bird watching allows us to bring prosperity to communities through alternative jobs created via tourism. At the same time, we mandate stakeholders to protect the environment they inhabit,” said Durano.

“Through the bird festival, we resonate our call to Filipinos starting with the children up to the government officials to act together, get informed about our biodiversity and the importance of protecting them,” said Lu.

Lu said once a community is identified as a potential bird watching site, WBCP and DoT coordinates with the local government to educate people about conservation of its forest and wetland areas so that it will continue to shelter wildlife, including birds.

Aside from promotion of bird watching sites, the Philippines should control its ballooning population and inform the public about the link of conservation and economic prosperity, said Jensen, who has been studying birds in the country for 20 years.

“The lack of policy on child spacing has taken its toll on the country’s natural resources and continuous land conversion decreased the natural habitat for birds and naturally, the birds disappear—a signal that the environment resources are below optimum level to sustain life,” said Jensen.

“There is also a need to make the people understand the connection between conservation efforts and good economy. The Philippines has the best environmental laws but when it comes to implementation it is so-so. People should be informed that with a good environment, you can sustain a good quality of life because for example, you have safe water from the watersheds. When you have watersheds, birds will come and you can develop the area as bird watching site,” said Jensen.

The fifth Philippine bird festival, which is attended by bird watchers and conservationists, marks the migration of wintering shorebirds from Asian mainland and Japan.

SE Asia must push for climate action—Greenpeace (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20091024-232060/SE-Asia-must-push-for-climate-actionGreenpeace)


HUA HIN—Southeast Asian leaders meeting here must end deforestation and force rich nations into "deep and binding" emissions cuts at climate talks in Copenhagen, pressure group Greenpeace said Saturday.

The group pressed its demands by rolling two large balls into the venue of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Thailand, one with a campaigner inside, bearing the slogan "ASEAN leaders: U turn the Earth."

"It is critical that ASEAN member states, collectively and en bloc, support the completion of a strong climate deal in Copenhagen in December, and... announce zero deforestation," said Greenpeace's Southeast Asia campaign manager, Tara Buakamsri.

ASEAN leaders are expected this weekend to pledge support for the Copenhagen meeting, at which 192 nations will try to hammer out a successor to the soon-to-expire Kyoto protocol on climate change.

But Greenpeace said this was not enough.

"ASEAN citizens are already reeling under catastrophic impacts of climate change, as was made brutally clear by Typhoon Ketsana last month," said Buakamsri, referring to a storm that killed hundreds of people in the region.

"Yet, instead of recognising their enormous obligation to safeguard the region, ASEAN appears to still be in denial over these threats, expressing only token concern when catastrophe strikes."

Greenpeace estimates that 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, both members of the bloc.

The organization is calling for industrialized countries to provide at least 40 billion dollars annually to support programs aimed at halting deforestation.

The UN says less developed countries are likely to bear the brunt of global warming. Many developing nations say their richer counterparts bear a historical responsibility to lead the fight against global warming.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who met ASEAN leaders on Saturday, urged the grouping to "work together to make (Copenhagen) a successful conference," a Japanese delegation spokesman said.

Environmental woes blamed on RP’s huge population (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091024-231994/Environmental-woes-blamed-on-RPs--huge-population)
By Michelle Remo

MANILA, Philippines — An economist from the University of the Philippines has tagged the country’s robustly growing population as one of the factors that worsen environment-related problems.

Ernesto Pernia, former chief economist for the Philippines at the Asian Development Bank, said the environment problems that recently led to hundreds of casualties would not have been as worse had the country’s population been contained.

“Nobody has mentioned the population issue as one of the factors contributing to the country’s environmental problems. The capacity of the country’s ecology is already stretched to the limit,” Pernia told the Inquirer in an interview.

He said the country’s huge population, estimated at around 92 million, was one reason for overcrowding in the urban areas. In turn, overcrowding had lead to difficulty in managing wastes.

“The consequence of unabated migration to urban areas is haphazard human settlement. Too many people are staying in areas that should not be a place for settlement, like riverbanks, bridge waterways, and esteros (urban waterways)” Pernia said.

Climate change, caused by carbon emissions mostly from industrialized nations, was considered a major culprit for the heavy rains that led to hundreds of deaths in Metro Manila and northern provinces. However, Pernia said, factors that were within the Philippines’ control also worsened the impact of the heavy rains and the massive flooding they caused.

Pernia said population growth, together with weak urban planning, degradation of forests, poor disaster-preparedness and weather forecasting systems, made the environmental problem worse.

The country’s population growth rate is currently estimated at 2.1 percent, faster than the latest economic growth recorded at 1.5 percent in the first half of the year.

Pernia said that with the country’s population already nearing 100 million, a zero population growth rate would be ideal.

According to Pernia, the government has been trumpeting the country’s economic growth and its capacity to avoid recession but what should be of graver concern is the declining per capita income growth.

Per capita income is the total income of the economy, usually measured in terms of gross domestic product [GDP], divided by the country’s population. It basically measures the share of each individual to the country’s income.

The fact that population growth was already faster than the GDP growth meant that per capital growth had already been declining, Pernia said. This placed the Philippines worse off than countries who had fallen into recession, but whose population growth was slower than the decline in their GDPs.

Thousands gather worldwide on day of climate protests (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091024/ts_afp/environmentclimatewarmingaction)
AFP

Sat Oct 24, 3:45 pm ET

PARIS (AFP) – Kicking off with thousands gathering on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House, global warming protests took place around the world Saturday to mark 50 days before the UN climate summit.

From Asia to Europe via the Middle East, activists staged lively events addressing world leaders and to mobilise public opinion around climate issues.

Many waved placards bearing the logo 350, referring to 350 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in the atmosphere which scientists say must not be exceeded to avoid runaway global warming.

France's politicians received a "wake up" call from several hundred Parisians who chose clocks as their symbol.

Protesters who met in a central square had set their alarm clocks and mobile phones to ring at 12:18 pm (1018 GMT) in reference to the closing date of the summit, which lasts from December 7-18.

The summit is considered crucial as world leaders will try to thrash out a new treaty to curb greenhouse gas emissions in place of the Kyoto Protocol which will expire in 2012.

However, Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said Saturday that preliminary discussions are not moving fast enough for an international decision to be concluded in Copenhagen.

"It is time to give full speed to the negotiations," Rasmussen said, adding that he wanted a legally binding international agreement to be in place by January.

There is growing concern that a treaty deal in Copenhagen could be hampered by issues including US domestic politics and the problems of securing agreement between developed and developing countries.

Rasmussen underlined that progress had been made on climate issues but that these "key political questions" still had to be resolved ahead of the December meeting.

In Berlin, some 350 protesters wearing masks with the face of German Chancellor Angela Merkel came together in front of the Brandenburg Gate in the city centre.

In London, more than 600 people gathered beneath the London Eye Ferris wheel by the River Thames to arrange themselves into the shape of the number five, according to organisers Campaign against Climate Change.

An aerial photograph of the event will be added to pictures of a giant "three" and "zero" from around the world.

"Hundreds of thousands of people are taking part (globally) and for us that's so important, to have people out on the streets," campaign activist Abi Edgar told AFP. "We want serious action on climate change and we want it now."

Across the Thames, some 100 musicians playing trumpets, trombones, saxophones and clarinets gathered outside parliament to play the same note -- an F, made by the frequency of 350 Hz -- for 350 seconds, organisers said.

In the Lebanese capital Beirut hundreds of activists, many wearing snorkels, held demonstrations in key archaeological sites.

They gathered around the Roman ruins in central Beirut, in the ancient eastern city of Baalbek and along the coast, carrying placards bearing the logo 350.

"It's not the first time Beirut will have gone under water," Wael Hmaidan of the IndyACT group organising Beirut's protests said to AFP, explaining the goggle-wearing, "but this time it's going down because of climate change, and not earthquakes."

In Jakarta, around 100 students from the London School of Public Relations also gathered to form the symbolic number 350, coordinator Candy Tolosa said on Detik.com news website Saturday.

In central Madrid, the Spanish capital, members of the Platform Against Climate Change, grouping social organisations, ecologists and unions, acted out parodies of the "catastrophic consequences of climate change on the planet", the Platform's press release said.

Environmental activists in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul staged their protest in a boat, unfurling a banner reading "Sun, wind, right now!" under the main bridge linking Asia and Europe over the Bosphorus Strait, Anatolia news agency reported.

They then sailed to the ancient Maiden's Tower, which sits on a tiny islet in the Bosphorus, and unfurled another banner reading "Jobs, climate, justice," the report said.

Friday, October 23, 2009
Philippine Air Force Reservist Command Holds Disaster, Rescue Training In Mindanao


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The logo of the Philippine Air Force and the participants to the first-ever training on disaster and rescue operations conducted in Davao City in Mindanao by the Philippine Air Force’s 7th Reservist Command in coordination with the Office of the Civil Defense Disaster Team, 911 Medical Team, 911 Search and Rescue Team, Philippine Air Force 505th Search and Rescue. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales).


DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / October 23, 2009) – The Philippine Air Force’s 7th Reservist Command ended Friday a four-day training on disaster and rescue operations in Mindanao.

Major Adolfo dela Torre, chief of the 7th Reservist Command, said some 50 active air force members and reservists have participated in the training which began on Tuesday in Davao City.

“We are overwhelmed by the number of those who participated in the first-ever disaster and rescue operations training and we hope to duplicate this in other areas in Mindanao,” dela Torre said.

The training, which was also participated by policemen and village officials, was held in Sasa village. “The training included land and sea rescue operations,” dela Torre said.

Dela Torre’s command covers the cities of Cotabato, Davao, General Santos, Tagum and Compostela Valley province. “We hope to conduct a similar training in those areas and probably to include civilian volunteers, among others, and that they may also train other people,” he said. (Mark Navales)

Mindanao Examiner (http://zamboangajournal.blogspot.com/2009/10/philippine-air-force-reservist-command.html)

Bakit po hinahayaan ng Government na gumamit pa ng mga plastic styropore plates ang foodcourt ng GATEWAY MALL sa Cubao?

Dapat iboycott natin ang Mall na yan at wag na tayo kakain jan dahil hindi sila environment friendly. Hindi ba alam ni Mar Roxas yan?

Since the Pasig River thread has been successful in demonstrating awareness on saving the waterways, I think it's time to expose one of the "30 most polluted river" in the world.
We should expose the illegal settlers and factories that have become the number one cause of perennial flooding in Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela - what are you doing mayors???!. Typhoon Ondoy smacked them.
Relocate the illegal settlers now!!!!!



As I See It
Tenejeros River can easily be saved

By Neal Cruz
Inquirer
First Posted 01:11:00 09/28/2007

Filed Under: Environmental Issues, Environmental Politics, Environmental pollution

MANILA, Philippines -- Last Wednesday, Sept. 26, we reported on the aborted boat tour by Environment Secretary Lito Atienza of the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando river system, which has become world famous after it was listed as one of the 30 most polluted places in the world. I suggested that Atienza also try a tour of the Tenejeros-Tullahan River, which is also one of the most polluted rivers in the world. I suggested it because it is relatively easier to nurse back to health.

The Tenejeros-Tullahan River runs through Malabon City and Valenzuela City, which used to be famous for their fishponds. It used to supply fresh sea water to the fishponds when its water was clean. Thousands of families earned a livelihood from it. A person needed but to get into it with a net, a spear, a trap or a hook and line, and he was sure to go home a few hours later with enough fish, shrimps, crabs or oysters for the family.

The riverbanks used to be lined with thick growths of mangrove where crabs clambered among the roots and kingfishers waited on the branches to dive down to catch fish in the water below. The river used to be a playground for children living near the river. Many a child learned how to swim and fish there. I grew up there, and my childhood chums and I spent many happy times there. Not anymore.

The river is now a cesspool. The fishponds are dead. No fish can survive in them. They have been covered with dirt and converted into subdivisions and memorial parks -- or squatter colonies. Factories lining the river throw their effluents into the river and hordes of squatters on the riverbanks make it their open sewer. This is the water that floods the homes of Malabon and Valenzuela during high tides and heavy rains. The filling up of the fishponds and especially Dagatdagatan, a lake where the Bureau of Fisheries unsuccessfully tried to make “sabalos,” adult milkfish, spawn (the “bangus” that we buy in the wet markets are just baby milkfish), made the floods deeper and faster. Excess water used to run into the ponds and Dagatdagatan. With them filled up, the floodwaters have nowhere to go but to the streets and the homes.

The Tenejeros-Tullahan River can be revived. It is a relatively short river. It begins in Manila Bay and ends in Binuangan in Bulacan, still in Manila Bay. The rising and falling of the tides that occurs twice a day can cleanse it of the pollution -- provided no new pollutants are thrown in. That means relocating the factories and squatters.

To begin with, there should be a law prohibiting factories and industrial and commercial establishments from locating near waterways. They will always try to throw their wastes into them, if they’re near enough.

To prevent the regular flooding, the Japanese government has given the Philippines a loan to build dikes along the banks of the Tenejeros-Tullahan River. Properly used, the fund can, besides preventing flooding, accomplish five other major benefits: (1) prevent pollution of the river; (2) provide two more roads from Malabon to Bulacan; (3) increase the value of the lands along the river; (4) increase the tax revenues of the two cities; and (5) prevent unscrupulous people from stealing parts of the river.

Owners of lots beside the river steal parts of it by filling up the river alongside their lots, thus illegally expanding their properties and narrowing the waterway. To stop this, I propose that roads be built on top of the dikes, one on each bank of the river.

That way: (1) lot owners along the riverbanks can no longer steal parts of the river; (2) factories and squatters can no longer throw their wastes into the river (they can be seen by passing motorists and pedestrians); (3) the market value of the lots along the river (now only unsightly backyards) will increase because they will now have street frontages; (4) with the increase in the value of these lots, the local governments will collect bigger real estate taxes, and with the setting up of commercial establishments along these new roads, business taxes will also increase; and (5) with the new roads running on the banks of the river, it would be easier and faster for Camanava folk to commute.

In addition, with the river water already clean, ferries can carry passengers and cargo from Bulacan, Pampanga and other points north down the Tenejeros-Tullahan River to Manila Bay and the towns along the way, easing the traffic load on the MacArthur Highway in Bulacan and the Coastal Road to Cavite. In the old days, big flat-bottomed boats called “cascos” were poled down this river with their loads of rice, sugar, salt, vinegar and nipa shingles from Bulacan to be sold in Malabon, Navotas and other towns along Manila Bay.

With the water clean, the river can once more be a center not only of transportation but also of leisure, entertainment and tourism such as boating, swimming and fishing. Also, people will again have a livelihood from the marine life of the river.

What are needed for this to happen? Only the will power and perseverance of the mayors and other officials of Malabon and Valenzuela, the cooperation of their citizens, and the help of the national and foreign governments.

DENR fines water firms for lack of wastewater treatment facilities
By Katherine Adraneda (The Philippine Star) Updated November 05, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has slapped a P29.4 million fine on state-run water service firm Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and its concessionaires Manila Water Co. Inc. (MWCI) and Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI) for failing to establish wastewater treatment facilities (WTFs) five years after the Clean Water Act of 2004 took effect.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said section 8 of the law, which took effect on May 6, 2004, mandates the MWSS and its concessionaries in Metro Manila and highly urbanized cities to establish WTFs.

The fine covers the period May 7, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2009. The Pollution Adjucation Board (PAB), chaired by Atienza, heard the issue in June and August.

Atienza said a fine of P200,000 per day will be imposed, “jointly and solidarily” on the water firms until they “fully comply” with the law.

“The failure of the three water firms to put up the WTFs resulted in the degradation of the water bodies like Laguna Lake, Pasig River, Meycauayan River, Marilao River, Obando River, and Manila Bay,” Atienza added.

DENR Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) assistant director Jonas Leones said the water firms received the DENR resolution informing them of the fine but they have not yet communicated with the department nor paid the fine.

Leones said the PAB is meeting on Nov. 6 to deliberate whether to re-issue a writ of execution, cite the water firms in contempt, or file administrative and/or criminal charges against MWSS, MWCI, and MWSI before the appropriate court.

I'm embarrassed that this guy is a UP graduate.

Pinoy college grad refutes Gore on climate change

A Filipino economics graduate challenged and contradicted the contention of former US Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC) that there is global warming, calling the statement “just a thesis without empirical support.”


Bienvenido Oplas Jr., the president of Minimal Government Thinkers Inc., on Friday said that contrary to the belief of many, recent signs clearly showed the reverse—global cooling.

“The current climate is not warming but cooling, at least, starting 2002,” Oplas, a University of the Philippines economics graduate, told the 158th general assembly meeting of the Foundation for Upgrading the Standard of Education (FUSE).

According to him, the phenomenon goes on despite continued increase in carbon-dioxide concentration in the atmosphere.

Oplas said that past and current data on temperature and ocean level, among other variables “show that the UN IPCC and Al Gore projects are heavily exaggerated.”

He added that there was no major rise in ocean level and dramatic aberration in the weather, such as super hurricanes in the United States that are often predicted by Gore.

Oplas quoted a December 11, 2008 report of Wilco Hazelger Sr., a scientist of Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute: “In the past century, the sea level has risen 20 centimeters. There is no evidence for accelerated sea level rise.”

He also cited a study by the University of Colorado that concluded there is “no major rise in ocean level.”

Bigger snowstorms

So, Oplas asked, why did the United Nations predict a rise in ocean surface by 0.59 meters and Gore by 7 meters?

He noted that hurricane season in the United States is from June to November, but there have been “no hurricanes, at least none that made landfall,” during that period.

But, Oplas said, there have been massive snowstorms in Europe, with the biggest snowstorm in 25 years occurring on October 20.

In the United States, he added, winter appeared to have come very much earlier this year, with Californians, in the West Coast, already complaining of cold, and Chicagoans, in the East Coast, complaining of wintry skies, and of temperature going down at one time to an 82-year low of 7 degrees Celsius.

And in Asia, the Pakistan side of Ladakh, a region that the country disputed with India, reported the season’s first snowfall on October 25, Oplas said.

“In Ladakh, snowfall starts mainly in November onward, but, this time, it started early,” he added.
Oplas advised people to stay cool on the issue of climate change, saying, “Global warming—and cooling and climate cycle—is mainly a natural occurrence. Human activities have a contribution definitely, but not as huge as natural contributions: sun, cosmic rays, geological movement, ocean oscillation, etc.”

He said that the warmest period in the past 2,000 years was during the medieval period when there was hardly substantial concentration of carbon dioxide, which, according to him, is being demonized for global warming without basis.

And seven years ago, Oplas said, global cooling, at about 0.2 degree Celsius, started “despite continued increase in carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere.”

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/nation/5457-pinoy-college-grad-refutes-gore-on-climate-change


A few comments:

1. IPCC has actually been criticized for being conservative in its reports:

An example of scientific research which has indicated that previous estimates by the IPCC, far from overstating dangers and risks, has actually understated them (this may be due, in part, to the expanding human understanding of climate) is a study on projected rises in sea levels. When the researchers' analysis was "applied to the possible scenarios outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the researchers found that in 2100 sea levels would be 0.5–1.4 m above 1990 levels. These values are much greater than the 9–88 cm as projected by the IPCC itself in its Third Assessment Report, published in 2001.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change#Conservative_nature_of_IPCC_reports


2. "Climate change" is the term of choice, rather than "global warming". As NASA puts it:

But temperature change itself isn't the most severe effect of changing climate. Changes to precipitation patterns and sea level are likely to have much greater human impact than the higher temperatures alone. For this reason, scientific research on climate change encompasses far more than surface temperature change. So "global climate change" is the more scientifically accurate term. Like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we've chosen to emphasize global climate change on this website, and not global warming.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/climate_by_any_other_name.html


3. 2008 was a "cool year", but people 50 years ago would have considered last year as exceptionally warm.

Three independent research groups have concluded that 2008 was a comparatively cool year on planet Earth -- a feverish chill on our warming world.

The year's average global temperature was the 9th or 10th warmest since reliable record-keeping began in 1850, and the coldest since the turn of the 21st century, according to separate surveys by the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization, NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies, and the U.S. National Climatic Data Center. Each used slightly different methods to rank 2008 based on world-wide land and sea-surface temperatures through November.
Recommended Reading

* The U.S. Climate Change Science Program analyzed North America's climate records for the last 56 years in "Reanalysis of Historical Climate Data for Key Atmospheric Features: Implications for Attribution of Causes of Observed Change" and found the yearly average temperature for the continent increased by 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
* The program's researchers also assessed the chances of catastrophic climate changes during the next century in "Abrupt Climate Change," released last month.
* The past year through was the coolest year since 2000, says the 2008 Meteorological Year Summation by NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies. The U.S. National Climatic Data Center said the year 2008 is on track to be one of the ten warmest years on record for the globe.
* The World Meteorological Organization said 2008 is likely to rank as the 10th warmest year on record since the beginning of its instrumental climate records in 1850.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123085070980447477.html


4. I am happy to note that the design of the new Bay Bridge in California (now under construction) does take into account the expected sea rise due to global warming, er, climate change :) I hope other structures do as well.

^^ i, for one, refute Gore's movie.. but not because i don't believe in GW, but rather in anthropogenic global warming, which is what he's trying to convey... as for global cooling, some say yes, some say no, depends on which study you looking at...

as they say, statistics is the gentleman's way of lying...;)

^^ i, for one, refute Gore's movie.. but not because i don't believe in GW, but rather in anthropogenic global warming, which is what he's trying to convey... as for global cooling, some say yes, some say no, depends on which study you looking at...

as they say, statistics is the gentleman's way of lying...;)

Have you read what I wrote?

See, that is why the emphasis is now (or at least it should be) on "climate change" (eg Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) instead of "global warming". People focus so much on the warming aspect that they miss the larger picture.

Have you read what I wrote?

See, that is why the emphasis is now (or at least it should be) on "climate change" (ie Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) instead of "global warming". People focus so much on the warming aspect that they miss the larger picture.

chill...

i was merely commenting on the article regarding that UP guy...;)

chill...

i was merely commenting on the article regarding that UP guy...;)

And if you do go by the article, I am chilling

(sorry, bad sense of humor)

I'm embarrassed that this guy is a UP graduate.



http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/nation/5457-pinoy-college-grad-refutes-gore-on-climate-change


A few comments:

1. IPCC has actually been criticized for being conservative in its reports:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change#Conservative_nature_of_IPCC_reports


2. "Climate change" is the term of choice, rather than "global warming". As NASA puts it:



http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/climate_by_any_other_name.html


3. 2008 was a "cool year", but people 50 years ago would have considered last year as exceptionally warm.



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123085070980447477.html


4. I am happy to note that the design of the new Bay Bridge in California (now under construction) does take into account the expected sea rise due to global warming, er, climate change :) I hope other structures do as well.

Why should you be embarassed. Maybe he has a parallel study to challenge Gore's assessments.

Remember, no one has the monopoly of ideas.

In fact, in academic circles, this claim is good because, it may destroy or reinforce Gore's stand.

Why should you be embarassed. Maybe he has a parallel study to challenge Gore's assessments.

He's an economist, not a scientist. (Neither is Mr. Gore, but Mr. Oplas is not only contesting him, but also the IPCC.) I don't claim to be an expert on the topic, but I've probably taken more science courses than him in college.


From the article:
Oplas quoted a December 11, 2008 report of Wilco Hazelger Sr., a scientist of Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute: “In the past century, the sea level has risen 20 centimeters. There is no evidence for accelerated sea level rise.”

I tried searching for the aforementioned report but did not have much success. However, I did find this paper co-authored by Dr. Wilco Hazeleger, titled "Western Europe is warming much faster than expected (http://www.knmi.nl/publications/showAbstract.php?id=5570)".


In fact, in academic circles, this claim is good because, it may destroy or reinforce Gore's stand.

But in academic circles, there's scientific consensus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_opinion_on_climate_change#Scientific_consensus) already that global warming is happening, and that it is caused primarily by human activities.


I'm surprised actually that skepticism on the subject still exists. Many people have already seen the writing on the wall and are now working on formulating policies dealing with climate change, such as this report, titled "National Security and the Threat of Climate Change (http://securityandclimate.cna.org/report/).

yes climate change is happening but imo, it should not be blamed solely on human activities... the October global temperature anomaly, for example, is way above normal but most of it is due to El Nino... in 2010 (when El Nino is supposed to be insignificant), it is predicted that global temperatures will generally be normal or a bit below; it's a cycle and we're just unfortunate that we're middle of it all... good thing humans are smart enough to help nature restore equilibrium...

Billions of pesos lost due to air pollution, says World Bank study
AIR POLLUTION is costing the economy billions of pesos in productivity loss and health care expense, according to a World Bank environmental repoRt on the Philippines, highlighting the urgency to adopt remedial measures from the government to the household levels.


VEHICLE EMISSION a major source of outdoor air pollution. -- BW FILE PHOTOIn its country environmental analysis (CEA) published last Oct. 29, the multilateral lender said 1.5 million Filipinos of varying ages are afflicted with respiratory sickness annually due to outdoor air pollution (OAP) in urban areas, while almost a third of that number suffer from various illnesses due to indoor air pollution (IAP).

OAP-related illness alone is costing the economy some P950 million annually. "Productivity loss [income and time loss due to absence from work and household activities] is the largest category [P502 million], followed by personal costs for treatment of disease [P360 million]," the World Bank said. Governmental health care subsidy stood at P88 million, the report noted.

Major contributors to OAP are vehicular and industrial emission, the report said.

With the finding, the bank proposed interventions to include improving vehicle inspection and maintenance programs, shift from two-stroke to four-stroke tricycles, introduction of cleaner fuels and installation of pollution-control devices in vehicles, in addition to increasing investment in mass transport systems.

"Investments in additional mass transport systems such as electric trains will significantly reduce the public’s reliance on jeepneys and tricycles, which are notorious for outdoor air pollution emissions…," it said.

Meanwhile, the bank estimates IAP cost at over P1.5 billion based on 2007 prices, including loss of income and time due to absence from work and household activities (47%), treatment to households (38%) and state health subsidy (15%).

The World Bank noted that IAP has a higher impact on poor households due to particulates from the use fuel-wood and other biomass residue for cooking.

The institution’s proposed interventions to reduce IAP include the use of improved stoves, cooking outside the house, and switching to cleaner fuel.

"The introduction of improved stoves has high economic returns in a range of household cooking environments. Likewise, switching to liquefied petroleum gas is also found to provide higher benefits than costs in households cooking indoors in poorly ventilated conditions," it aid.

The CEA is a country-level diagnostics tool used by the World Bank to evaluate environmental priorities, implications of key policies, and capacity to address priorities.

The CEA has been in place since 2001. CEA pilots that have been completed include Timor-Leste, Namibia, Tajikistan, Honduras, India and Egypt. -- BVB

yes climate change is happening but imo, it should not be blamed solely on human activities... the October global temperature anomaly, for example, is way above normal but most of it is due to El Nino... in 2010 (when El Nino is supposed to be insignificant), it is predicted that global temperatures will generally be normal or a bit below; it's a cycle and we're just unfortunate that we're middle of it all... good thing humans are smart enough to help nature restore equilibrium...

As far as I know, scientists are not claiming that man alone is responsible for the climate change. They do believe, however, that humans are significantly contributing to it.

As far as I know, scientists are not claiming that man alone is responsible for the climate change. They do believe, however, that humans are significantly contributing to it.

Or to put it another way, aggravate it.

RP to push binding global warming accordStudy shows climate change accelerating beyond expectationsBy GENALYN KABILING and ELLALYN B. DE VERANovember 26, 2009, 3:57pmA binding global warming accord, including financial aid for developing economies to combat climate change, will be pushed by President Arroyo in next month’s forum in Copenhagen, Denmark.

With climate change putting life on earth in danger, the President on Thursday declared her government’s “strong” position on climate change and urged fellow leaders from the East Asian region to ensure a successful outcome of the UN-sponsored talks.

“We are calling for a binding outcome in Copenhagen. We can no longer afford to play the blame game while we are mired in a climate debate. Climate change doesn’t make distinction between developed and developing economies when it hits,” she said.

“Both have respective roles and responsibilities in addressing this challenge based on the principle of common but different set of responsibilities and respective capacities,” she added.

The President, who is set to travel to Copenhagen next month to join climate change talks, said she would press for an agreement that would cover mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology to ease the impact of climate change as well as support for “green industries.”

“It is a primary interest to us that we ensure that any outcome in Copenhagen includes a cohesive and comprehensive financing mechanism to support climate change adaptation, disaster control management, and integrated coastal management,” she said.

In a related development, two years after the release of the benchmark study of the United Nations-led Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that noted the drastic changes in the climate, 26 international climate experts revealed in a new study that “climate change is accelerating beyond expectations.”

The 64-page report “Copenhagen Diagnosis” released last Wednesday, documented the key findings in climate change science since the publication of the landmark IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) in 2007.

The 26 researchers, 14 of whom are authors of the published IPCC reports, concluded that “several important aspects of climate change are occurring at the high end or even beyond the expectations of only a few years ago.”

Key findings of the study include; global ice-sheets are melting at an increased rate; Arctic sea-ice is disappearing much faster than recently projected, and future sea-level rise is now expected to be much higher than previously forecast.

“Sea level is rising much faster and Arctic sea ice cover shrinking more rapidly than we previously expected. Unfortunately, the data now show us that we have underestimated the climate crisis in the past,” said Stefan Rahmstorf, professor of Physics of the Oceans and a Department Head at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

The research showed that Arctic sea-ice has melted far beyond the expectations of climate models, for example the area of summer sea-ice melt during 2007 to 2009 was about 40 percent greather than the average projection from the IPCC report in 2007.

Sea level has risen more than five centimeters over the past 15 years, about 80 percent higher than IPCC projections from 2001.

It also noted that global warming continues to track early IPCC projections based on greenhouse gas increases.

The researchers said that “Without significant mitigation, global mean warming could reach as high as seven degrees Celsius by 2100.”

“Carbon dioxide emissions cannot be allowed to continue to rise if humanity intends to limit the risk of unacceptable climate change. The task is urgent and the turning point must come soon. If we are to avoid more than two degrees Celsius warming, which many countries have already accepted as a goal, then emissions need to peak before 2020 and then decline rapidly,” said Professor Richard Somerville, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, United States.

The study noted that in 2008, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels were about 40 percent higher than those in 1990.

It said that even if emissions do not grow beyond today’s levels, “within just 20 years the world will have used up the allowable emissions to have a reasonable chance of limiting warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius.”

“We have already almost exceeded the safe level of emissions that would ensure a reasonably secure climate future. Within just a decade global emissions need to be declining rapidly. A binding treaty is needed urgently to ensure unilateral action among the high emitters,” Professor Matthew England, ARC Federation Fellow and joint Director of the Climate Change Research Centre of the University of NSW, Australia, pointed out.

The report concluded that global emissions must peak then decline rapidly within the next five to 10 years for the world to have a reasonable chance of avoiding the very worst impacts of climate change.

To stabilize climate, global emissions of carbon dioxide and other long-lived greenhouse gases need to reach near-zero well within this century, it added.

“This is a final scientific call for the climate negotiators from 192 countries who must embark on the climate protection train in Copenhagen.

They need to know the stark truth about global warming and the unprecedented risks involved,” Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Chairman of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), said.

The study was released to fill the gap in between official IPCC reports, which was released in 2007 and the next assessment report which is scheduled on 2013.

It was also released in time with the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark from December 7 to 18, where 192 world leaders are expected to forge a new climate treaty before the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

wow, ayus ito...:okay::applause:

Higher forest cover leads to 81% drop in RP carbon emissions (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/177959/higher-forest-cover-leads-to-81-drop-in-rp-carbon-emissions)
11/27/2009 | 01:47 PM

In contrast to the global trend, the Philippines has registered a drop of 81 percent in greenhouse gas emissions in the previous decade as more trees absorbed pollution coming from the energy sector, according to a report released Friday.

The use of fossil fuels such as oil and coal for energy consumption are responsible for majority of the total emissions at 55 percent, the report from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

Greenhouse gases from agricultural activities accounted for 29 percent of emissions while waste contributed nine percent and industrial processes made up seven percent of the total emissions of 126.878 gigatons, according to the report.

Out of this figure, however, activities in the so-called land use change and forestry sector that measures trends in tree cover, among other factors, was found to have absorbed 107.387 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The carbon absorption of higher vegetation reduced the country’s total emissions to 19.491 gigatons of methane and nitrous oxide, said the report, which is based on figures from 1994 to 2000.

The figure represents a significant drop of 81 percent from the previous figure of 100.74 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions from the Philppines in the previous report submitted in 1999, based on 1994 data.

Isagani Serrano, chairman of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM), described the results as “counter-intuitive" for bucking the trend in other developing nations. The DENR commissioned the PRRM and the Manila Observatory to prepare the report, which was presented at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati.

According to the report, the Philippines is a "net sink" of 35.11 gigatons of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas coming from human activities that scientists have deemed responsible for global climate change. This means the country absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits into the atmosphere.

The report represents the 2nd national communication of the Philippines as part of its obligation as a member country of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is holding a landmark conference in Copenhagen next month.

The latest figures are consistent with previous findings from the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) of the DENR that the country’s forest cover is growing due to the establishment of tree plantations and the substantial decrease in the area covered by logging concessions.

According to FMB statistics, the Philippines had a forest cover of 10.5 million hectares in 1969 when the first forest inventory was done. The figure dropped significantly to 6.5 million hectares in the second forest inventory in 1987, mainly as a result of commercial logging activities during the Martial Law years. In the latest forest mapping activity in 2003, however, the country’s forest cover had risen slightly to 7.2 million hectares. – Pia Faustino and Yasmin Arquiza/RSJ, GMANews.TV

STAR SCIENCE By Raul Kamantigue Suarez (The Philippine Star) Updated December 03, 2009 12:00 AM (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=528828&publicationSubCategoryId=75)

“…the Philippines is nothing more than a real Spoliarium with all its horrors.” Graciano Lopez Jaena (1884)

Filipinos worldwide are shocked and saddened by recent devastating floods and landslides, by the death, suffering, and economic problems brought upon their countrymen by recent typhoons. Distant memories of the roar of chainsaws and the crashing of trees resurface in my mind. It was the summer of 1973. We heard these while camped for a month on Mt. Apo in an area designated as a National Park.

Forests are supposed to help prevent floods and soil erosion. So these recent events should not just horrify and sadden. Among other things, they should cause people to wonder how much forest the Philippines once had and how much remains. Although there is a large body of literature concerning deforestation in the Philippines, data from all the years before 1946 have been difficult to find. Apparently, Spanish forestry records in Manila got burned in a fire in 1897 and American records were destroyed during the fighting in 1945. Thanks to a recent article by Greg Bankoff (Journal of Historical Geography 33: 314-334, 2007), the following picture emerges: During the early phase of Spanish colonization in the 16th century, 90 percent of the total land area was said to be forested and the population consisted of less than a million people. In 1903, there were 7.6 million inhabitants and 70 percent of forest cover remained. By 1950, the population had risen to 20 million and forest cover had gone down to 50 percent. So the islands lost 20 percent of forest cover during three centuries of Spanish colonial rule, lost another 20 percent during the half-century of American and Japanese occupation, leaving 50 percent cover for the newly independent, postwar Republic.

Since independence from the Americans, the population has grown almost five times to more than 90 million Filipinos. Forest cover is down to about 20 percent or less of total land area. Given how little remains, the Philippines competes with countries such as Burundi, Togo, Honduras and Nigeria for the title of ‘world’s highest rate of percent loss of forest cover.’ If the current rate of deforestation is maintained, no forest cover is expected to remain within the next decade. More than 10 million hectares of virgin forest, present at the time of independence, will have been completely lost.

What processes led to postwar deforestation in the Philippines? One might think that habitat loss and its consequences are purely scientific questions or issues that can be addressed by using only the tools and approaches of the ‘natural’ sciences. However, certain questions, such as those posed in this article, cannot be answered by the natural sciences alone. In addition, many of the problems confronting Filipinos — as well as the rest of humanity — cannot be solved by technology (the application of natural science) alone. To answer the question why the new Republic cut down its forests at such a high rate, to explore the consequences, and to determine what can be done about the problem has required the combined application
of the natural and the social sciences by researchers in the Philippines and abroad. History, economics, sociology, and political science provide, along with the natural sciences, the colors required to paint the canvas of Philippine deforestation. The picture that emerges is as dark, violent and disturbing as Juan Luna’s masterpiece, the Spoliarium.

Perhaps the earliest written record of a change in Filipino attitudes toward forests is cited by Bankoff who states that whereas “previously old trees were revered as sacred and a person would ask pardon before felling one,” by the late 1800s, Sebastian Vidal y Soler, a Spanish forester, recounts how “there is no lack of those [here] who see the tree as the enemy of man.” As a child in the 1950s, I became conscious of such attitudes among those in older generations who considered forests and grasslands to be the unsightly and unpleasant vestiges of a primitive past. If there was money available, people thought backyards, grasslands and forests should all be paved over to construct courtyards, roads and buildings. These would show progress and modernity; land that was not “put to good use” was said to be “wasted.” Attitudes concerning nature, progress and land use are likely to be at the root of the “War Against Nature” and “Engineering without Understanding” that Francis de los Reyes discusses in his timely article concerning the flooding of Manila and suburbs (Philippine Star, Oct. 15, 2009). But people’s attitudes toward trees, forests, progress and modernity are but one color on the national Spoliarium.

What can be said of the process of deforestation itself? A valuable source of information is David M. Kummer’s book entitled “Deforestation in the Postwar Philippines (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1991). Although published almost two decades ago, it is likely that the essential features of the process remain unchanged. In the book, Kummer carefully documents his numerous sources of information. When appropriate, he tests alternative hypotheses by performing statistical analyses of quantitative data. He is careful to identify shortcomings of both data and analyses. Those motivated to read the book would be struck by how thoroughly the author analyzes the process of deforestation and how he does so in the context of socioeconomic conditions and politics in the country. That economic growth in the Philippines has not benefited the majority of its citizens has been well characterized by Filipino as well as foreign researchers. As the population grew after the Second World War, so did the gap between the rich and the poor. Political power, economic wealth and access to resources became increasingly concentrated in the hands of a minority elite. The highly valued Dipterocarp trees that accounted for much of the 50 percent forest cover remaining in 1950 were in great demand overseas. The largest landowner in the country, the Philippine government, established a system wherein logging by the rich and powerful was considered legal, while logging by the poor was not. With this system in place, the government granted the right to log primary forests to a limited number of wealthy forest concessionaires. In effect, this gave the right to use a public resource for private gain to a limited number of individuals. On top of this, government regulation of logging by the concessionaires was plagued by corruption and inefficiency. So, in addition to legally conducted logging, there was rampant illegal logging, improper logging practices, and the smuggling of logs for export. Thus, access to primary forests became virtually unregulated. After logging roads were constructed and Dipterocarp tress harvested, the poor migrated into the secondary forests left behind. There they settled, cut down secondary growth, harvested wood for fuel and practiced agriculture. Such migration into degraded forests was encouraged to make unnecessary much needed socioeconomic reform. Forestry data were deliberately manipulated to give Filipinos (and foreign researchers) a misleading picture of what was occurring; this gave the opportunity to focus blame on the poor.

* * *

Raul Kamantigue Suarez is a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, California and an editor of the Journal of Experimental Biology, Cambridge, UK. E-mail him at suarez@lifesci.ucsb.edu.

gqYMgzwSSbE

imo though, i think she shouldn't have said "humans started the problem of climate change"... maling notion yan; it has been going on for millions of years...:2cents:

^^

p5Miv4NHsDo

... the elites are cooking up something... they want to control your carbon freakin footprint BS... looks like now they are using global warming issue to keep their control on world governments...

... next time you fart beware! you may be penalized for polluting the planet! :lol:


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html

Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says
Kate Ravilious
for National Geographic News
February 28, 2007

Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet's recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human-induced—cause, according to one scientist's controversial theory.

Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. (Get an overview: "Global Warming Fast Facts".)

Mars, too, appears to be enjoying more mild and balmy temperatures.

In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mars's south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.

Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of space research at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun.

"The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars," he said.

Solar Cycles

Abdussamatov believes that changes in the sun's heat output can account for almost all the climate changes we see on both planets.

Mars and Earth, for instance, have experienced periodic ice ages throughout their histories.

"Man-made greenhouse warming has made a small contribution to the warming seen on Earth in recent years, but it cannot compete with the increase in solar irradiance," Abdussamatov said.

By studying fluctuations in the warmth of the sun, Abdussamatov believes he can see a pattern that fits with the ups and downs in climate we see on Earth and Mars.

Abdussamatov's work, however, has not been well received by other climate scientists.

"His views are completely at odds with the mainstream scientific opinion," said Colin Wilson, a planetary physicist at England's Oxford University.

"And they contradict the extensive evidence presented in the most recent IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report." (Related: "Global Warming 'Very Likely' Caused by Humans, World Climate Experts Say" [February 2, 2007].)

Amato Evan, a climate scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, added that "the idea just isn't supported by the theory or by the observations."

Planets' Wobbles

The conventional theory is that climate changes on Mars can be explained primarily by small alterations in the planet's orbit and tilt, not by changes in the sun.

"Wobbles in the orbit of Mars are the main cause of its climate change in the current era," Oxford's Wilson explained. (Related: "Don't Blame Sun for Global Warming, Study Says" [September 13, 2006].)

All planets experience a few wobbles as they make their journey around the sun. Earth's wobbles are known as Milankovitch cycles and occur on time scales of between 20,000 and 100,000 years.

These fluctuations change the tilt of Earth's axis and its distance from the sun and are thought to be responsible for the waxing and waning of ice ages on Earth.

Mars and Earth wobble in different ways, and most scientists think it is pure coincidence that both planets are between ice ages right now.

"Mars has no [large] moon, which makes its wobbles much larger, and hence the swings in climate are greater too," Wilson said.

No Greenhouse

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block in Abdussamatov's theory is his dismissal of the greenhouse effect, in which atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide help keep heat trapped near the planet's surface.

He claims that carbon dioxide has only a small influence on Earth's climate and virtually no influence on Mars.

But "without the greenhouse effect there would be very little, if any, life on Earth, since our planet would pretty much be a big ball of ice," said Evan, of the University of Wisconsin.

Most scientists now fear that the massive amount of carbon dioxide humans are pumping into the air will lead to a catastrophic rise in Earth's temperatures, dramatically raising sea levels as glaciers melt and leading to extreme weather worldwide.

Abdussamatov remains contrarian, however, suggesting that the sun holds something quite different in store.

"The solar irradiance began to drop in the 1990s, and a minimum will be reached by approximately 2040," Abdussamatov said. "It will cause a steep cooling of the climate on Earth in 15 to 20 years."

^^


... the elites are cooking up something... they want to control your carbon freakin footprint BS... looks like now they are using global warming issue to keep their control on world governments...


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html

Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says
Kate Ravilious
for National Geographic News
February 28, 2007




Who are the "elites"?

Any warming is the sun's fault. - False. (http://www-personal.buseco.monash.edu.au/~BParris/BPClimateChangeQ&As.html#_Toc240972838)

No-one claims that increased greenhouse gas emissions are the only cause of climate change. Fluctuations in solar activity also influence the world’s climate, but their effects are taken into account by climate scientists and they are not enough to explain the changes we are seeing.[105] A number of recent studies have debunked the notion that solar variations are responsible for the recent warming rather than greenhouse gases produced by humans, concluding:

After 1980 … the Earth's temperature exhibits a remarkably steep rise, while the Sun's irradiance displays at the most a weak secular trend. Hence the Sun cannot be the dominant source of this latest temperature increase, with man-made greenhouse gases being the likely dominant alternative.[106]

Variations in the Sun's total energy output (luminosity) are caused by changing dark (sunspot) and bright structures on the solar disk during the 11-year sunspot cycle. The variations measured from spacecraft since 1978 are too small to have contributed appreciably to accelerated global warming over the past 30 years.[107]

This comparison shows without requiring any recourse to modeling that since roughly 1970 the solar influence on climate (through the channels considered here) cannot have been dominant. In particular, the Sun cannot have contributed more than 30% to the steep temperature increase that has taken place since then, irrespective of which of the three considered channels is the dominant one determining Sun-climate interactions: tropospheric heating caused by changes in total solar irradiance, stratospheric chemistry influenced by changes in the solar UV spectrum, or cloud coverage affected by the cosmic ray flux.[108]

[O]ver the past 20 years, all the trends in the Sun that could have had an influence on the Earth's climate have been in the opposite direction to that required to explain the observed rise in global mean temperatures.[109]

[E]ven large solar irradiance change combined with realistic volcanic forcing over past centuries could not explain the late 20th century warming without inclusion of greenhouse gas forcing. Although solar and volcanic effects appear to dominate most of the slow climate variations within the past thousand years, the impacts of greenhouse gases have dominated since the second half of the last century.[110]

[T]he energy content of the climate system increased between about 1955 and 1995 by about 2 x 1023 J, equivalent to an energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere of 0.3 W/m2. Because incoming solar energy … has not changed, the imbalance must result from increased absorption of outgoing energy, such as by increased greenhouse gases.[111]

Lean and Rind concluded that there was no chance that variation in solar radiation was primarily responsible for the warming witnessed in the 20th century:

For the ninety years from 1906 to 1996, the average slope of the anthropogenic–related temperature change … is 0.045 K per decade … Solar-induced warming is almost an order of magnitude smaller. It contributes 10%, not 65% … of surface warming in the past 100 years and, if anything, a very slight overall cooling in the past 25 years … not 20–30% of the warming.[112]


It has also been shown that solar influences are not well correlated with long-term climatic changes, based on a 9000 year dataset.[113]


As Figure 6 shows, there is no strong trend in solar activity that could explain recent warming, so the variation in radiative forcing (in Watts per square metre, W m-2) within each 11 year solar cycle, is significantly greater than any trend change in average solar irradiance.

Muntinlupa bans plastic shopping bags
by Ferdinand Fabella - Manila Standard Today Jan . 30, 2010

MUNTINLUPA City has given business establishments one year to phase out plastic bags and Styrofoam following the city council’s approval of an ordinance banning them.

Ordinance 10-109 takes effect on Jan. 18 next year—enough time for businesses including malls, wet and dry markets, groceries and pharmacies to switch to environment-friendly bags, Mayor Aldrin San Pedro says.

“Plastic bags and Styrofoam materials are major contributors to the clogging of the waterways in Metro Manila,” he said.

“Through this ordinance, we want to encourage business owners and the public to protect the environment by not using these materials.”

San Pedro says violators will be fined P500 for the first offense, P1,000 for the second offense, and P2,500 plus six months’ imprisonment for the third offense.

Councilor Joselito Arevalo, the ordinance’s principal author, says the city council favors replacing plastic bags with cloth bags, paper bags and bayong, a container made of coconut leaves.

“The city government is also encouraging people to bring their own bags when shopping or going to the market,” he said, adding the city council will come out with the ordinance’s implementing rules in 30 days.

Muntinlupa took a leaf from San Francisco and Los Angeles in California, which started their campaign against plastic bags in 2007.

San Pedro says non-biodegradable plastic bags, film bags, and food containers made of Styrofoam clog creeks and other waterways, causing flooding similar to that spawned by tropical storm Ondoy, which submerged Metro Manila’s coastal cities—including badly hit Marikina—late last year.

“These materials end up in Laguna de Bay,” he said.

interesting...

http://www-personal.buseco.monash.edu.au/~BParris/UNEP2009ProjectionsforAsia.jpg

source: http://www-personal.buseco.monash.edu.au/~BParris/BPClimateChangeQ&As.html#_Toc240972838

Ordinance to clean city’s sewers passes 2nd reading
Written by: Fusilero , Kristianne
Thursday, 04 February 2010

THE CITY council passed on second reading the Septage and Sewerage Management Ordinance that seeks to cut wastewater and prevent sludge in septic tanks or public drainage system from overflowing.
“The formulation of a septage and sewerage program for the city is necessary and timely. There is an existing environment-related problems particularly the deteriorating quality of water in Davao River and the Davao Gulf,” Councilor Leonardo Avila III, the proponent of the ordinance, said.
Deteriorating quality of the gulf, he said, can be traced to the “untreated wastewater from residential, commercial and industrial establishments.”

Avila, chair of the committee on environment, said the legislation is pursuant to the Clean Water Act that mandates all local government to have policies that would protect the fresh, brackish and marine waters.
Some of the provisions in the proposed ordinance are the creation of the septage treatment facility under the local government or accredited service provider, construction of communal toilets and septic tanks that would prevent improper wastewater disposal by the informal settlers, septic tank maintenance, and sludge collection, transport, treatment and disposal.
Also in the proposed law, the desludging or the process of removing accumulated sludge from septic tanks or drainage systems should be carried out every five years or when the wastewater volume is already half of the total capacity of the septic tank.
During deliberations, Councilor Peter Laviña asked why the Davao City Water District shall come up with an easy payment mechanism for the desludging fee when the city government should be the one that would shoulder this problem.
His suggestion was carried out by Avila who amended the provision. It now states: “The city shall come up with an easy payment mechanism, wherein property owners will have an option to pay in advance and in equal installments for three to five years.”

Councilor Susabel Reta lauded the proponent and said the creation of this legislation is a dream of the city. However, she said there should be a strict implementation of the proposed ordinance.
“Sayang lang (It’s a waste) if it is not properly implemented. It is a good legislation but there should be point-persons to look into the implementation after the passage of this proposed law. There should be people who would be responsible in monitoring the wastewater management,” Reta said.
Avila said he is optimistic that there will be a strict implem


Mindanao Times (http://www.mindanaotimes.net/?p=6325)

Ordinance to clean city’s sewers passes 2nd reading
Written by: Fusilero , Kristianne
Thursday, 04 February 2010

THE CITY council passed on second reading the Septage and Sewerage Management Ordinance that seeks to cut wastewater and prevent sludge in septic tanks or public drainage system from overflowing.
“The formulation of a septage and sewerage program for the city is necessary and timely. There is an existing environment-related problems particularly the deteriorating quality of water in Davao River and the Davao Gulf,” Councilor Leonardo Avila III, the proponent of the ordinance, said.
Deteriorating quality of the gulf, he said, can be traced to the “untreated wastewater from residential, commercial and industrial establishments.”

Avila, chair of the committee on environment, said the legislation is pursuant to the Clean Water Act that mandates all local government to have policies that would protect the fresh, brackish and marine waters.
Some of the provisions in the proposed ordinance are the creation of the septage treatment facility under the local government or accredited service provider, construction of communal toilets and septic tanks that would prevent improper wastewater disposal by the informal settlers, septic tank maintenance, and sludge collection, transport, treatment and disposal.
Also in the proposed law, the desludging or the process of removing accumulated sludge from septic tanks or drainage systems should be carried out every five years or when the wastewater volume is already half of the total capacity of the septic tank.
During deliberations, Councilor Peter Laviña asked why the Davao City Water District shall come up with an easy payment mechanism for the desludging fee when the city government should be the one that would shoulder this problem.
His suggestion was carried out by Avila who amended the provision. It now states: “The city shall come up with an easy payment mechanism, wherein property owners will have an option to pay in advance and in equal installments for three to five years.”

Councilor Susabel Reta lauded the proponent and said the creation of this legislation is a dream of the city. However, she said there should be a strict implementation of the proposed ordinance.
“Sayang lang (It’s a waste) if it is not properly implemented. It is a good legislation but there should be point-persons to look into the implementation after the passage of this proposed law. There should be people who would be responsible in monitoring the wastewater management,” Reta said.
Avila said he is optimistic that there will be a strict implem


Mindanao Times (http://www.mindanaotimes.net/?p=6325)

150,000 workers may lose jobs with fishing ban—trader

DAVAO CITY – About 150,000 workers, who depend on the tuna industry in General Santos City, will end up jobless because of the two-year ban on tuna fishing in Western and Central Pacific ocean, a fishing magnate in Mindanao said.

The ban, which was decided upon by the international organization, Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), started on January 1, and did not exempt purse seine fishing, the system mostly used by General Santos City-based fishers.

Marfin Tan, president of the Socsksargen Fishing Federation and Allied Industries, Inc. (SFFAII), said the ban has affected about 200 fishing boats in Mindanao.

The ban, imposed by the WCPFC to which the Philippines belongs as a member, is meant to stop over-fishing.

However, Tan said the fishing industry would see a 20 percent drop in the country’s capability to supply tuna in the local and the world markets.

http://jibrael.blogspot.com/2010/02/two-year-ban-on-tuna-fishing-in-western_08.html

On February 6, 2010 at 1209H Fremantle, Australia time, the Yushin Maru 3 intentionally rammed the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker, penetrating it's hull and endangering the lives of it¹s crew. The collision occurred at 65 degrees 21 South, 67 degrees 58 East, about 180 miles off Cape Darnley in the Australian Antarctic Territory.

http://jibrael.blogspot.com/2010/02/anti-whaling-ship-rammed-by-japanese.html

San Pedro praised for plastic ban :cheers:
Manila Standard Today - February 9, 2010

Muntinlupa City Mayor Aldrin San Pedro has earned the nod of Mother Earth Foundation for signing a measure banning the use of Styrofoam packaging and plastic bags.

Foundation head and Ecowaste coordinator Sonia Mendoza said other localities in Metro Manila should take the cue to solve the worsening problem of polluting materials.

“We laud the people and government of Muntinlupa City for initiating a vital step, which if effectively pursued, will help minimize ‘white pollution’ and contribute to environmental conservation and protection,” she said.

White pollution referred to plastic trash, including plastic bags, foam containers and other non-biodegradables that EcoWaste said were ruining the landscape, clogging waterways, triggering flashfloods, choking the oceans and producing toxic byproducts when burned.

San Pedro announced last week the passage of City Ordinance 10-109 authored by Councilor Joselito Arevalo that directed local shopping malls, public markets, restaurants and food stores to phase out plastic bags and Styrofoam in their operations.

“We congratulate them for caring for Mother Earth by banning plastic bags and other plastic disposables starting next year and by encouraging lifestyle change through the promotion of bayong and other ecological alternatives,” Mendoza said.

“Other local authorities in Metro Manila can take their cue from Muntinlupa City and adopt similar or even bolder measures to rid the surroundings of plastic trash.”

EcoWaste national coordinator Rei Panaligan said Muntinlupa has joined the ranks of Beijing, New Delhi, San Francisco and other capitals in curbing plastic pollution. Ferdinand Fabella

Fate of seized wildlife species still unknown
Written by: Times Editors , Times Editors
Tuesday, 16 February 2010

THE FATE of the 330 wildlife species seized last Feb. 3 by joint operatives of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-XI) and the National Bureau of Investigation in Barangay Mahayag, Bunawan, is still unknown pending the test for the presence of avian flu virus.
“The seized wildlife species need to be tested first before a decision to keep or kill them can be handed down,” said DENR-XI regional executive director Jim O. Sampulna.
Sampulna disclosed that DENR will keep the endangered species until testing is done. The seized birds, reptiles and mammals allegedly came from Indonesia and Papua, New Guinea and will also be used as evidence or “corpus delicti” against the perpetrators for violating Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001.

It can be recalled that an Indonesian national identified as Billy Kawekes and seven other Filipinos identified as Mike and Felina Artucilla, Catalino Gabrinto, Jose Marie Justan, Warren Aguilar, Roger Abria and Menira Maulana were charged with the Davao City Prosecution Office for violation of RA 9147.
The seized endangered species are now at the Davao Crocodile Park in Ma-a for safe keeping. Davao Crocodile Park is one of the wildlife rescue facilities registered with DENR-XI. Sec. 32 of RA 9147 provides that existing accredited wildlife rescue centers may be used as temporary holding facilities for confiscated, abandoned and donated wildlife to ensure their welfare and well-being.

DENR-XI recently received a letter from the officer-in-charge of the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry Davinio P. Catbagan requesting for the turnover of the birds to the Regional Veterinary Quarantine Office. Attached to the said request is a letter from Senior State Solicitor Edgardo R. Sison which states that the seized exotic birds are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the DA-RFU XI Veterinary Quarantine Service.

It further cited Executive Order 280 dated Feb. 5, 2004 entitled “ Defining the Powers, Functions, and Responsibilities of Government Agencies in Response to Avian Influenza (AI) or Bird Flu Virus and Related Matters thereto.” The said EO spelled out that the Secretary of Agriculture is granted such powers and functions as would be necessary in order to contain, control, prevent, regulate and otherwise restrict the entry, movement, proliferation of poultry, fowl, birds and other animals, including their by-products , which are infected or suspected to be infected or potential carrier of AI virus.
As of this writing, the seized 234 birds still remain under the custody of the Davao Crocodile Park. (BS/DENR-XI).

Mindanao Times (http://www.mindanaotimes.net/?p=6481)

Davao’s efforts vs climate change cited
Thursday, February 18, 2010

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/3264/davao350movement2010021.jpg (http://img524.imageshack.us/i/davao350movement2010021.jpg/)
DAVAO. The more than 400 environmentalists who formed "350 Movement" are dwarfed by the new sanitary landfill at New Carmen, Tugbok. (Jade C. Zaldivar)




PRESIDENTAL Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change Heherson Alvarez gave recognition Wednesday to Davao City’s efforts lowering carbon emission in the atmosphere.

Informed that the city recently joined the global cause dubbed "350 Movement," Alvarez revamped the importance of participation in lowering the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million (ppm).


"Our country contributes so little to the carbon content in the atmosphere but efforts like this is always very much appreciated," Alvarez said during Club 888 media forum.

More than 400 environmentalists and participating government agencies in the city formed "350" last Friday and planted trees around a new sanitary landfill in New Carmen, Tugbok. It was led by the Task Force on Climate Change (TFCC) and Davao Climate Change Action Network.

Alvarez also urged the business sector in the country to lead in creating a low carbon community.

"(This can be done by) investing in environmental programs that could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere," said Alvarez, who is the vice chair of the Climate Change Commission issued by the administration.

Alvarez said results of the 15th Conference of Parties climate change summit of world leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark last December showed how "the world is now very much aware it is reaching its tipping point."

"No one can now deny we're approaching a so-called runaway climate change; we cannot escape science," Alvarez said.

Asked whether the world has a chance of reversing or adapting to climate change, he said "there is a glimmering hope."

"What I witnessed during the conference was for the first time in man's history, everyone was gathered with no differences, like it was almost like a town meeting. It was a meeting of nations who had a common understanding but the problem is it wasn't avoided that fingers were still pointed at each other on who had the most responsibility," Alvarez said.

"What we need is a common responsibility. In our country, that common responsibility won't materialize if the people do not realize they play a big part in it," he added.

Alvarez was in the city as speaker to a function at Ateneo de Davao University. He was joined by City Council committee on environment and natural resources chair Councilor Leo Avila. (JCZ)

Sun-Star (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao)

Al Gore to come to Manila to speak on climate change

SM Prime Holdings is bringing in former US Vice-President Al Gore to keynote a leadership conference where top Philippine leaders from the academe, business, government and nongovernment sectors to learn from the experience and expertise of global leaders.

To be held at the SMX Convention Center at the SM Mall of Asia Complex on April 30, the lecture will have Gore present an Asian version of An Inconvenient Truth, a multimedia presentation on the threat of climate change and solutions to global warming and the subject of the movie of the same title that has won critical and box-office acclaim.

A Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Gore has just published his latest book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, which proposes measures to help solve the climate crisis.

"We have always been committed to environmental preservation. Beyond our many environmental programs, we feel that we can further spread the advocacy by having more people learn about this global problem and how it impacts each and everyone of us," SM Prime Holdings President Hans Sy said in a statement.

"This is why we are bringing in the world’s most influential authority on climate change. We want the urgency of his message to be heard by Filipino leaders, as well as by Filipinos in general," he added. — NPA, GMANews.TV

^^ not again...-_-
:ohno:

http://images.inquirer.net/media/newsinfo/inquirerheadlines/nation/images/pic-02280752000550.jpg

WHERE THERE’S A WILL ... For the longest time, the Estero de Paco, a tributary of Pasig River, was choked with all shapes and forms of garbage.


http://images.inquirer.net/media/newsinfo/inquirerheadlines/nation/images/pic-02280752250852.jpg

THERE’S A WAY With the trash cleared and the first of many more steps to save the Pasig River having been achieved, the redevelopment of the close-to-a-century-old Paco Market is under way.

Paco Market rehab preserves RP culture, saves Pasig River

By Sunshine Lichauco de Leon

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:33:00 02/28/2010

Filed Under: Culture (general), history

BUILT IN 1911, PACO MARKET in Manila is one of the oldest market structures in the country. But it is also a primary pollutant of the Estero de Paco, which flows into the Pasig River.

Paco Market’s redevelopment is in the works although the plan is to do more than fix a century-old structure. It’s a pioneering idea with the goal of preserving Philippine history and culture and, at the same time, encouraging commercial sustainability and cleaning the Pasig River.

Imagine Paco Market thus—an environment where commerce, community and culture thrive.

Project designer Maja Olivares-Co explains her personal motivation for the renovation: “I love markets. I believe that when I travel, going to a market in whatever country I am in, whether a souk in Morocco or the Tsukiji fish market in Japan, [will show] me the depth of that country’s culture.

“We have nothing that has that. I feel sad that my children experience that kind of energy outside, but not in their own country.”

Celebration

Last Feb. 22, Paco Market vendors and representatives of the national and local governments, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the military, and Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP) gathered at the market bridge.

The gathering was in celebration of the fact that the river waters flowing beneath them had been rid of garbage.

The first of many steps in the seven-year plan to save the Pasig River has been achieved—1,000 families moved to a resettlement area in Calauan, Laguna, their shanties dismantled, and a major source of waste polluting the Estero de Paco removed.

As these groups stood side by side handing symbolic stones to one another, they showed the extent to which their teamwork had brought them, as well as the strength with which they embarked on the second step to keep the estero clean—the redevelopment of Paco Market.

According to KBPIP managing director Gina Lopez, the market and the estero are inextricably linked.

“You can’t have a good market without a good estero, and vice versa. We will rehabilitate the market, educate stall holders and vendors, and implement stricter market management so the wastes won’t flow into the Pasig River anymore,” she says.

Lopez stresses that this project should be viewed as a first step toward a larger objective: “There are 400 other markets in the country, most of which drain into creeks. If we can get this done, it will show the possibilities.”

Bomb waiting to explode

While the redevelopment of Paco Market is only a small part of the KBPIP's Pasig River Rehabilitation project, it has a direct impact on the sustainability of the overall cleanup.

Describing the market’s current state, Olivares-Co says it’s “a bomb waiting to explode.”

“Structurally, not all parts are sound. It floods. The drains are clogged, so the sewage is hosed into the river,” she says.

Olivares-Co has worked on many exciting projects—including the Hermes shop and the trendy Masseto wine bar in Makati City—yet none has inspired her as this one:

“The excitement I [feel] is unique because it shifts between that of a designer and a mother. Right now, so many children are limited to a 10-mile radius of Rockwell, Glorietta and Greenbelt [in Makati], and it’s sad.

“If we can redevelop this project into something that will cater to [classes] A to D because it’s clean and safe, we would have made a positive contribution for generations of Filipino children.”

Old and new

The historic structure will be restored as close as possible to its original condition, but will include the best of “green” architecture.

Natural and artificial lighting, cross ventilation, proper water and waste management, and the use of architectural materials made from waste collected from the estero will be integral parts of the design plan.

And to encourage discipline and healthy competition, stall size will be standardized and products will be classified.

Once the structure has been renovated and extended to its 3,000-square-meter size, the next challenge will be a “rehabilitation” of the mindset of the market’s vendors and customers.

Olivares-Co explains the strategy which she believes will work: “Constant education, reminders and constant policing will be needed in the beginning. You know—if you see a candy wrapper, pick it up. Because if you start picking things up, you will not throw things that you will need to pick up later, right?”

The P50-million redevelopment is expected to take six months and will be implemented in phases as the funds are raised to cover the costs.

The first phase will be funded by a P5-million donation of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. to Paco Market and President Macapagal-Arroyo’s earmarking of P30 million from her Social Fund.

The money will go toward helping the Pasig River Rehabilitation Project as a whole; P15 million will go to Paco Market, P5 million to the estero cleanup, and P10 million to the resettlement site.

Partnership

Ms Arroyo attended the unveiling of the scale model of the redeveloped market, and toured the area to see first-hand what the KBPIP and its dedicated partners have accomplished so far.

Soldiers, for example, have played a crucial role in cleaning up the Estero de Paco—providing manpower for the riprapping projects, disposing of the debris gathered from the river, and educating the residents on how to preserve and protect their environment.

Maj. Gen. Renaldo Mabagu, chief of the National Capital Region Command, says his men are happy to know that they are making a difference in the lives of the Paco residents.

“Most of the people here throw their garbage [anywhere]; they don’t understand the larger impact. We tell them this is for their own good: If their environment is clean, they become healthy and [as a result] more productive,” he says.

Mabagu says the spirit of working together is “very contagious.”

“The work in this area shows that Filipinos can do anything as long as they are united in attaining a particular goal. The problems in this estero are a microcosm of what is happening in the country,” he says.

The MMDA, too, has provided the heavy equipment needed to move both earth and people, and handled the difficult task of dismantling illegal structures on the waterway.

MMDA general manager Robert Nacianceno says it is the KBPIP that has linked the different “specialists” together: “The presence of [this nongovernment organization] is very important because it is apolitical. It [does away with] political differences and makes people understand things from a common point of view, a common mission.”

Activity center

The future Paco Market will have an activity center for the community to enjoy.

With the help of foundations and NGOs, small workshops for acting, reading, music and alternative healthcare (including hilot), will be conducted daily.

For an authentic eating experience, there will be a “palutuan” where one can bring freshly bought produce and have it cooked the way one wants.

A special zone will be put up for the sale of products—from handbags to furniture—made from waste and recycled materials by the families relocated to Calauan.

Some of them lived along the estero for 40 years, and this will allow them to maintain their links with Paco even if they have moved away.

The market will be jointly managed by the KBPIP and the City of Manila, with Gina Lopez as project manager.

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who is wholeheartedly backing the project, believes that the positive effect of a renovated market will extend beyond the structure itself.

“Other residents will, on their own, be tempted to clean up their surroundings so as to conform with the beautiful things going on,” he says.

Domino effect

The vendors were initially apprehensive of the redevelopment plan, but only because they thought the market would be privatized and they would be charged higher rental fees.

When they learned that they would be given a beautiful, clean space at no extra cost, they threw their complete support behind the project.

Says Rene Gonio, whose family has been selling chicken in the market since the 1950s: “Because vendors spend between 4 a.m. and 7 p.m. here daily, this is their second home. But the situation has deteriorated so much. There are illegal residents, there’s so much crime and filth, that it’s such a hard place to earn a living.”

He airs the hope of many that a clean market will produce a domino effect: “If the environment is good, many customers will come, maybe even from other cities... With more customers, the income of vendors will increase and they can improve their lives. They will also have more money to spend in the community, so the city income will go up!”

Some vendors have shown support for the project with actions that speak louder than words.

Benemy, 32, is one of many ambulant vendors operating without a permit. He lives in the market with family members, all of whom have volunteered to help clean the area daily.

“I want to help the market and to help the other ‘ambulants.’ When the market is improved, I may have a chance to own a stall, which will be better for business and for my family,” he says

A time capsule was planted during the unveiling of the scale model of the new Paco Market. In it are letters written by community members expressing their hopes and dreams.

Climate change a threat to Filipino poor --Legarda (http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=13&sid=&nid=13&rid=261604)

MANILA, March 1 (PNA) -- Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), Nacionalista Party (NP) and Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) vice presidential bet Senator Loren Legarda on Monday lamented the great injustice suffered by the country's poorest, saying that "they contribute least to the problem (of climate change) yet they bear and suffer most from the impact."

"Those most vulnerable to climate change today are the country's poorest groups, since they lack the resources and means to cope with its impacts," said Loren, who chairs the Senate Committee on Climate Change.

"It is a clear injustice that these groups suffer the brunt of the impacts of climate change without any responsibility for having caused it," lamented Loren.

Loren is at the forefront of championing the adoption of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

"Government's development approach must not further breed injustice. We need a new vision, an approach to development," said Loren.

She stressed that government must have the moral responsibility to technologically and financially assist the poor in their climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts to compensate for the inequity and injustice.

Loren cited what the Global Humanitarian Forum had said "ensuring THAT the poor can live in safety means providing substantial additional support to these communities, and that responsibility falls on major polluters," said Loren.

While Loren acknowledges that regional efforts are ongoing, she urges government parties to ensure that the plan of action is mainstreamed into national policies and programs. "All governments must think, talk, and act green.

"The effects of climate change on our resources and our people are real and felt. Poverty, food security, and livelihood are already burdening the common citizen.

"To compound this, disasters resulting from climate change constantly bring hardships to communities. In this scenario, the poor are the most vulnerable and we must act now," said Loren. (PNA)

Wealth of parks exec behind missing elephant tusks probed
By Alcuin Papa
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:04:00 03/03/2010


MANILA, Philippines -- A nice posh house in Quezon City and expensive vehicles have led investigators to hunt down an official of the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Nature Center (NAPWNC) in relation to missing elephant tusks worth P3 million.

In a talk with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Dr. Mundita Lim, chief of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), which has jurisdiction over the NAPWNC, said statements taken from security personnel of the park by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said they had heard that the park superintendent purchased an expensive house and expensive vehicles.

“Nauunahan pa ako bumili ng bahay. At maganda sya. (He was able to buy a house before me. And it’s a beautiful house),” Lim mused.

She said she has seen pictures of the house, located somewhere in Quezon City.

Lim refused to name the park superintendent for fear that revealing his identity might jeopardize the investigation.

“We are afraid that by revealing his name, trail of this whole thing might get cold. Getting hold of the suspect or suspects, we believe, might lead us to a big group or syndicate involved in the illegal trade of elephant tusks and ivory. This is not the first time elephant tusks have been smuggled into the country,” Lim said.

She said the problem of the smuggling of elephant tusks out of the African continent has become “a global problem.”

“From an international point of view, many are looking at the Philippines as a trans-shipment point, or a place where these ivory pieces are processed before they get released into the black market,” Lim added.

On Tuesday, Environment and Natural Resources Sec. Horacio Ramos revealed that around P3 million worth of elephant tusks stored inside the NAPWNC were missing.

The tusks, valued for its ivory, were part of a 4,456-kilo shipment recovered by agents of the Bureau of Customs at the South Harbor in May 2009 and later turned over to the DENR.

Ramos ordered the filing of the administrative case against the park superintendent for the looting of the elephant tusks.

Based on the two-page order, the park superintendent is charged with grave misconduct and conduct gross prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

The park superintendent was given five days from receipt of the order to submit a reply to the charges and was placed under a 90-day preventive suspension starting Tuesday.

Last year, the Philippines set the record for the most number of cities participating in the yearly Earth Hour, this year on March 27, 2010- from 8:30PM-9:30PM - let us lead the world again in making a stand against climate change. Pledge your support here - http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx?intro=no

Philippine companies eye opportunities in global eco-market (http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=3&sid=&nid=3&rid=262408)

MANILA, March 4 (PNA) -- Four local companies are going to promote their green technology at the forthcoming Eco-Products International Fair (EPIF) 2010, Asia’s largest international environmental exhibition in Jakarta, the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) said.

CITEM said these Filipino companies are Monrio Industrial Corp., Mariwasa Siam Ceramics Inc., Trevis International Corp., and United Pulp and Paper Co. Inc.

The participating Filipino companies will showcase products bearing the green Seal of Approval granted by the National Ecolabelling Programme – Green Choice Philippines (NELP-GCP), a national initiative that serves as an important marketing instrument for environmentally preferable products.

Monrio Industrial Corp. is going to feature its LVD (low voltage differential) Induction Lamp with a longer burning lifespan leading to a lesser carbon footprint.

Mariwasa Siam Ceramics, Inc. will showcase its program on greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction in the production of its floor and wall ceramic tiles.

Trevis International Corp. will also highlight its Plantex Multi-Purpose Plant Extract Concentrate that acts as an odor eliminator, disinfectant, multi-purpose cleaner, and insect repellant, to name just a few uses.

The United Pulp and Paper Co., Inc. will bring its high-quality test liner (paperboard) that is GCP (Good Clinical Practice)-certified.

“There will be a lot of possible businessmen interested in importing and patronizing low-cost environmental solutions… especially now that we are facing the problems of global warming and high GHG emissions,” said Aileen Sheryl Austria, Sales and Marketing Manager for Trevis International.

Data showed a huge demand for emerging environment-friendly technology.

The US Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability has placed the market at a conservative $ 209 billion, which consists of goods and services focused on personal heath, natural lifestyle, green building, alternative transportation, eco-tourism, and alternative energy.

The Philippine participation is also meant to promote the country’s first Philippine International Eco-Show (PINES) in August this year at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

The trade show will feature companies from the country’s eco-industrial, eco-lifestyle, and eco-advocacy industries, and will also include an international knowledge-sharing conference.

De Venecia: 168 Asian political parties back RP's One Billion Trees Movement (http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=262797)

DAGUPAN CITY, Mar. 7 (PNA) — Fourth District Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. said that his personal advocacy calling for the planting of One Billion Trees gained the support of 168 political parties in Asia whose leaders met in Katmandu, Nepal sometime last February.

Speaking to newsmen at his residence on Saturday, De Venecia said he chaired the conference as president of Asian Association of Political Parties.

That was the second conference made by the group in two years, the first one of which was in Kazakhstan in August last year.

De Venecia said he was glad that his proposal seeking the planting of One Billion Trees in each country was approved and endorsed by all political parties in Asia, namely: Russia, China, India, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and others.

He said one of the biggest supporters of his proposal was the Communist Party of China as Northern China today is in the midst of drought, like what is now happening in California, USA.

With the support of various countries in Asia, De Venecia is optimistic that this could translate to One Trillion Trees.

De Venecia is founder of the One Billion Trees Movement in the Philippines which he founded sometime in 2003 along with retired Justice Amado Valdez who later served as government corporate counsel and foreign affairs undersecretary in charge of the Visiting Forces Agreement, his son Jose de Venecia III, who is now running for senator; and seven others.

The elder De Venecia said: “Drought, alternating with killer storms, typhoons and now killer quakes are inter-related and all these are caused by carbon dioxide emission that goes to the sky and create global warming and climate change”.

He noted that the ice caps in the north and south poles are now melting while the glaciers in Mount Everest are now also beginning to melt, all of which are signs that global warming and climate change are for real.

At the same time, De Venecia called on the Filipinos anew to support his One Billion Trees Movement as trees, he added, are the only means capable of saving planet earth from the onslaught of climate change which causes natural disasters, such as today’s drought, powerful storms, floods and earthquakes.

De Venecia’s One Billion Trees Movement calls for the reforestation of bald mountains of Mindanao, Samar-Leyte, Bicol Peninsula, Pinatubo area, Zambales and Western Pangasinan Marikina City and all the way to the Sierra Madre, Cordillera Region, Ilocos Region and Cagayan Valley.

He said if the Filipinos will plant one billion trees today, there will be one billion trees to be added to the natural resources and to be harvested and form part of the incomes of the people.

He cited the examples of Canada, New Zealand and Finland whose major export now is lumber.

The trees absorb carbon dioxide emission and if not absorbed, this will go to the sky and cause global warming which triggers climate change that is now causing today's, “killer rains”, “killer floods”, killer typhoons and eventually “killer drought”.

De Venecia said that while each country in Asia will do its part in planting one billion trees each, that could soon translate to one trillion trees, there is also a need to exert continuous pressures on the G-8 and G-20 countries to provide massive funds for the battle of climate change.

Poor and developing nations, with even debts to rich nations, need funds to undertake a comprehensive reforestation program and fight poverty, he added.

To him, the result of the Copenhagen Summit last year was disappointing because the advanced countries seem reluctant to support poor nations in fighting climate change. (PNA)

It’s eagle chick #23!
Regions
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 19:56

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/7369/regions02.jpg (http://img11.imageshack.us/i/regions02.jpg/)
n Photo: A baby eagle, bred and hatched in captivity, gets a lot of tender, loving care from the staff of the Philippine Eagle Foundation.

A BABY Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) hatched in Davao City at 6:12 p.m. on Sunday, March 7. The chick, weighing 137.5 grams, is the 23rd eaglet bred and born under the Philippine Eagle Foundation’s (PEF) conservation breeding program.

“Relieved and very happy,” said Anna Mae Sumaya, curator of the PEF’s breeding program, when asked how she felt hours after the hatching. “It had been an uneasy two years since we last had a chick as we implemented changes in our breeding program; we are ecstatic that the hard work has paid off.”

Sumaya and the PEF had recently been reviewing and revamping the breeding program, taking on more aggressive approaches and developing new protocols to further improve the reproductive success rate at the Philippine Eagle Center— the breeding, research and rehabilitation facility run by the PEF to save the endangered Philippine Eagle from extinction.

The PEF is responsible for producing Eagle icon Pag-asa in 1992 and 21 other Philippine Eagles at the center.

The PEF’s breeding program is intended to supplement eagle populations in the wild by replacing those lost to hunting and by reintroducing captive-bred birds to vacant habitats and habitats occupied by unpaired wild eagles.

Assisted hatching

CHICK #23 needed some assistance to come out. Twelve hours had passed since the chick was expected to pip through its shell, so Sumaya decided to intervene. She poked a hole through the egg shell on Saturday afternoon to help start the chick through the process, and kept watch with the rest of the breeding team for 26 more hours before Chick #23 was completely free. The chick is the offspring of natural eagle pair Tsai and Princess Maasim.

Baby Philippine Eagles are about the size of a baseball and come out fluffy white before growing their distinctive brown feathers in about a month. They reach their full height of about 3 feet at age six months. The newly hatched chick is currently fed small amounts of ground meat every four hours.

New chapter

PEF executive director Dennis Salvador believes this hatching ushers in another new chapter in the organization’s history.

“The PEF’s first milestone was Pag-asa’s birth in 1992, when we broke through the challenge of breeding these eagles in captivity. Once our breeding techniques stabilized, we were then able to do the first test release of a captive-bred eagle to the wild in 2004, to see how captive-bred birds fare in their forest habitats.”

The PEF learned a lot from the test release of eagle Kabayan in 2004. Though that release ended tragically in Kabayan’s accidental electrocution, PEF found out that captive-bred birds learn to hunt on their own, among other findings that also saw the PEF adapting release protocols used with other species to the Philippine Eagle in the Philippine context.Kabayan’s and the succeeding releases, however, opened up more challenges for the organization.

The PEF noted that with captive-bred eagles and even with wild eagles rescued and released back to their natural habitats, the released birds did not seem averse to humans and have, in fact, been reported frequenting communities and in plain sight of human populations.

Apparently, young eagles, as with many juveniles of other species, are very curious and do not recognize humans as a danger to them. This behavior has left the eagles vulnerable to persecution, as in the case of eagle Kagsabua, who was killed and made into soup by a resident close to the release site in 2008.

“While we doubled up our efforts in educating communities close to eagle areas and engaging them in conservation work, we also took a good look at how we rear captive-bred birds at the PEC. Changes in rearing and release protocols will be implemented starting with this new chick,” Salvador added.

If it reaches age two years and remains in good health, Chick #23 will be released to the wild.

The PEF is looking for partners to support the release program, which costs P1 million a year. The partner will have the privilege of naming the eagle chick and help prevent the extinction of this majestic bird.

Business Mirror (http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22724:its-eagle-chick-23&catid=45:regions&Itemid=71)

Reports from the recent Cophenhagen talks have shown that our situation is particularly bleak: something like 25 pct of topsoil worldwide destroyed, increasing dead zones in fishing areas and major drops in fishing production, more droughts and floods leading to crop destruction, etc. Even with zero emissions, it is believed by some that global ave. temps will still rise, and that problems expected in the future may be arriving earlier than anticipated, such as recent findings about melting ice and trapped methane being released.

Meanwhile, global population and per capita consumption are still increasing, and various resources (inc. oil and coal) face supply and production problems. In which case, we face two major problems (pollution/global warming and lack of resources) which lead to others, such as the spread of infectious diseases, conflict over various resources, etc.

Also, for lots of links to news about this issue, try

http://www.desdemonadespair.net/

Hawksbill turtle rescued in Manila port (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/03/20/10/hawksbill-turtle-rescued-manila-port)

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 03/20/2010 11:43 AM

MANILA, Philippines – An endangered hawksbill turtle was found and rescued in a Manila port on Friday.

The turtle was discovered at Pier 15 of the Manila Bay by Seaman 2nd Cesar Ryan Alvarez.

Alvarez initially thought the turtle to be just trash on a basket until it moved.

He brought the turtle to the Philippine Coast Guard headquarters to be turned over to a member of the Pawikan Conservation Project.

Biologist Nilo Romoso said the rescued turtle, believed to be in its juvenile stage, was 45.5 centimeters long and 41.6 centimeters wide. It is among the 5 classes of turtles found in the Philippines. The said turtle has a lifespan of 80 years.

The turtle possibly strayed from its usual migration pattern in Batangas, Bataan and Zambales.

Authorities are also looking into the possibility that the turtle got loose from its owner as its shell bore a hole and it still has tie marks. They say fishermen sometimes keep turtles that they find.

Hawksbill turtles are reportedly on the brink of extinction. Their number has decreased since the 1950s. Report from Maan Macapagal, ABS-CBN News
as of 03/20/2010 2:04 PM

***

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/818/pawikansafernandes3ma4.jpg

Check out the latest news on bluefin tuna and cod declines, topsoil destruction due to drought, etc.

KBP-Cebu, DENR7 sign deal for rehab of mangrove area (http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/248770/kbpcebu-denr7-sign-deal-rehab-mangrove-area)
By PHOEBE JEN INDINO
March 21, 2010, 9:57am

SIBONGA, Cebu — To show its support for the Trees for Life (TFL) project, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP)-Cebu Chapter recently signed a Memorandum of Partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the rehabilitation of a 20-hectare mangrove area in this town.

DENR Secretary Horacio C. Ramos and KBP-Cebu Chapter President Florito Carlo Dugaduga signed the partnership for the rehabilitation of the mangrove here that is expected to enhance the greening efforts.

DENR7 Regional Executive Director Leonardo R. Sibbaluca said “the TFL calls for all sectors and every citizen of the society to collaborate and unify efforts towards the natural resources development and environmental management.”

TFL is in support of President Arroyo’s Green Philippines Program (GPP) which is made up of four components, namely, reforestation, preservation of reefs and waterways, cleansing the land and air of toxic pollutants, and energy independence.

“Mangrove is a type of forest growing along tidal mudflats and along shallow water, coastal areas extending inland along rivers, streams and their tributaries where the water is generally brackish” Sibbaluca explained.

Mangroves provide nursery grounds for fish, prawns and crabs, and support fisheries production in coastal waters; protect the environment by protecting coastal areas and communities from storm surges, waves, tidal currents and typhoons; produce organic biomass (carbon) and reduce organic pollution in nearshore areas by trapping or absorption.

Sibaluca said mangroves contribute 1,800-4,200 grams of carbon per square meter per year, approximately the contribution of the tropical rain forest and 10 times higher than primary production in the open ocean.

The DENR, in collaboration with stakeholders and partners, has spearheaded the massive tree planting to mitigate climate change, ensure water supply security, conserve biodiversity, establish agro-forestry and sustain supply of forest-based raw materials and the production of alternative source of fuels.

Meanwhile, prior to the actual conduct of the activity, the DENR will hold surveys and prepare the sketch plan of the area and facilitate briefing and orientation on how to plant mangroves as it explains the importance of mangrove forest in carbon sequestration.

Moreover, the KBP-Cebu Chapter will conduct the actual planting of the 20-hectare mangrove area and will provide the necessary personnel compliment and other material inputs in accomplishing its establishment and maintenance activities.

At CIF Meeting and 2010 Partnership Forum, delegates advocate for gender equality
MANILA, March 23 (PNA) -- Government delegates, bilateral and multilateral agencies, and civil society representatives this week discussed how best to incorporate gender equality and equity considerations into the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) governance and operations.

This developed during the CIF Trust Fund Committee meetings and 2010 Annual Partnership Forum, hosted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) here since Monday last week.

The highlight of these efforts was a discussion session last Tuesday, which aimed to raise awareness of the importance of ensuring that these climate funds address the needs of poor women and men equitably.

The gender event, jointly hosted by the Governments of the Philippines and Germany, the Asian Development Bank, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the Global Gender Climate Alliance (GGCA), a network of nearly 40 UN agencies and civil society organizations, focused on the donor-funded USD6 billion CIF, managed by the World Bank in association with four regional multilateral development banks (MDBs).

According to Winnie Byanyima, Director of UNDP's Gender Team, and a founding member of the GGCA, “If the CIF is to reach its full potential to help developing countries address the related challenges of climate change and poverty reduction, the policies and programs it supports must effectively target both women and men in their households and communities.”

The CIF is designed to initiate transformational change toward low-carbon and climate-resilient development through scaled-up financing channeled through the MDBs.

Participants recognized that at the household and community level, poor women in developing countries are active agents of change and have the potential to contribute to national climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.

“Women must be involved in country-led planning exercises ... to ensure that gender perspectives and gender equity issues are integrated into the whole project cycle of CIF-supported programs,” said Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, ADB Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development.

During the Partnership Forum’s plenary level dialogue yesterday, panelists called for increased attention to social and gender equality impact considerations in the CIF programs, not only because gender equality is a human right and development goal but also because it is a strategy for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the CIF.

During the week, UNDP also highlighted its USD92 million UNDP-Japan Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) and discussed its synergies with the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), a key adaptation program under the CIF.

The AAP – covering 20 countries in Africa – has taken steps to integrate gender equality considerations into all aspects of its operations. Mr. Tomochika Uyama, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, thanked UNDP for designing and implementing the program, which demonstrates the commitment of both Japan and UNDP to helping African countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.

In addition to the AAP, UNDP has over USD200 million in ongoing Global Environment Facility (GEF) adaptation projects, covering 45 countries in all regions.

UNDP has also been working, in partnership with MDBs and bilateral agencies, to assist PPCR pilot country governments to design their national PPCR programs.

During the presentation of Zambia’s funding proposal for the preparation of its strategic program for climate resilience, Mr. David Kaluba of Zambia’s Ministry of Finance and National Planning, and also the Joint PPCR Mission team leader, praised the partnership between the World Bank/ IFC, African Development Bank, UNDP and UK/ DFID, who had effectively worked together to assist Zambia develop this adaptation proposal and strategy.

Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK also lauded the substantive content of this first-ever funding submission and strategy by Zambia to the PPCR as a good example for future submissions.

A donor-supported financing instrument designed to support low-carbon development in developing countries, the CIF was established in 2008. (PNA)http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=4&sid=&nid=4&rid=265862

EARTH HOUR 2010

Please don't forget to switch your lights off tonight!!


FclcMfzjwug

Our quick video of Earth Hour Philippines 2010 at the Ayala Museum, Makati City

tmBQw3dXatY

^^Corny yung Earth Hour para sa mga taga Mindanao :ohno:

^^ Ano ba yan.. lahat na lang pupulaan.

7 presidential bets want ban of single-use plastic bags
Written by Jonathan Mayuga - BusinessMirror Online
Thursday, 01 April 2010

SEVEN of the nine presidential aspirants in the May elections are in favor of banning single-use plastic bags and other plastic-based disposable containers, a survey conducted by green groups bared.

These candidates include Sens. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel Villar, the top two leading presidential candidates, according to recent poll surveys; Richard Gordon and Jamby Madrigal; councilor JC de los Reyes, environmentalist Nicky Perlas; and evangelist Eduardo Villanueva.

Former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada and Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro did not participate in the survey, and thus did not score any point in the groups’ ranking process.

The presidential aspirants who participated in the survey cited “wastefulness” and the impact of such waste to the environment as they end up in dumps and pollute water bodies such as rivers, lakes and the oceans.

EcoWaste Coalition, a waste and pollution watchdog, and the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace Southeast Asia consider the result of the survey “one positively good news for Mother Earth,” if and when one of these presidential bets will pursue the ban on plastics, which could help put an end to the most visible environmental scourge of the modern era.

The survey, second installment of the 2010 Green Electoral Initiative (GEI) survey, focuses on the issue of ecological solid-waste management. The 2010 GEI was organized to ascertain the environmental platforms and programs of those running for president. Plastics have been largely blamed for clogging waterways and causing floods.

Some of the candidates proposed specific measures to curb plastic-bag consumption in the country—which, according to Madrigal, amounts to 16 million plastic bags daily—including the imposition of taxes and disincentives as proposed both by Gordon and Perlas, and the implementation of vigorous efforts to maximize plastic waste recovery, reuse and recycling as espoused by Aquino and Villar.

Roy Alvarez, president of EcoWaste, said the expressed intent of the seven presidential candidates to act against plastics pollution should send a strong signal to the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) about the urgent need to impose a policy that will effectively phase out and ultimately ban single-use plastic bags.

Alvarez said the NSWMC has been remiss in performing its mandate and allows the vested interests of plastic manufacturers to prevail over that of the people who are adversely affected by problem caused by the excessive use of plastics.

Von Hernandez, Greenpeace executive director, said banning single-use plastic bags is vital in solving the waste crisis, too.

“Together with the front-end approaches of waste segregation, composting and recycling—prohibiting and deterring the use of plastic bags and other environment unsound packaging will considerably reduce the volume of waste and help avert a host of associated environmental problems,” he said.

The panel of non-partisan GEI evaluators gave Perlas 8.3 points for his clear-cut proposals on how to improve the implementation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and move the country away from dirty waste disposal towards Zero Waste.

Gordon ranked second with 7.65 points, Madrigal 7.6, Villanueva 6.66, Aquino 6.15, Villar 5.4 and de los Reyes 2.15. Estrada and Teodoro both got zero points for not responding to the survey.

^^Corny yung Earth Hour para sa mga taga Mindanao :ohno:

They don't need it. :lol:

:cheers:

Construction sector going green
Sunday, 04 April 2010 00:00
PDF

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6105/e3issue5cover.jpg (http://img269.imageshack.us/i/e3issue5cover.jpg/)


by Lovely A. Carillo

Green is the most popular color in Davao City these days! While most households are going for green appliances, and the tourism sector is going green, it is now the turn of the city’s construction sector to go green.
The Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. recognizes the need to reduce the world’s carbon footprint. Proof of this is last Friday’s First Quarterly Business Encounter and 3rd General Membership Meeting held at the Apo View Hotel which showcased the city’s real estate and land development sector.
“Davao is going green little by little, but we need to push the business sector into this direction considering that there are still biases regarding the cost of becoming environment-friendly,” then DCCCII president Simeon Marfori told Edge Davao before turning over his post to his successor.
Marfori said going green, especially in business, is actually one of the greatest challenges the sector has to face at this time, considering the urgent need to minimize the effects of climate change.
“The construction sector has no choice but to heed the call of the global community to be more environment-friendly due to the threat of global warming,” Amon Marketing Corporation marketing manager Mariella T. Esmeralda said. “This,” she added, “ is the very reason why the company decided to come up with the NViro Products.”
The NViro Product line-up introduced by Esmeralda to the city’s business sector, consists of the eco-safe permaseal paint which is environment-friendly, waterproof, heat and acid resistant as well as the bio-organic wood glue which does not contain harmful fumes and is environment-friendly, too.
People’s Park
A lot of Dabawenyos and even foreigners may have walked along and admired the rainbow-colored walkway of the People’s Park, not knowing that it was painted with environment-friendly paint.
“The Rainbow Drive at the People’s Park was painted using NViro paints,” Esmeralda said. These are non-toxic paints that are all eco-safe and eco--friendly because they do not contain mercury and lead, she added.
Contrary to the notion that environment-friendly construction products are more expensive than the regular products, Esmeralda said their paints are very affordable. The 3-Liter paint, which costs between P480 to P540, can cover a 24-square meter area, the same area that can be covered by most 4-Liter regular paints. This is possible, she said, due to the elastometric performance of the NViro paint.
Esmeralda said there is also a plan to come up with the eco-label which certifies that the product is environment-friendly. NViro products have been certified by the SGS, an international body.
“While the demand for our lead-free paints is satisfactory, there is still a need to educate the market since their mindset is still focused on purchasing non-environment friendly products,” she said.
Esmeralda added that they will tie up with the barangays for some training programs on climate change. Those in the local government units are users of construction supplies and we want to educate them to patronize environment-friendly products. She said it does not follow that when paint is odor-free, it is already non-toxic or environment-friendly.
Aside from being environment-friendly, NViro paints are also classified as a universal paint so it can be used on concrete, wood, metal and even on canvas.
Amon has also tied up with Habitat for Humanity and Petron to provide non-toxic school buildings in Mindanao. Petron entered into an agreement with Habitat for Humanity for the bulding of schoolhouses in remote areas in Mindanao like Isulan and Sultan Kudarat and all these school will be painted using NViro paints.
The quest to go green does not, however, stop with the products. Holcim, one of the biggest cement companies in the world with more than 90,000 employees in over 70 countries, is also into sustainable construction. Holcim, which has 1,400 employees in the Philippines alone, has a solid hold on products like cement, aggregates, asphalt and ready-mix concrete.
“Our business is not only concerned with income, but we are also with the impact of business in the environment in light of climate change,” Holcim Philippines, Inc. area sales manager Winston A. Barnes said.
Barnes said Holcim plants are ISO—IMS-certified which means the company follows three standards, including safety of the environment, quality of the products as well as occupational health and safety of the workers.
Holcim makes use of equipment that siphons dust so the environment is free from dust in the process of production. They have also installed a machine that separates oil from water to prevent contamination of the waters. Barnes said their quarry areas are replanted with trees and vegetation.
The effort of the construction industry to go green will allow the city to maximize all areas that can be managed to be able to create healthier buildings and healthier societies. And contrary to the common notion that going green equals more expense for builders and locators, those in the construction industry claim that sustainable construction do not only lower the cost of building operations in the long run, but it also means improved human health and productivity and a more sustainable future.

Edge Davao (http://www.edgedavao.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2287:construction-sector-going-green&catid=51:on-the-cover&Itemid=83)

Artists create Marikina mural with first air-cleaning paint

April 5, 2010, 3:55pm
Manila Bulletin

In the aftermath of the Ondoy tragedy, Marikina is fortifying their walls – but not with an extra layer of cement or concrete. Marikina is painting their walls to mitigate climate change.

Just recently, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines), the Global Campaign for Climate Action (GCCA), the local government of Marikina and Pacific Paints (Boysen) mounted a 200-sqm mural in the walls fronting Marikina River – an area which the organizers noted to have borne grim testament to the destructive effects of climate change.

The event coincided with the Copenhagen Climate Deal, a conference which the WWF considers as the most important global council meeting on climate change to date. Here, world leaders are set to craft a successor to the Kyoto protocol which expires in 2012.

“Ondoy taught us a painful and very expensive lesson. With climate change, no one is ever exempt,” noted Liesl Lim of the WWF-Philippines Climate Unit. Citing the Marikina Riverbanks as an example, she explained that coastal zones and flood prone areas along river banks and lake shores are likely to be affected. But since the impact of climate change are dynamic, less vulnerable areas and sectors can be affected as well.

“Are we prepared to adapt to this nebulous, aggressive future? Clearly not. But, it’s never too late to work pro-actively.”

True enough, the 200-sqm mural painted by the country’s top mural artists turned into a provocative statement against climate change. But because the mural was painted entirely with Boysen KNOxOUT, the Riverbank walls were turned into an actual line of defense against the effects of climate change.

Boysen KNOxOUT, the first air cleaning paint in the world, is one of the only proven way for people to take air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) out of the air. NOx and VOCs are the two components of smog, or ground level ozone, which is harmful to humans, plants and animals.

According to the new research by scientists at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), ozone was responsible for one-third to half of the observed warming trend in the Arctic during the 20th century.

KNOxOUT is a green technological breakthrough that can help mitigate the impact by reducing air pollutants that produce smog. In a trial conducted at the Guadalupe MRT Station, the KNOxOUT painted on the station walls was found to clean the air of the exhausts of over 30,000 vehicles passing by the area daily.

WWF’s Lim believes that climate mitigation must be institutional – and that solutions such as switching to energy-efficient appliances, reducing consumption and using smarter, greener materials can go a long way in helping Filipinos fight climate change.

“Many Filipinos would like to do their share to fight air pollution and climate change,” noted Johnson Ongking, vice-president of Pacific Paints (Boysen) Philippines. “KNOxOUT empowers them to improve the environment by doing something as simple as painting their walls.”

RP renewable energy firm to build biomass plant for giant soft drink maker

April 5, 2010, 3:37pm
Manila Bulletin

Solutions Using Renewable Energy, Inc. (SURE), will install a state-of-the-art and environment-friendly power facility for Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. (Pepsi Philippines), in support of the soft drink maker’s program to assure a supply of cheap electricity and fight global warming.

Officials from SURE and Pepsi Philippines recently signed the agreement for SURE’s construction inside the bottling company’s complex in Rosario, La Union, of a 1.2-megawatt, rice husk- and wood chip-fired cogeneration power plant at a cost of $2.7-million.

Once completed in January 2011, the project will mark the first time that a soft drink bottling plant in the country will integrate a green cogeneration power facility to its complex.

SURE is a Philippine firm with the widest portfolio of local renewable energy projects. Its projects include the biggest integrated waste-to-energy project in Vietnam.

Pepsi Philippines, one of the biggest soft drink companies in the country, operates 11 production facilities spread around the country.

Lawyer Clarence de Guia, SURE spokesman, said that the cogeneration project for Pepsi Philippines earlier earned an award from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as one of two clean energy investment opportunities in the country that show the most promising prospect.

SURE won the award at the end of the first USAID-Private Finance Advisory Network Clean Energy Investor Forum, where five other renewable energy firms were selected finalists in the business plan competition.

According to de Guia, Pepsi Philippines now taps two sources of electricity for its La Union bottling complex. The Luzon grid provides the bottling complex’s main supply of electricity, while a diesel-fired generator, which consumes 620,000 liters of bunker fuel a year, produces steam for cleaning soft drink bottles.

“The cogeneration power plant will replace both existing sources of electricity of Pepsi Philippines’ La Union production line, while cutting down by 20 percent the facility’s expenses for electricity and steam production,” De Guia explained.

Unlike a conventional power generator, which produces only electricity, a cogeneration plant allows the production of heat and electricity in one single process.

In traditional power stations, exhaust gases are uselessly discharged through the chimney. In contrast, the gases produced by a cogeneration plant are first cooled to release their energy into useful hot water or steam circuit. In a tri-generation plant, the process goes one step further by capturing the cooled gases for other uses.

“The use of rice husk and wood chip will translate to the avoidance of 2.7 million liters of fossil fuel equivalent per year,” de Guia added. “The avoided fossil fuel would have spewed into the atmosphere more than 3,000 tons per year of carbon emissions.”

The cogeneration project, therefore, is Pepsi Philippines’ support to the global campaign against greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. At the same time, the cogeneration plant will assure Pepsi Philippines of a stable supply of electricity.

De Guia also said that Pepsi Philippines will save on construction cost, because SURE will deliver the facility for free under a 10-year build-own-operate-supply-and transfer arrangement.

Under the arrangement, SURE shall operate the facility to generate electricity and steam, which shall be used and paid for by Pepsi Philippines on a guaranteed take-or-pay basis during the 10-year cooperation period.

SURE will sell the electricity and steam at prices that are at least 20 percent cheaper than the indexed prices of electricity and steam.

During the 10-year cooperation period SURE shall retain title to all fixtures, fittings, plant and equipment that it will construct, fabricate, install and paid for. At the end of the cooperation period, SURE shall transfer to Pepsi Philippines all its ownership rights, title and interest in and to the fixtures, fittings, plant and equipment and to all improvements comprising the facility.

The transferred assets shall be free from any lien or encumbrance, and their transfer shall be done without requiring Pepsi Philippines to pay any additional compensation for SURE.

:cheers:

Council okays bicycle ordinance

DAVAO City Council passed on third and final reading Tuesday an ordinance promoting the use of bicycles as a safe, affordable and environment-friendly mode of transportation.

Proponent Councilor Leonardo Avila III said the ordinance, dubbed Bicycle Ordinance of Davao City, would also contain provisions on bicycle user safety measures, traffic rules and regulation, incentives, and amenities for the city.

"We are very happy na naipasa na itong Bicycle Ordinance. I first proposed this between 2002 or 2003 and since then (City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte) created a task force to study the possibilities of creating one. So now, we've made all reflections we are ready to start promoting this idea which would benefit generations," Avila said in an interview.

"Right now we are still at the information dissemination phase, at the same time we'll move for its approval sa City Mayor's Office. From there, we can expect an IRR (implementation rules and regulations) will be crafted. Medyo malayo-layo pa ang panahon na mag ma-materialize ang provisions nito at ma-feel natin yung effects ng advocacy behind it," he added.

The ordinance responds to concern about carbon emission. By making bicycling safe as the ordinance intends to, it will also address the needs of bicycle users, most of whom are those trying to save money from transportation fares.

"We are among the first to have this ordinance. This practice is present in urbanized cities, such as Pasig, Pasay, and Quezon. People do want to ride bicycles even school children but parents do not allow them because it's dangerous so the city sees it necessary to make our roads safe for this," Avila said.

He said he also observed that countries that are modernized provide bicycle lanes to control traffic and to promote good health and environment protection.

“Sa developed countries, the offices are encouraged to have bicycle parking space, lockers and showers so that people can change before their work. That's for a long term vision which I hope we can achieve," Avila said.

The ordinance specifies that the city through the ordinance is:

* Providing a safer environment and creating a more efficient flow for the existing bicycle traffic in the city;

* Rationalizing the efficiency, capacity and compatibility in the flow of motorized and bicycle traffic;

* Improving the attractiveness and promote the use of bicycle for health benefits and as an economically and environmentally viable mode of transport in the city; and

* Establishing bicycle lanes in selected streets of the city.

Avila said the ordinance will be implementing voluntary bicycle registration in barangays with stickers placed on bicycles for identification. It will also study along with the Traffic Management Center a plan to set a portion of present roads, and label them as bicycle lanes or the possibility of widening roads.

The ordinance will also promote the wearing of protective gears while travelling, Avila said. (JCZ)

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on April 7, 2010.
^^::cheers:

Japanese captured whale meat tracked to US and Korea restaurants (http://en.mercopress.com/2010/04/14/japanese-captured-whale-meat-tracked-to-us-and-korea-restaurants)

Scientists say they have found clear proof that meat from whales captured under Japan's whaling programme is being sold in US and Korean eateries. The researchers say they used genetic fingerprinting to identify meat taken from a Los Angeles restaurant as coming from a sei whale sold in Japan.

The whale hunting battle has moved to eateries

They say the discovery proves that an illegal trade in protected species still exists.

Whale meat was also allegedly found at an unnamed Seoul sushi restaurant.
Commercial whaling has been frozen by an international moratorium since 1986.

But a controversial exemption allows Japan to kill several hundred whales each year for what is termed scientific research.

The meat from these whales is then sold to the public in shops and restaurants in that country.

A team of scientists, film-makers and environmental advocates say they collected samples of whale meat being sold in sushi restaurants in both the US and South Korea late last year.

A genetic analysis of meat found in Los Angeles showed that it was identical to meat from a sei whale being sold in Japan in 2007. This species is said by environmentalists to be in danger of extinction.

Criminal proceedings have started against the Los Angeles restaurant caught selling the whale meat. It has now closed but its chef and owners face heavy penalties.

Writing in the Royal Society journal, Biology Letters, the researchers involved say that trading in this meat is banned between countries that have signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

The researchers also visited an unnamed restaurant in the South Korean capital Seoul where they say they purchased 13 whale products on two occasions in June and September 2009.

Four came from an Antarctic minke whale, four from a sei whale, three from a North Pacific minke, one from a fin whale and one was from a Risso's dolphin, the researchers say.

The DNA profile of the fin whale meat genetically matched meat that had been bought in Japanese markets in 2007, they report.

They argue that Japan should be required to make public a register of the DNA of all the whales it catches so that illegally traded meat can be tracked.

Below is a good case to ponder about an out of the Box solution. If they built that 200 meter high dam, it will eliminate more forest and farm land. The multi-dam solution is more reasonable in every aspect. Good that our own David won and he has beaten a good old man Buffet's company, now with additional purse to go againts similar prospect. I thought his approach to Laiban Dam project will be proven to be a winner again.


Below the Line

David trumps Goliath

By AMBASSADOR JOSE A. ZAIDEApril 16, 2010, 3:41pm

Sometimes the local boy wins.

Nebraska District Court Judge Gary B. Randall ordered MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., one of the holding companies of billionaire Warren Buffet, to pay $32 million to the Filipino partner it tried to cut out of an irrigation project in Nueva Ecija in a fiscal sleight of hand.

* * *

The court ordered the firm to pay Oscar Violago’s San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders & Developers Group (SLRB) “$32,288,198.22 plus nine percent until fully paid and to perform the balance of its obligations to SLRB under the shareholders agreement, including but not limited to the delivery of 115,000 shares of common stock in the project company.”

* * *

This led our classmate Ernie Fajardo to quip that Violago must now be a Goliath, since he has “Buffet” for breakfast.

* * *

The Casecnan waters in Nueva Vizcaya was like the Manekin Pis... flushing to the Babuyan channel into the Pacific. A World Bank study recommended the construction of the Casecnan dam to tunnel the waters to the Pantabangan in Nueva Ecija, which dried up in summer. But the project could never take off because of its $2 billion bill which required constructing a 200 meter high dam.


It took Violago and his partner La Prarie of Canada to come up with a solution out of the box in 1993… shaving the project cost down to $680 million and resolving a major environmental concern… saving the Bungkalot tribe from being submerged by replacing the 200-meter high dam with two smaller dams of 30 and 20 meters.

* * *

At the initial congressional committee deliberations on the prospects of the Casecnan dam, Senator Serge Osmeña asked Violago if he was an engineer, and the latter cheekily replied, “No Mr. Senator. I am an economics graduate. But if I took engineering, I would have graduated magna cum laude.”

* * *

The multipurpose project collects water from the Casecnan and Taan Rivers, transporting it through a 16-mile tunnel to the Pantabangan Reservoir. It provides about 150 megawatts of electricity and irrigates 350,000 hectares of Nueva Ecija farmland.

* * *

Because of the Casecnan, while the major dams of Angat, Magat, Ambuklao, Benga, and other dams are drying up, the Pantabangan has year-round water and claims to be “110 percent bountiful” ...making Nueva Ecija the only green province in the country.

* * *

In recognition of his enterprise, Governor Umali conferred on Violago the Natatanging Novo Ecijano Gawad Dangal ng Nueva Ecija” award… the first to be enrolled in the province’s Hall of Fame. Violago was also invited to be this year’s commencement speaker of the Nueva Ecija University of Science & Technology (NEUST) where, a man of few words, he delivered the theme, “Just Do It... With God, through Mama Mary and St. Joseph, Nothing is Impossible”

* * *

Violago is also in contest with another Goliath. His SLRB company is the proponent of the Wawa Dam against San Miguel-Manila Water’s Laiban Dam. Déjà vu, the Wawa waters now just flushes out to the Marikina and Pasig rivers, and our local David hopes to channel it to slake the thirst of Metro Manila.

* * *

Wawa offers the same lower cost solution by using seven mini-dams (with flood control facility for Metro Manila). Its advantage is proximity to Manila (4 kms. to Montalban and 11 kms. to La Mesa Dam vs 75 kms. from Laiban) and needing less infrastructure and resettlement of informal settlers.

Moreover, the project can be operated in one year (against minimum of 10 years by competition). It also offers ancillary by-product: potable water and irrigation for Bulacan, 500MW to 1,000 MW hydropower, and flood control system.

* * *

El Niño won’t wait, so where would you bet your thirst?

* * *

Feedback: jaz@mb.com.ph

SOURCE: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/253002/david-trumps-goliath

Adopt-a-lighthouse program launched
By Evelyn Macairan (philstar.com) Updated April 18, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is inviting private individuals, corporations and non-government organizations to adopt one of the country’s 558 lighthouses.

PCG commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said at the launch of “Ilaw Mo, Buhay Ko” last week, “The project pays homage to the nation’s proud maritime heritage while at the same time moves forward to achieve state-of-the-art upgrade and maintenance of the archipelago’s aids to navigation.”

PCG spokesman Lt. Commander Arman Balilo said that of the 558 lighthouses situated all over the country, only 471 of them are working. The remaining 87 units, which have been vandalized or burglarized, their bulbs and batteries stolen, are in urgent need of adoption so these could be repaired and refurbished.

The PCG, which is mandated to operate the lighthouses, hired civilian personnel to man the lighthouses, but thieves and vandals sneak inside the towers when the lighthouse keepers go home.

They are looking for benefactors who have some personal connection to the areas where the lighthouses that they choose are located – such as if they have property in the area – so there would be a long-term commitment to the project.

The PCG spokesman explained that “while the lighthouses may no longer be helpful big ships, they are still beneficial to small fishing vessels because the light coming from the lighthouses help them locate the shore and find their way home.”

Apart from function, lighthouses are also valuable for their history, since most of them were built during the Spanish or American eras. As such, they help increase tourism.

The PCG official said that the project was launched three years ago, but they had to put it on hold after questions were raised on the jurisdiction and ownership of some of the lighthouses. These issues have since been settled.

Those who adopt a lighthouse would only be concerned with the maintenance of the structures, as the PCG would handle the operation.

Tamayo said that the lighthouses are treasures and a source of national pride. “Renovating these century-old lighthouses and beacons back to their pristine glory recalls the heyday of the illustrious Spanish galleon trade between the Philippines and Mexico,” he added.

The PCG traces its beginnings to the lighthouse service that was manned by early Coast Guard lightkeepers.

Information about the program is available on the PCG website (www.coastguard.gov.ph) or call 527-3877 or 0917-PCG-DOTC (0917-7243682).

^^ That's a great idea

Govt faces test case on environmental rules
Manila Standard Today - April 29, 2010
by Rey E. Requejo

The Supreme Court has directed the government to answer a landmark petition filed by Ramon Magsaysay awardee Antonio Oposa Jr. and other environmentalists in a test-case for the new writ of kalikasan (environment).

Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said that government agencies, including the Palace, have been given 10 days to comment on the petition, which seeks among others the creation of rainwater collectors in all barangays in the country.

Apart from the Palace, the other respondents in the case were the Public Works and Highways, Interior and Local Government, and 80 provinces, 150 cities, 1,400 municipalities and 42,000 barangays.

Oposa group’s petition will put to the test the rules on environmental protection, which Chief Justice Reynato Puno will launch today at the high tribunal’s session hall.

In their petition, Oposa and the members of Global Legal Action on Climate Change asked the high tribunal to order the government to install a more effective nationwide flood control system through the implementation of a 1989 law requiring construction of water wells, rainwater collectors and springs in every barangay in the Philippines.

They said the 21-year-old Republic Act 6716, or the “Rainwater Collector and Springs Development Law”, also imposes this requirement to cities and municipalities through RA 7160, or the Local Government Code.

The petitioners said they have been “affected by the frequent flooding and water scarcity,” due to failure of agencies to comply with the law.

The petitioners complained about the respondents’ “gross negligence in the performance of public duty” because out of 100,000 rainwater catchments required by the law to be completed in 1991, the Public Works has only started complying last year and completed only four so far.

They noted that other countries like India and Singapore have successfully implemented the rainwater collectors and that it is also significant in the Philippines which is experiencing extreme wet and dry seasons. They explained that water wells serve as catchment areas to prevent flooding during rainy season and as sources of freshwater in dry season.

The other rainwater collectors’ purpose include are recharging aquifers, improving micro-climatic conditions, being a source of recreation and spiritual soothing, being home to food sources such as fish and vegetables, they added.

The petitioners also prodded the high court to compel the concerned agencies and local governments to submit a detailed action plan and program of action on how they will implement the law on rainwater collection, and for a Court-appointed commissioner to monitor the implementation of the law.

This will prevent destructive floods during rainy seasons just like what happened last year when typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng struck last year, Oposa’s group said.

Advocating love for nature, the petitioners also offered to be served summons and updates of pleadings via e-mail “to save on paper and postage, and thereby reduce carbon footprint.”

The order of mandamus being sought from the Supreme Court is “to protect the people’s supply of water and their right to a balanced and healthful ecology across the entire country.”

The petitioners said the writ of “kalikasan” must be implemented in each of the 80 provinces, 150 cities, 1,400 municipalities and each of 42,000 barangays all over the Philippines.

The issuance of the writ of kalikasan is immediate in nature and similar to the writs of habeas corpus, amparo and habeas data.

Creeping climate change
May 14, 2010 23:06:00
Amado de Jesus
Philippine Daily Inquirer (http://www.inquirer.net/propertyguide/buildingblocks/view.php?db=1&article=20100514-270020)

IF YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE PLANET for at least half a century now, you must be nostalgic for the summers of your youth. It was not scorching hot as it is now. We flew kites in the noonday sun. We played ball in the open field all afternoon. The grass remained green in this time of year even with just a little watering. Today the leaves of some sensitive plants outside my house turn black if we fail to water them for a day.

GHG or greenhouse gases seem to be the result of almost everything we do now. That is because almost everything is an output of industrialization, urbanization and agriculture. Did you know that livestock in the United States accounts for 18 percent of gas emissions? Ninety-five percent of methane released from a cow comes from only burping and exhalation.

Carbon dioxide and methane are the main greenhouse gases. The former has accumulated in the atmosphere for the last 200 years, trapping heat that we release. Methane is produced here mainly by the rotting of garbage in dumpsites. It is 20 times more lethal than carbon dioxide.

As global warming continues, scientists say that we are dangerously marching toward the tipping point of irreversible climate change. Today the level of GHG trapped in the atmosphere is 372 parts per million (ppm). At 450 ppm we would be at the tipping point. That would mean 2 degrees centigrade increase in global temperature. Ice caps would melt, and sea levels would rise by 6 to 7 meters. A seven-meter rise in water will submerge Manila.

That hopefully is far away. But we are experiencing at present stronger storms, massive flooding and severe droughts, signs of creeping climate change.

In February 1995, as chairman of the Senate committee on environment then Sen. Heherson Alvarez, now Secretary of the Climate Change Commission convened in Manila the first Asia-Pacific Leaders Conference on Climate Change with the support of the United Nations.

In December 1997, 161 industrialized nations committed to reduce their GHG emissions by 5 percent from 1990 levels in Kyoto, Japan.

In December 2009, we all watched as they were supposed to finalize a binding agreement on climate change in Copenhagen.

In July 2009, President Arroyo signed Republic Act 9729, the Climate Change Act of 2009, for mainstreaming climate change into government policy formulations, establishing the framework strategy and program and creating the Climate Change Commission.

On April 23, 2010 a proposed framework strategy and program on Climate Change was submitted to President Arroyo through Sec. H. Alvarez by 6 sectors: River Basins, Mitigation & Decarbonization, Green Buildings, Food Production Systems, Coastal Systems and Disaster Risk Reduction.

Framework for green buildings

The United Architects of the Philippines, the Philippine Society of Ventilating, Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers (Psvare), the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (Ashrae) Philippine Chapter, as authors of the Proposed Framework for Green Buildings, have committed through the Climate Change Commission to set sustainable building rating standards.

On May 5, 2010 the Psvare launched a book titled 2010 Psvare Standard on Energy Efficient Buildings, in order to advance and institutionalize energy efficiency and conservation in the built environment.

In our country, buildings consume 72 percent of electricity and they are responsible for 33 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.

The full implementation of a new code for green buildings will help minimize GHG emissions by as much as 2.4 million tons a year, according to Sec. Heherson Alvarez.

^^^^This is very true.:ohno:

EcoWaste honors Puno’s legacy on environmental health, justice
MANILA, May 15 (PNA) -- As Chief Justice Reynato Puno bids farewell as leader of the Supreme Court for the last 42 months, a waste and pollution watchdog commended him for his contributions to the promotion and protection of the people’s environmental rights.

In a statement issued to mark his mandatory retirement next Monday, May 17, the EcoWaste Coalition honors and thanks Puno for the many critical judicial reforms that he successfully shepherded and brought to fruition.

“Thank you, Chief Justice Puno, for the work that you have done to uphold environmental health and justice and for constantly reminding us, in your own words, ‘that we breathe the same air below one Heaven, above one earth, and under one environment,’” said EcoWaste president Roy Alvarez.

“Now that he has stepped down, we expect the judiciary to continue to faithfully implement the “Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases” in keeping with its role as guardian of our constitutional rights to life, health and to a balanced and healthful ecology,” he said.

“We trust the courts to actively discharge their indispensable role in the movement for environmental justice, which ‘seeks fairness to the poor and the powerless in allocating the burdens of pollution, noxious development and resource depletion,’” Alvarez also said.

In addition to the establishment of the green courts all over the country, EcoWaste is particularly grateful for Puno’s life-impacting legacies such as the promulgation of liberalized court procedures for environmental cases, which, among others, introduced potent tools for environmental defense such as the temporary environmental protection order, citizen suits, precautionary principle and the Writ of Kalikasan.

EcoWaste also said that private citizen Puno will be remembered for asserting the independence of the judiciary and for his effort to realize the “Johannesburg Principles on the Role of Law and Sustainable Development” in the Philippines.
The "Johannesburg Principles," adopted at the Global Judges Symposium held in South Africa in conjunction with the 2002 Earth Summit, recommended the people’s participation in environmental decision-making and enhanced public right to information and access to justice for the resolution of environmental disputes and the protection and enforcement of environmental rights. (PNA) http://positivenewsmedia.net/am2/publish/Inspirational_25/EcoWaste_honors_Puno_s_legacy_on_environmental_health_justice.shtml

UN warning: Oceans' fish could disappear in 40 years
By Sebastian Smith
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 11:27:00 05/18/2010

NEW YORK—The world faces the nightmare possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 unless fishing fleets are slashed and stocks allowed to recover, UN experts warned Monday.

"If the various estimates we have received... come true, then we are in the situation where 40 years down the line we, effectively, are out of fish," Pavan Sukhdev, head of the UN Environment Program's green economy initiative, told journalists in New York.

A Green Economy report due later this year by UNEP and outside experts argues this disaster can be avoided if subsidies to fishing fleets are slashed and fish are given protected zones -- ultimately resulting in a thriving industry.

The report, which was opened to preview Monday, also assesses how surging global demand in other key areas including energy and fresh water can be met while preventing ecological destruction around the planet.

UNEP director Achim Steiner said the world was "drawing down to the very capital" on which it relies.

However, "our institutions, our governments are perfectly capable of changing course, as we have seen with the extraordinary uptake of interest. Around, I think it is almost 30 countries now have engaged with us directly, and there are many others revising the policies on the green economy," he said.

Environmental experts are mindful of the failure this March to push through a worldwide ban on trade in bluefin tuna, one of the many species said to be headed for extinction.

Powerful lobbying from Japan and other tuna-consuming countries defeated the proposal at the CITES conference on endangered species in Doha.

But UNEP's warning Monday was that tuna only symbolizes a much vaster catastrophe, threatening economic, as well as environmental upheaval.

One billion people, mostly from poorer countries, rely on fish as their main animal protein source, according to the UN.

The Green Economy report estimates there are 35 million people fishing around the world on 20 million boats. About 170 million jobs depend directly or indirectly on the sector, bringing the total web of people financially linked to 520 million.

According to the UN, 30 percent of fish stocks have already collapsed, meaning they yield less than 10 percent of their former potential, while virtually all fisheries risk running out of commercially viable catches by 2050.

Currently only a quarter of fish stocks -- mostly the cheaper, less desirable species -- are considered to be in healthy numbers.

The main scourge, the UNEP report says, are government subsidies encouraging ever bigger fishing fleets chasing ever fewer fish, with little attempt made to allow the fish populations to recover.

The annual $27 billion in government subsidies to fishing, mostly in rich countries, is "perverse," Sukhdev said, since the entire value of fish caught is only $85 billion.

As a result, fishing fleet capacity is "50 to 60 percent" higher than it should be, Sukhdev said.

Creating marine preservation areas to allow female fish to grow to full size, thereby hugely increasing their fertility, is one vital solution, the report says.

Another is restructuring the fishing fleets to favor smaller boats that -- once fish stocks recover -- would be able to land bigger catches.

"What is scarce here is fish," Sukhdev said, "not the stock of fishing capacity."

Below is a good case to ponder about an out of the Box solution. If they built that 200 meter high dam, it will eliminate more forest and farm land. The multi-dam solution is more reasonable in every aspect. Good that our own David won and he has beaten a good old man Buffet's company, now with additional purse to go againts similar prospect. I thought his approach to Laiban Dam project will be proven to be a winner again.


Below the Line

David trumps Goliath

By AMBASSADOR JOSE A. ZAIDEApril 16, 2010, 3:41pm

Sometimes the local boy wins.

Nebraska District Court Judge Gary B. Randall ordered MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., one of the holding companies of billionaire Warren Buffet, to pay $32 million to the Filipino partner it tried to cut out of an irrigation project in Nueva Ecija in a fiscal sleight of hand.

* * *

The court ordered the firm to pay Oscar Violago’s San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders & Developers Group (SLRB) “$32,288,198.22 plus nine percent until fully paid and to perform the balance of its obligations to SLRB under the shareholders agreement, including but not limited to the delivery of 115,000 shares of common stock in the project company.”

* * *

This led our classmate Ernie Fajardo to quip that Violago must now be a Goliath, since he has “Buffet” for breakfast.

* * *

The Casecnan waters in Nueva Vizcaya was like the Manekin Pis... flushing to the Babuyan channel into the Pacific. A World Bank study recommended the construction of the Casecnan dam to tunnel the waters to the Pantabangan in Nueva Ecija, which dried up in summer. But the project could never take off because of its $2 billion bill which required constructing a 200 meter high dam.


It took Violago and his partner La Prarie of Canada to come up with a solution out of the box in 1993… shaving the project cost down to $680 million and resolving a major environmental concern… saving the Bungkalot tribe from being submerged by replacing the 200-meter high dam with two smaller dams of 30 and 20 meters.

* * *

At the initial congressional committee deliberations on the prospects of the Casecnan dam, Senator Serge Osmeña asked Violago if he was an engineer, and the latter cheekily replied, “No Mr. Senator. I am an economics graduate. But if I took engineering, I would have graduated magna cum laude.”

* * *

The multipurpose project collects water from the Casecnan and Taan Rivers, transporting it through a 16-mile tunnel to the Pantabangan Reservoir. It provides about 150 megawatts of electricity and irrigates 350,000 hectares of Nueva Ecija farmland.

* * *

Because of the Casecnan, while the major dams of Angat, Magat, Ambuklao, Benga, and other dams are drying up, the Pantabangan has year-round water and claims to be “110 percent bountiful” ...making Nueva Ecija the only green province in the country.

* * *

In recognition of his enterprise, Governor Umali conferred on Violago the Natatanging Novo Ecijano Gawad Dangal ng Nueva Ecija” award… the first to be enrolled in the province’s Hall of Fame. Violago was also invited to be this year’s commencement speaker of the Nueva Ecija University of Science & Technology (NEUST) where, a man of few words, he delivered the theme, “Just Do It... With God, through Mama Mary and St. Joseph, Nothing is Impossible”

* * *

Violago is also in contest with another Goliath. His SLRB company is the proponent of the Wawa Dam against San Miguel-Manila Water’s Laiban Dam. Déjà vu, the Wawa waters now just flushes out to the Marikina and Pasig rivers, and our local David hopes to channel it to slake the thirst of Metro Manila.

* * *

Wawa offers the same lower cost solution by using seven mini-dams (with flood control facility for Metro Manila). Its advantage is proximity to Manila (4 kms. to Montalban and 11 kms. to La Mesa Dam vs 75 kms. from Laiban) and needing less infrastructure and resettlement of informal settlers.

Moreover, the project can be operated in one year (against minimum of 10 years by competition). It also offers ancillary by-product: potable water and irrigation for Bulacan, 500MW to 1,000 MW hydropower, and flood control system.

* * *

El Niño won’t wait, so where would you bet your thirst?

* * *

Feedback: jaz@mb.com.ph

SOURCE: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/253002/david-trumps-goliath

mr. Violago should be commended for his efforts and hope Aquino administration take a closer look at his proposal in the Wawa Dam...

Cagayan, Palawan, Iloilo vulnerable to sea level rise
By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) Updated May 22, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The world-famous sweet Guimaras mangoes might soon become an endangered variety as global warming could submerge Iloilo province, together with Cagayan and Palawan, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) warned yesterday.

The commission, chaired by President Arroyo, warned that many parts of the country, including the regions where the mangoes are grown, are “seen to go underwater due to climate change” due to the rise in sea level by at least a meter.

Citing a study of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, CCC vice chairman Secretary Heherson Alvarez said Iloilo ranks third among the provinces in the country that are most susceptible to the rise in sea level.

The study identified Cagayan province as the most vulnerable, followed by Palawan.

“We are extremely vulnerable because we are in the southwestern Pacific area where there is an occurrence of many depressions, (which) mature into storms, and violent storms sometimes enter the archipelago,” Alvarez said.

The Philippines has been calling for a deep and early cut of carbon dioxide emissions by Annex-1 countries under the Kyoto Protocol in order to moderate, if not avert, the accelerating destructive storms brought about by climate change.

“If people will not unite for a deep and early cut of carbon dioxide, the entire country will go under the surface because of the frequency of extreme weather disturbances entering the Philippines every year,” Alvarez said.

Aside from the possible sinking of many parts of Iloilo, he said climate change has started affecting mango production on the island of Guimaras, resulting in losses to mango farmers.

In 2009, the National Mango Research and Development Center (NMRDC) reported that erratic weather patterns attributed to climate change have already taken its toll on the production of the “sweetest” mango in the world.

The decline in mango production, according to the center, was shown in price increases despite the peak season last year.

Rhod Orquia, an NMRDC researcher, said mango production in Guimaras is being threatened by climate change since the shifting trend in the onset of rains already affects the planting process and harvesting schedule of mangoes.

Guimaras has more than 200,000 mango trees planted by 7,000 farmers. – With Rhodina Villanueva

^^Pati low lying parts ng Metro Manila ay lulubug rin.

^^^^This is very true.:ohno:

I have a big feeling I'm going to contribute to climate change now... *farts*

lol don't worry... la nina na, di magiging kasing init... makakalimutan din yang GW na yan..:D

Fisheries outlook dire, United Nations warns
Manila Standard Today - May 26, 2010

UNITED NATIONS—Environmentalists and scientists warned of collapsing fish stocks and tiny Pacific nation Palau sounded the alarm for sharks as diplomats launched a weeklong review of high seas fisheries.

The international conference will “take a hard look” at how to put some teeth in a 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, according to conference chairman David Balton, a US deputy assistant secretary for oceans and fisheries.

Palau’s call for an international moratorium on shark finning came at the outset of a review held once every four years to address the declining numbers of fish stocks under the UN agreement, which took effect in 2001.

Palau’s UN Ambassador Stuart Beck said the killing of 73 million sharks a year, just because people like the way their fins taste in soup, shows just how badly wrong things have gotten with ocean mismanagement.

“The slaughter of sharks for their fins to make soup is as needless and cruel as the killing of elephants for their tusks to make ornaments,” he said. “The island nations are sounding the alarm: only concerted outrage can save the world’s sharks from being slaughtered for the delectation of soup lovers.”

Palau President Johnson Toribiong last year announced his nation was creating the world’s first shark sanctuary to protect great hammerheads, leopard sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks and more than 130 other species fighting extinction in the Pacific Ocean.

Sharks are vulnerable to overfishing because of their low fertility rates and long life spans. But shark fishing has boomed since the 1980s fueled by demand from China and other nations for shark fin soup, a prized symbol of wealth.

The UN lists the top 10 nations with the biggest fisheries hauls as China, Peru, the United States, Indonesia, Japan, Chile, India, Russia, Thailand and the Philippines.

The UN’s legal framework, which extends among 77 parties including the European Union, is used to regulate tuna, swordfish and other migratory species that travel long distances. It also covers halibut, cod and other species that straddle the exclusive economic zones of coastal nations.

Volunteers train as river warriors

By Edson C. Tandoc Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100531-273034/Volunteers-train-as-river-warriors)
First Posted 03:41:00 05/31/2010

MANILA, Philippines—In a nearby urban forest, more than 200 children, teenagers and adults were training for battle. They marched under the scorching sun. They learned taekwondo, karate and arnis.

They are the “river warriors” and their enemy is the prevailing apathy that killed the Pasig River.

Soldiers and policemen took turns teaching self-defense skills and environmental laws to volunteers who are training to become river warriors at the La Mesa Ecopark in Fairview, Quezon City last week.

The volunteers know what they are up against. They have lived near the dirty Estero de Paco, a creek that empties its polluted waters into the Pasig River.

Chief Supt. Charles Calima Jr. said: “We want the river warriors to be good examples and leaders in their communities. Being a river warrior should be a way of life.”

Participation in the three-day training, organized by Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP), was a test of commitment. The volunteers didn’t get any salary except for free food.

The KBPIP is a river rehabilitation project aimed at bringing the Pasig River back to life in seven years.

Chief mover

Gina Lopez, chief mover of the project under the ABS-CBN Foundation where she is managing director, said changing the mind-set of people, especially those who live beside waterways, was important.

Organizations could spend millions cleaning the Pasig River and its tributaries but it would not work unless people stop throwing wastes into the waterways.

Thus, the river warriors were given a simple task after graduation. “Go back to the estero and clean it,” Lopez said.

This was the second time the KBPIP organized a three-day training program for volunteers. The first produced 25 river warriors in April.

Life of a warrior

Edgardo Sacramento, 45, was the topnotcher in the last batch.

Originally from Samar, his parents brought him to Paco, Manila, when he was 8 years old. He grew up living near the Pasig River and could still remember how clean it was.

Sacramento recalled: “There were a lot of fishes in the river. We used to swim there, too.”

But when the number of illegal settlers living by the river swelled starting in the 1980s, the Pasig River became polluted and unsafe even for the fish.

Being a community leader, Sacramento volunteered in the cleanup drive organized last year by the KBPIP. A sari-sari store owner, he would devote much of his spare time helping revive the river.

In April 2009, his family was among those who were relocated from Paco to the KBPIP site in Calauan, Laguna. Yet, he continued to visit Paco and help out in the KBPIP’s activities.

Sacramento’s youngest daughter Ezra Mae, 10, was among the 51 children who joined the river warriors training that ended on Saturday. There were also 53 teenagers and 100 adults who attended.

Camping out

The participants, chosen from volunteers during past cleanup activities of the KBPIP, camped at the La Mesa Ecopark from Wednesday to Friday last week.

Fifty-five soldiers and 14 policemen taught the participants self-defense skills and swimming. They were also briefed on environmental laws.

Thus, they can make a citizen’s arrest if they see people throwing garbage in the river and other waterways, according to Chief Superintendent Calima.

The participants were also taught how to gather and preserve evidence that would strengthen a case against violators.

Martial arts

Col. Rafael Valencia of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ National Capital Region Command said knowledge of basic martial arts would come in handy for the river warriors.

“It is possible that they will encounter some trouble in their work,” he said.

During training, the warriors also developed discipline, camaraderie and unity so they would not feel alone in their crusade for a better environment, Valencia added.

They were also expected to share what they had learned to members of their communities.

Swimming in Pasig

Wenley Relente, 12, participated in the recent training. It was her aunt, Winnie de Guzman, a graduate of the first batch, who encouraged her to volunteer.

From her aunt’s stories, Relente learned how beautiful the Pasig River was. “But now it is very dirty,” she said. “It’s because people throw their garbage in the river.”

Relente learned how to swim during the training. She said she hoped to see the Pasig River restored to its former grandeur and perhaps one day to swim in it.

Govt decrees use of bamboo for furniture :)
Manila Standard Today - June 7, 2010

PRETTY soon, public schools and government agencies will sport a “greener” look with bamboo desks, chairs and tables.

President Gloria Arroyo has signed an executive order that would, among other things, pave the way for the use of bamboo in government furniture for public elementary and secondary schools and government offices.

By signing Executive Order 879, the President established the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council that will promote the planting and use of bamboo over the next 10 years, and to soften the impact of climate change and place the country in a better position to partake of the $8-billion global market for bamboo products.

The council will receive initial funding of P20 million to provide policy and program direction There are only 40,000 hectares of land plantedto bamboo in the Philippines, but the country needs some 200,000 hectares just to meet local demand.

Bamboo has unique qualities and offers a wide array of uses. The bamboo has long been tapped as an inexpensive source of housing materials, furniture, handicraft, banana props, fish pens and other products. The young shoots of certain species are gathered for food. The rhizomes in the roots help prevent soil erosion and control floods. Because of the bamboo’s large fibers, it is also a good material for pulp and paper.

According to the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development, out of the 62 bamboo species growing in the Philippines today, only 21 species are native.

The council will have the Trade secretary as chairman, while its members will include the heads of the departments of Environment, Agriculture, Education, Science and Labor; the Trade undersecretary for regional operations; the head of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, two representatives from non-governmental organizations, and one representative each from two private industry associations.

Bamboo will also be the priority for furniture, fixtures and other construction requirements of government facilities.

Al Gore cites RP efforts in renewable energy
Written by Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / BusinessMirror Online Philippines
Tuesday, 08 June 2010 23:21

FORMER U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday pushed for renewable-energy sources to wean countries away from burning fossil fuels such as coal, which accelerate global warming.

In his lecture before a diverse audience at the SMX auditorium at the SM Mall of Asia on Tuesday, Gore even cited the Philippines’ efforts toward this end by pointing to the Bangui Wind Farm in Ilocos Norte, the Solar Power Plant in Laguna and the Mount Apo Geothermal Power Plant in North Cotabato.

He also cited nuclear power as a source of renewable energy, although he later admitted during the question-and-answer forum with broadcaster Che-che Lazaro that he was becoming increasingly “skeptical about it” due to cost concerns, and the possibility of nuclear-weapons proliferation.

Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco has been lobbying for the reopening of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). For many years Filipinos paid for the huge debts incurred by the Marcos administration, which constructed that plant at a cost of $2.3 billion upon its near-completion in 1984.

Gore declined to comment about the proposal in some quarters to harness the BNPP but he said, personally, “I’m not enthusiastic about getting a mothballed plant going in my backyard. But for some it makes more sense to use a mothballed plant.” The problem, he said, is the possibility for countries with nuclear energy to make weapons as a by-product. “That’s how North Korea got its nuclear weapons,” he stressed.

While some strides have been made by the Philippines in renewable energy, overall the Arroyo administration has been endorsing the construction of coal-fired power plants, which Gore points to as a primary source of greenhouse gases. On May 5, President Arroyo inaugurated the 246-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Toledo, Cebu co-owned by Global Business Power Corp., Aboitiz Power Corp., Vivant Energy Corp, and Formosa Heavy Industries Corp.

Local environmentalists find the Arroyo administration’s energy policy ironic considering that the Philippines is one of the first signatories to the Kyoto Protocol which aims to stave off global warming by reducing greenhouse gases worldwide.

Gore’s lifelong commitment to educate the public on global climate change and what people can do to reverse it was captured in the 2006 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”. The film won two Oscar awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song in 2007. Concurrent with the release of the film was the release of Gore’s book of the same title. He later won the Nobel Peace Prize, also in 2007, for his efforts in raising international awareness on global warming.

Gore’s thesis, which is supported by many climatologists and weather scientists, is that global warming is happening at a fast clip, and may result in catastrophic events and even the extinction of human life itself. Man’s increasing appetite for fossil fuels such as the use of gasoline-powered vehicles and coal-fired power plants as an energy source, releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide trap heat which would normally have been released into space.

Global warming, in turn, alters climates and weather patterns, such that many countries now experience stronger typhoons or longer periods of drought.

In his updated presentation which mentioned recent environmental catastrophes in Asia, Gore pointed to Typhoon Ondoy (“Ketsana”) which struck the Philippines on September 26, 2009, as one of the examples of global warming’s impact. The typhoon dumped 341 mm. of rainfall in Metro Manila and outlying provinces in just six hours. Many low-lying cities and municipalities were flooded with 20 feet of water and remained so for a week.

Like his documentary, Gore didn’t end his lecture on a sour note. He said global warming could be reversed if governments take action now. “No, not yet [it’s not irreversible]. But some of them (scientists) have been warning us for a few years now. We have a decade or so in changing the trends or run the serious risk and making it irreversible. The polar ice cap can come back. But if we let it disappear and global warming increases, it won’t come back.”

“We can do it, we can do great things in this world. We were able to abolish slavery, send a man on the moon, close up the hole in the ozone layer.… It is a moral issue. It is a spiritual issue. It goes to heart of who we are as God’s creatures. Surely God has given us the ability to do what is right,” Gore stressed.

During the question-and-answer forum, Gore was visibly stunned and turned emotional when Lazaro asked how the near-death of his son impacted on his environmental advocacy. After pausing for three minutes, he answered in a quiet tone: “I couldn’t imagine losing him. I had come face to face with that shattering possibility. I had already begun this work [when that accident happened]. It affected my heart in a way that was unexpected. When I found that raw place in my heart, it gave me the ability to feel for the first time that we could lose it [the earth].”

He also addressed a question on population management, which the Catholic Church in the Philippines has been fighting. In his lecture, he said population growth has impacted on the environment. “I think it’s a statement of reality; you have four times as many people on the earth, you put more pressure on resources and space. But population issues should not be fraught with ideological arguments. I’m not for population control.”

He noted that the Philippines is already naturally trending towards smaller families, based on the audience’s input that the average number of children is now 5 as against 8 among the older generations. “When there is widespread education of girls, and there are accepted cultural fertility management measures, the transition to smaller families naturally takes place. I don’t see it as a matter of great tension. These are things we ought to be doing anyway.”

Gore founded The Climate Project in 2006 which supports and trains about 3,000 volunteers worldwide who give his global warming lecture in their own communities. According to the TCP website, its presenters have delivered 70,000 lectures and have reached a combined global audience of 7.3 million people.

Gore’s lecture, the third in the Leadership Conference Series organized by Campaigns & Grey, was presented by SM Prime Holdings Inc. The series is a string of lectures to allow top Philippine leaders in the academe, business, government, and non-government sectors to learn from the experience and expertise of global leaders.

From CNN: Swimming with sharks saves lives (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/06/04/eco.whale.shark/index.html). :okay:

DiCaprio to perk up Albay environmental campaigns

By Rey M. Nasol
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 14:56:00 07/03/2010

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – The provincial government of Albay is preparing for the arrival of Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who will launch environmental promotion and protection activities in the province next month.

DiCaprio, known for his role in the blockbuster movie Titanic as well as other successful movies, will be here for a week-long visit.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda has instructed Albay tourism officials to line up activities that would tap the skills of DiCaprio, particularly in adventure tourism.

Joyce Ramirez, the director for international publicity at PR Asia Worldwide, confirmed that DiCaprio would arrive in Albay on board a private jet in the first week of August.

"We are excited that he wants to promote environmental protection in Albay. So we are preparing environmental options for his one-week stay here," Salceda told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Saturday.

DiCaprio is expected to visit Albay's tourist destinations, particularly the 4,642-meter-high Mayon Volcano and the white-sand beaches of Misibis resort in Bacacay that would give the province an opportunity to be placed on the world tourism map, he said.

Jose Briones, Albay tourism officer, said his office has prepared tourism adventure activities for DiCaprio in the areas along the Albay Gulf, which offers potentials for jet skiing, seaboarding, or scuba-diving.

Briones said the islands of Cagraray, Rapu-rapu, Buhatan, and San Miguel off Tabaco City have already made preparations for adventure tourism activities for local and foreign tourists.

"These islands are at par with other places elsewhere in the world as far as potentials for adventure tourism due to its white sand, caves, corals and scenic seabeds," Briones said.

Salceda said having a Hollywood role model for environmental protection as well as disaster preparedness efforts would double the effectiveness of the province to deal with the ill effects of calamities.

Albay is visited by 15-20 typhoons every year.

The provincial government has put in place zero-casualty measures against the hazards of lahar flash floods, landslides and flooding.

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20100703-278968/DiCaprio-to-perk-up-Albay-environmental-campaigns

‘Europe Ko To” 2010 winners Announced (http://www.malaya.com.ph/07072010/liv3.html)

The Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines, in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Philippine Women’s University, announced the winners in the recently-held “Europe Ko To” art contest.

This year’s art contest, with a theme “Unity in Diversity”, is the final event of the Europe Months’ festivities dubbed “Viva Europa” marking the founding of the European Union and this year also commemorating the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty.

The European Union Delegation held the art assemblage contest for the second time but had started art contests by way of a drawing competition already in 2007.

“This contest is our way of recognizing the creativity and talents of young Filipinos and our modest contribution to instilling in them the importance of environment protection, which is also at the core of the European Union’s sustainable development policies”, said Ambassador Alistair MacDonald.

Because 2010 was declared European Year for Combating Poverty & Social Exclusion, the organizers decided to expand the invitation to join the art assemblage contest to youth from private and public child-caring and child welfare agencies.

Through this art assemblage contest held in Metro Manila, high school students were encouraged to create, innovate and interpret “Unity in Diversity” in the European Union by way of developing an assemblage out of recycled materials (tin cans, rubber slippers, bottles, textile materials, paper products such as papers, paper boards and boxes, plastic materials such as containers, old toys and metal pieces).



see this link for more details ...

‘Europe Ko To” 2010 winners Announced (http://www.malaya.com.ph/07072010/liv3.html)

COUNTRY SCORES (http://www.epi.yale.edu/Countries)

The 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks 163 countries on 25 performance indicators tracked across ten policy categories covering both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators provide a gauge at a national government scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy goals. The EPI’s proximity-to-target methodology facilitates cross-country comparisons as well as analysis of how the global community is doing collectively on each particular policy issue.


PHILIPPINES
EPI RANK: 50 EPI SCORE: 65.7

26
Belize 69.9
27
Antigua and Barbuda 69.8
28
Singapore 69.6
29
Serbia and Montenegro 69.4
30
Ecuador 69.3
31
Peru 69.3
32
Denmark 69.2
33
Hungary 69.1
34
El Salvador 69.1
35
Croatia 68.7
36
Dominican Republic 68.4
37
Lithuania 68.3
38
Nepal 68.2
39
Suriname 68.2
40
Bhutan 68.0
41
Luxembourg 67.8
42
Algeria 67.4
43
Mexico 67.3
44
Ireland 67.1
45
Romania 67.0
46
Canada 66.4
47
Netherlands 66.4
48
Maldives 65.9
49
Fiji 65.9
50
Philippines 65.7
51
Australia 65.7
52
Morocco 65.6
53
Belarus 65.4
54
Malaysia 65.0
55
Slovenia 65.0
56
Syria 64.6
57
Estonia 63.8
58
Sri Lanka 63.7
59
Georgia 63.6
60
Paraguay 63.5
61
United States of America 63.5

Fun run for Pasig River rehab on 10.10.10
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 07/11/2010 1:41 PM | Updated as of 07/11/2010 3:58 PM

MANILA, Philippines - A special fun run aiming to gather 120,000 runners is being organized to raise awareness and funds for Pasig River rehabilitation efforts.

The event also aims to set a new world record for the largest number of participants in a foot race.

The fun run dubbed "Run for the Pasig River," to be held on October 10, 2010 (or 10.10.10), is being organized by ABS-CBN Foundation's Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP).

The current Guinness world record for the largest number of participants in a foot race is 110,000 held by the 1988 "Bay to Breakers" Race in San Francisco, California.

It could happen in RP: Rising sea
drives Panama islanders to mainland

Malaya Business Insights
July 22, 2010

CARTI SUGDUB, Panama. — Rising seas from global warming, coming after years of coral reef destruction, are forcing thousands of indigenous Panamanians to leave their ancestral homes on low-lying Caribbean islands.

Seasonal winds, storms and high tides combine to submerge the tiny islands, crowded with huts of yellow cane and faded palm fronds, leaving them ankle-deep in emerald water for days on end.

Pablo Preciado, leader of the island of Carti Sugdub, remembers that in his childhood floods were rare, brief and barely wet his toes. "Now it’s something else. It’s serious," he said.

The increase of a few inches in flood depth is consistent with a global sea level rise over Preciado’s 64 years of life and has been made worse by coral mining by the islanders that reduced a buffer against the waves.

Carti Sugdub is one of a handful of islands in an archipelago off Panama’s northeastern coast, where the government says climate change threatens the livelihood of nearly half of the 32,000 semi-autonomous Kuna people.

The 2,000 inhabitants of Carti Sugdub plan to move to coastal areas within the Kuna’s autonomous territory on the Panama mainland. They are eyeing foothills a half-hour walk from the swampy beach areas.

"The water level is rising. The move is imminent," said Preciado, who has been leading a group of villagers clearing tropical forest for the new settlement.

World leaders have failed so far to reach a global accord to curb the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change. A UN climate change conference later this year in Mexico aims to make progress toward a binding agreement.

If the islanders abandon their homes as planned, the exodus will be one of the first blamed on rising sea levels and global warming.

Scientists warn that sea level rise in the next century could threaten millions with a similar fate and some communities as far apart as Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Fiji have already been forced to relocate

"This is no longer about a scientist saying that climate change and the change in sea level will flood (a people) and affect them," said Hector Guzman, a marine biologist and coral specialist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. "This is happening now in the real world."

The fiercely independent Kuna, famed for rebellions against Spanish conquistadors, French pirates and Panamanian overlords, have accelerated their fate by mining coral, which they use to expand islands and build artificial islets and breakwaters.

Guzman, based at a Pacific island research center on the edge of Panama City, has warned of the risks of coral mining for a decade but says speaking out against a legally permitted traditional activity is "taboo."

"(The Kuna) have increased their vulnerability to storms, wave action, and above all, the action of the rise in sea level," he told Reuters.

When Kuna speak in their native language the Spanish words for "climate change" are often among the few foreign words used. While some elders warn that sea level rise will get worse, many locals believe God will keep them safe.

"I don’t know where they get that from -- that the land is going to sink and we’d better leave before it happens ... Those who want to go, can go. I’m staying here," said Evangelina, 60, who would not give her last name because she hasn’t told local leadership she’s opposed to moving.

Sea levels rose about 17 cm (about 7 inches) over the last century and experts say the rate is accelerating. In 2007, the United Nations predicted a rise of 18 to 59 cms (7-23 inches) by 2100 but that did not include the accelerated melting of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that seas could rise 2 meters (6.5 feet) by the end of the century, threatening millions of people in cities from Tokyo and Shanghai to New Orleans.

"It’s something you’re going to be seeing more and more," said Albert Binger, the scientific adviser to the 42-member Alliance of Small Island States, referring to potential victims as "climate change refugees."

Binger said the Kuna’s coral extraction is a portent for what climate change has in store for other low-lying islands protected by reefs. The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide makes oceans more acidic, killing coral struggling to survive in warmer seas.

While Kuna leaders say their move from cool breezy islands to stuffy forests is imminent, progress has been slow so far and the government does not have a support plan in place.

Carti Sugdub’s islanders have used machetes to carve out a patch of tropical forest but lack machinery to clear the land.

Leaders at nearby Carti Mulatupu are working on an environmental impact study for their move. They reckon setting up a mainland community for 600 people could cost $5 million.

The Panamanian government, which supports the islanders financially by paying for health clinics, schools and poverty programs, has done little to support the relocation plans but officials back the idea.

"Sometimes the community is flooded up to the knees," said Helen Perez, the schoolmaster at Carti Mulatupu, as his 120 students ran around a sandy school yard by an eroded concrete pier. "The community has taken the decision to move to land."

Chani Morris, an 82-year-old fisherman, is ready to abandon the islet of Coibita he helped build out of coral 33 years ago. He said he doesn’t sleep well since a flood engulfed the island, destroyed huts and carried away dugout canoes.

Nearly 3M Metro residents facing severe water shortage

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 07/22/2010 10:51 AM | Updated as of 07/22/2010 10:58 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Close to 3 million residents in Metro Manila are experiencing severe water shortage problem, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said Thursday.
Singson made the disclosure after being asked to comment on the statement of President Benigno Aquino's spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, that there is no water crisis.

The public works secretary said 2.9 million Maynilad customers in the west zone get water for only 6 hours every day. He said that if the government will add Maynilad customers enjoying only 12 hours of water supply, the number of people affected by the water shortage in the west zone will reach 30-40% or 3.1 million to 3.6 million people.

Singson said his former company -- Maynilad Water Service Inc. (MWSI) -- has been looking at long-term solutions by looking for other resources of water other than Angat Dam.

He said that considering the climate change problem and the impending privatization of the Angat Dam, the MWSI is already looking at the possibility of using the Laguna Lake and the Laiban river in the Sierra Madre area as possible alternative sources of water for its Metro Manila clients.

Other possible sources are the Pampanga River and the Wawa River in Marikina City.

The President's spokesman earlier said only 3% of the country is being affected by the water shortage.

Lacierda said "solutions are already in place" and the water shortage problem in the west zone of the metropolis is easy to solve.

He explained that Malacañang has been assured that the remaining water reserve in Angat Dam is still good for 60 days.

By that time or by September, he said, high volumes of rains are expected to fall that would bring back the water level in Angat Dam back to normal.

Delay Angat Dam privatization

Singson, meanwhile, urged Malacañang to delay the privatization of Angat Dam while the private water concessionaires and the government are looking for alternative sources of water.

“We have made the position -- Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, Maynilad, Manila Water. We have said that it should not be privatized at this time while we’re looking for alternative sources of water,” he said.

He said that the government is already close to handing over the Angat Dam to the highest bidding private company, which does not intend to continue using the water reserve as a main source of potable water for Metro Manila residents.

He said private groups bidding for Angat Dam are more interested in fully utilizing it for power generation.

“We are not saying don’t forever privatize Angat… The timing [of the privatization] is just too bad, especially now that we have these climate change issues,” he said.

Water is a national security concern — Legarda (http://www.mb.com.ph/node/268222/water-a-national-)

MANILA (PNA) — Senator Loren Legarda on Thursday raised the alarm that water has become a national security concern and proposed the following:

•Reforest not only mountains and watersheds, but also plant in urban areas;
•Implement the Rainwater Collection Act;
•Recycle water;
•Introduce “Hydroinformatics” in schools; and
•Clean Rivers and Bays through the initiatives of the local government units and the Metro-Manila Development Authority“The time to act is now!”

Sen. Legarda deplored the non-implementation of Republic Act No. 6716, otherwise known as the Rainwater and Spring Development Act of 1989 which has been passed twenty-one years ago.

“The law mandated the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to “undertake the construction of water wells, rainwater collectors, development of springs and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all barangays in the Philippines in such number as may be needed and feasible,” Legarda stressed.

“Why has the DPWH not constructed wells and rainwater collectors, developed springs and rehabilitated existing water wells in the more than 40, 000 barangays during the last twenty-one years?" she added.

“If it had, the DPWH would have mitigated the effect of the recent water shortage. Rainwater collectors minimize flooding and make water available in preparation for drought,” Legarda stressed.

“Moreover, I strongly recommend that "Hydroinformatics” which is the application of information and communications technology on the efficient use of water be integrated in school curricula to generate greater awareness on water governance,” Loren claimed.

“To empower local officials - from the provincial to the barangay level to advance the greening, rehabilitation and protection of the different forest lands in our country, I filed Senate Bill No. 6 titled, the Barangay Greening and Forest Land Rehabilitation Act," Legarda concluded.

“The MMDA and the DPWH should integrate their efforts in implementing a river system rehabilitation program to recover the length of rivers lost due to settlements along Metro Manila rivers,” Legarda also pointed out.(PNA)

Nearly 3M Metro residents facing severe water shortage

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 07/22/2010 10:51 AM | Updated as of 07/22/2010 10:58 AM


and yet, ironically, just east of metro manila lies the biggest lake in the philippines.. Laguna de bay :|

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20100724-282849/3-major-quakes-rattle-Philippines

3 major quakes rattle Philippines


INQUIRER.net
First Posted 07:04:00 07/24/2010

Filed Under: Earthquake

COTABATO CITY – (UPDATE 2) Three strong earthquakes struck in the southern Philippines on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey reported.

The first quake at a depth of 604.5 kilometers was recorded around 6:08 a.m. with the epicenter at 100 kms southwest of the southern city of Cotabato.

It was also felt in the cities of Zamboanga, Pagadian, Koronadal,
General Santos and in Manila but officials were still determining if there were casualties or damages.

A second 7.6 magnitude aftershock, at a depth of 576.3 kms, was recorded shortly before 7:00 a.m.
The third, about 7.4 magnitude, at a depth of 616.7 kms, occurred around 7:15 a.m.

A relatively weaker tremor was recorded at 6:19 a.m. that had a depth of 594.8 kilometers with the epicenter estimated at 95 kilometers west southwest of Cotabato City or 115 kilometers south of Pagadian City.

Yolly Andrias, a resident here, said they were still sleeping when the strong quake awoke them.

“Some of our Muslim neighbors fired their weapons to drive away bad spirits,” she said.

But Monisa Tulawie, a staff member at the Cotabato City mayor’s office told Agence France-Presse that the quake was "kind of mild."

Other residents contacted by phone were unaware of what had happened, saying they had not been woken by the tremors.

"We have received no reports of damage or casualties," said local fire official Marlon Macapili of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, a self-ruled area that includes four provinces around Cotabato.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director Renato Solidum said the quake’s epicenter was 94 kms southwest of Cotabato with a depth of 606 kms.

He said based on their report, only intensity two were felt in the cities of General Santos and Surigao.

He explained that due to the depth records of the quakes, tsunamis were unlikely.

In other areas, vehicles alarm systems went on.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where continental plates collide causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

The worst earthquake in the country happened on Aug. 16, 1976 after a tsunami caused by a quake killed between 5,000 and 8,000 people in the Moro Gulf region in southern Philippines.
With reports from Alcuin Papa, Inquirer; Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao; AFP

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20100724-282849/3-major-quakes-rattle-Philippines

3 major quakes rattle Philippines


INQUIRER.net
First Posted 07:04:00 07/24/2010

Filed Under: Earthquake

COTABATO CITY – (UPDATE 2) Three strong earthquakes struck in the southern Philippines on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey reported.

The first quake at a depth of 604.5 kilometers was recorded around 6:08 a.m. with the epicenter at 100 kms southwest of the southern city of Cotabato.

It was also felt in the cities of Zamboanga, Pagadian, Koronadal,
General Santos and in Manila but officials were still determining if there were casualties or damages.

A second 7.6 magnitude aftershock, at a depth of 576.3 kms, was recorded shortly before 7:00 a.m.
The third, about 7.4 magnitude, at a depth of 616.7 kms, occurred around 7:15 a.m.

A relatively weaker tremor was recorded at 6:19 a.m. that had a depth of 594.8 kilometers with the epicenter estimated at 95 kilometers west southwest of Cotabato City or 115 kilometers south of Pagadian City.

Yolly Andrias, a resident here, said they were still sleeping when the strong quake awoke them.

“Some of our Muslim neighbors fired their weapons to drive away bad spirits,” she said.

But Monisa Tulawie, a staff member at the Cotabato City mayor’s office told Agence France-Presse that the quake was "kind of mild."

Other residents contacted by phone were unaware of what had happened, saying they had not been woken by the tremors.

"We have received no reports of damage or casualties," said local fire official Marlon Macapili of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, a self-ruled area that includes four provinces around Cotabato.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director Renato Solidum said the quake’s epicenter was 94 kms southwest of Cotabato with a depth of 606 kms.

He said based on their report, only intensity two were felt in the cities of General Santos and Surigao.

He explained that due to the depth records of the quakes, tsunamis were unlikely.

In other areas, vehicles alarm systems went on.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where continental plates collide causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

The worst earthquake in the country happened on Aug. 16, 1976 after a tsunami caused by a quake killed between 5,000 and 8,000 people in the Moro Gulf region in southern Philippines.
With reports from Alcuin Papa, Inquirer; Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao; AFP

Boinks!:ohno::ohno::ohno:

Turtle Islands: Hundreds of nautical miles away from justice

By Dennis Atienza Maliwanag
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 01:18:00 08/22/2010

Filed Under: Animals, Conservation, Environmental Issues, Crime, Judiciary (system of justice), Foreign affairs & international relations

TURTLE ISLANDS, Philippines—They came in the dead of night and pulled off the first heist on Baguan Island this year. The thieves, possibly armed, quietly left on board a boat taking about 600 pieces of green turtle eggs in this protected wildlife sanctuary 1,000 kilometers southwest of Manila.

“They ransacked six nests,” said Orlan Maliwanag, Sea Turtle Corridor staff of the nongovernment Conservation International-Philippines. A nest can contain from 40 to 140 eggs of the endangered sea animal.

For CI-Philippines, every egg is essential in the global bid to reverse a steady population decline of green turtles (Chelonia mydas). There is no clear estimate of its population but the International Union for the Conservation of Nature said its number could have plunged by more than 50 percent over the past decade.

Human encroachment and destruction of habitat, meat and egg trade, domestic and industrial pollution and commercial fishing are among the major threats to the species’ existence.

Eggs theft

On Turtle Islands, eggs theft is common. But in this Tawi-Tawi municipality, most, if not all, wildlife crimes are unsolved or simply settled out of court.

Turtle Islands police chief Senior Insp. Norlito Mata attributed this to the lack of prosecutor’s office and court in the municipality. On Taganak Island, the seat of municipal government, there is no detention facility.

Environmental lawyer Ipat Luna agreed. “Its geographic distance to any court is the main issue. Hundreds of thousands in fuel alone would be spent to take someone who is arrested back to Bongao to prosecute,” she said.

Bringing the case to the Tawi-Tawi capital of Bongao will require authorities to ferry suspected wildlife offenders on board a passenger vessel, whose weekly trips are unscheduled. It takes about 14 hours to reach Bongao from Taganak.

“That’s why cases like eggs robbery are simply settled here amicably,” Mata said.

Environmental crimes

Egg poaching is just one of the most common environmental offenses in Turtle Islands. Illegal fishing abound, posing grave threats to its already fragile marine ecology.

From 2005 to 2009, the Philippine Navy recorded 571 cases of illegal fishing—both by local and foreign fishermen—in the municipal waters, according to its confidential report obtained by INQUIRER.net.

Law enforcers feel helpless.

“We don’t even have a single patrol boat here,” said Turtle Islands Coast Guard chief Petty Officer 2 Benny Olivarez.

The Philippine Navy has an outpost also in Taganak. But like the police and the Coast Guard, it too has no vessel to chase poachers and illegal fishers. A Navy ship from Zamboanga City and Bongao does routine patrol only once a month, said officials.

Turtle Islands, where the Philippines shares a porous border with Malaysia, has a combined land and sea area of 138,357 hectares. Its six islands, which have an aggregate area of 308 hectares, are at least nine to over 28 nautical miles apart.

Foreign poachers

Most tampasak (Malaysian term for fishing boat) used for illegal fishing in the protected waters of Turtle Islands come from the Sabah city of Sandakan, about 21 nautical miles from Taganak.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Pawikan Conservation Project has reported that around 100 tampasak operate daily in the Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary.

“These boats drag large nets along the bottom, catching whatever gets in their way. Sometimes, sea turtles are trapped in the nets. Since turtles are air-breathing reptiles, they drown if they are trapped for several hours,” the PCP said.

On July 17, police caught a Malaysian-registered fishing boat off Baguan Island. It was carrying 13 fishermen and sacks of homemade dynamite. The men were held in police custody in Taganak and Mata said they would be charged for dynamite fishing, a violation of Republic Act No. 8550.

The Malaysian media reported the arrest and Sabah authorities vowed to investigate the incident, including a claim the 13 were kidnapped and being held in Taganak.

Four days later, all the illegal fishing suspects were freed and Turtle Islands authorities said they were not pressing charges.

“In doing so, perhaps the relations between Sandakan and Taganak will be better again,” Mata said.

Special, historical ties

Turtle Islands officials are too careful not to hurt the town’s special and historical ties with Sabah, where the Philippines’ dormant territorial claim had in several occasions triggered diplomatic tensions.

The more than 6,000 population of this fishing town rely largely on Sandakan market to sell their daily catch. Islanders who are sick need not get foreign travel documents but only a special municipal permit to seek medical treatment in Sabah. The town’s health center has one midwife and a nurse, but no doctor.

But Sabah also serves as a hub for illegal turtle eggs trade.

In Kota Kinabalu City’s underground market, six turtle eggs are sold at 10 Malaysian ringgit, or about P23.40 a piece. A woman vendor, who at first was hesitant to admit she was selling eggs, disclosed that most of her clients are from Brunei.

Supplies of turtle eggs in Kota Kinabalu come from Sandakan, which imports eggs from Tawi-Tawi’s Turtle Islands, the woman further said.

Marion Abuel-Daclan, executive technical coordinator of CI-Philippines, said buying price in Taganak is at P3.50 per egg.

Gathering of turtle eggs is still allowed in the Philippine part of Turtle Islands. A sharing scheme of 60 percent for consumption and selling and 40 percent for conservation is being implemented on the islands, except Baguan, a strictly “no take” zone in the six-island municipality.

The scheme is seen by the government as a temporary measure to regulating eggs gathering, said Maliwanag, adding that local culinary tradition is another “critical consideration.”

In time, conservation officials will enforce a “no take” policy in the entire town, he said. “But the local government requires that alternative livelihood projects must be in place before the total ban on egg collection is implemented.”

Off limits

Unlike the rest of the islands, the 29-hectare Baguan Island is off limits to human habitation.

“Turtle eggs here are entirely for conservation,” said Maliwanag.

Baguan is where the biggest number of nesting turtles is observed in the entire municipality, and it is the 11th major nesting site of marine turtles in the world, the DENR said.

Turtle Islands produces up to two million turtle eggs annually, according to the DENR’s Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau.

In 2009, sea turtles laid about one million eggs on the shores of Baguan alone, said Frasad Yusop, one of the four wildlife sanctuary wardens stationed on the island.

That makes Baguan Island attractive to wildlife thieves.

Seeing the need to beef up security, two members of the Philippine Marines and two from the Coast Guard have been deployed there. Two members of the Philippine National Police-Maritime Group are also set to arrive to augment Baguan’s security force.

“It is important that armed forces are stationed on the island,” said Maliwanag. “Poachers are also normally armed.”

‘Justice on Sails’

To better address wildlife crimes in the Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary, capacity building is necessary, said Luna, legal consultant of CI-Philippines.

“Arresting teams onsite lack training and experience in evidence gathering and preservation so the few times it gets to Bongao for prosecution, the evidence is thin or has been thrown overboard in the long trip,” she said.

Establishing a court and a prosecutor’s office in Taganak is necessary, especially during nesting season, Luna said.

The “‘Justice on Wheels’ project of the Supreme Court may be applicable as ‘Justice on Sails,’ but only if there are already cases and the dockets are full. Right now, no cases are filed at all due to the distance,” she said.

Luna said the high tribunal has to recognize that the lack of cases or inability to file “is not an indication of lack of violations and unclogging dockets are not the only indicators of justice denied.”

“Taganak and other remote areas, where environmental law violations are rampant, need a way to deliver justice despite being a day of travel and hundreds of thousands in fuel cost away from any court.”

Hindi man lang nag pasimuno ang Barangay Captain na matulungan ang AFP at visiting US Navy personnel sa paglinis ng mga kanal. :D

Meron, isa o dalawang nakatira lang yata ang tumutulong.

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0cQUa3R5FP5Fk/610x.jpg

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U.S. Navy crewmen from the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and their Philippine counterparts scoop up dirt and other garbage from a river during a clean up effort along a canal in Manila Monday, Sept. 6, 2010.

Hindi man lang nag pasimuno ang Barangay Captain na matulungan ang AFP at visiting US Navy personnel sa paglinis ng mga kanal. :D

Meron, isa o dalawang nakatira lang yata ang tumutulong.

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0cQUa3R5FP5Fk/610x.jpg

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02F894har222h/610x.jpg

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0emM9BL8wU8Qi/610x.jpg

U.S. Navy crewmen from the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and their Philippine counterparts scoop up dirt and other garbage from a river during a clean up effort along a canal in Manila Monday, Sept. 6, 2010.

Bro, alam ko anong klaseng sakit ang dumadapo sa mga LGU officials diyan: "selective blindness"! Yun bang bigla kang na lang mabulag pag hindi mo gusto ang mga tanawin sa harap mo! O, di ba?

^^ Grabe no. Sana pati ang mga nakatira dyan na nagtatapon ng basura sinama nang nilinis.

Marami namang tinablan ng hiya at tumulong... :lol:
It will take a lot of resources to clean all the mess, pero simula na sana yan. Kelangan higpitan ng LGU ang panukala nila sa paglinis ng kapaligiran.

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http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/00bl4gJabAdJ5/610x.jpg

Grabe! Nakakahiya naman sa mga US Navy personnel. Responsibilidad ito ng local government pati pag-educate sa community. Bakit kaya walang pangil ang batas sa atin, meron naman mga city oridance na dapat i-implement?
Sa Singapore even a small piece of candy wrapper and cigarette butts kailangan sa trashcan itapon. I remember an Indian-Singaporean na nagtapon ng cigarette butt sa tapat ng kanyang store, na-ticketan ng police, ang fine SGD 200.00.

dadami lang uli ang basura dyan hanggat may nakatira dyan sa paligid ng estero dapat alisin na muna din yan

Grabe! Nakakahiya naman sa mga US Navy personnel. Responsibilidad ito ng local government pati pag-educate sa community. Bakit kaya walang pangil ang batas sa atin, meron naman mga city oridance na dapat i-implement?
Sa Singapore even a small piece of candy wrapper and cigarette butts kailangan sa trashcan itapon. I remember an Indian-Singaporean na nagtapon ng cigarette butt sa tapat ng kanyang store, na-ticketan ng police, ang fine SGD 200.00.

baka pag nahuli lang, naglalakad ako dyan malapit sa may parliament house building, daming nakakalat na cigarette butts.

^^ Nakakabwisit ang mga iskwater na iyan... Tapon na ng tapon di pa sariling lupa... :ohno:

^^ Nakakabwisit ang mga iskwater na iyan... Tapon na ng tapon di pa sariling lupa... :ohno:

Correction po sir. Hindi na po ginagamit ang "iskwater"! "informal settlers" na daw ang tawag doon! Para daw sosyal sa tenga!

DOT backs study on Boracay reclamation plan

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer Visayas
First Posted 20:17:00 09/12/2010

Filed Under: Tourism, Environmental Issues, Infrastructure

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – The Department of Tourism (DOT) has joined local government units and business groups in Boracay in raising concern over the environmental impact of a reclamation project in Caticlan, jump-off point to the resort-island.

Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said he had agreed to the suggestion of business owners in Boracay to commission an oceanographical study to assess the effect of the reclamation project being implemented by the Aklan provincial government.

“The future of Boracay’s beaches is at stake. We need a thorough scientific study to determine the long-term effects,” Lim told the Inquirer in a telephone interview on Sunday.

Lim met separately with members of the Boracay chapter of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI-Boracay) on Friday and the Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI) on Saturday in Boracay.

He said the DOT through the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) would help finance the study to be undertaken by oceanographers.

The 10-year P1.3-billion project involves the reclamation and development of areas covering 36.82 hectares in Barangay Caticlan in Malay town and 3.18 ha in Boracay. Proponents said this would decongest Boracay and prepare it to handle more tourists.

It includes the improvement of the jetty port and the putting up of adjacent commercial buildings, including wellness centers and office space for resorts, travel agencies, airlines, banks and other companies.

The first and second phases of the project cost around P250 million and P785 million, respectively.

The PCCI-Boracay, BFI and the municipal government of Malay, where Caticlan and Boracay are located, are opposing the project for lack of consultation with affected stakeholders and environmental concerns.

Aklan Governor Carlito Marquez had earlier said the provincial government would continue with the project, citing the approval of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Reclamation Authority.

Marquez pointed out the DENR granted an environmental certificate of compliance (ECC) for the project on April 27.

The PCCI-Boracay has called for a moratorium until questions on the project’s impact on water current and tidal patterns are addressed comprehensively.
No detailed study has been done to assess the impact on the channel between Caticlan and Boracay if it is narrowed by around 12 percent, it said.

“The chamber is not against commercial development as long as there is no threatening environmental impact,” the group said in a statement sent to the Inquirer on Saturday.

The BFI is pushing for an independent scientific assessment of the project. It has requested the University of the Philippines-based Marine Science Institute to conduct a study on the environmental effects of the project.

BFI president Loubelle Cann said her group was not against development projects, especially those that would help the island’s P13-billion tourism industry.

But projects should primarily consider the environmental impact on Boracay, which has a fragile ecosystem brought by decades of “unregulated” development, she said.

Adventure and compassion go hand in hand

Written by Hazel C. Tuazon
Wednesday, 15 September 2010 11:09

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WHERE can one find an adventure in nature and, at the same time, contribute not only to the environment but the Aetas, as well? Go to Clarkfield in Pampanga, where one can explore Paradise Ranch, a conservation park, resort and B&B all rolled into one.

Paradise Ranch has the biggest butterfly garden in the country, called Buttefly Kingdom. It also has camp and picnic grounds, conference rooms, restaurants, villas and dorms. A pool resort overlooking the Sacovia River and a separate zoo make the picture perfect for a long weekend getaway.

How did Paradise Ranch come into existence? And how does it help the environment and the cause of the Aetas, especially its out-of-school youths?

According to Erik Gomez, executive director of Paradise Ranch and chairman of Clark Freeport Tourism Association, Paradise Ranch was conceptualized in 2004. He said, “Its beginnings were very humble. It was actually a reforestation effort to help the environment and provide some livelihood opportunities for the Aetas. In 2005 we started to clear the lands to start our reforestation.”

The Philippine Children’s Fund of America (PCFA), however, made it possible to put up the ranch, which is the brainchild of the agency. PCFA endeavors to promote better lives and stronger communities. The programs of the ranch serve as an avenue in addressing the advocacies of the agency.

Peacocks and ostrich are some of the animals that can be seen in Paradise Ranch. As the Regional Wildlife Rescue Center of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Paradise Ranch is a haven for rescued wild animals that are unwanted, surrendered or confiscated, with the objective of returning them back to the wild after rehabilitation.

What makes Paradise Ranch even more unique are the out-of-school young Aetas who are given an opportunity to work for their daily needs and save for their schooling. Added Gomez, “Most of the employees of Paradise Ranch, about 60 percent, are Aetas. Young and old Aetas work here, some are supervisors. Our work force is 160, and there are about 90 Aetas among them. Yes, there are out-of-school youths over 18 years of age working at the ranch; many of the younger ones supply us with butterflies that they catch on weekends.

“The project encourages many students to work on weekends to help them with their daily needs, and so that they will be rewarded with a college credit fund. High-school students are offered jobs on weekends to be able to save for college; a full-time job is given to them only during the summer so as not to distract them from their studies.”

Asked about responsible charity, Gomez reiterated that “the poor will remain poor for as long as there are charities supporting mendicancy, although sometimes that’s hard for other groups to understand. Paradise Ranch requires its beneficiaries to work under our Work for Food and Work for School programs. These are designed to make the community stand on their own, to have a sense of dignity and be able to dream on their own. We can encourage responsible charity by showing our great aspirations forthe poor—not only for them to have a sense of dignity by giving them the opportunity to work, but also for our clients or guests to be responsible in helping to ensure that their help is put to a good use.”

President Noynoy Aquino has underscored that “maaari na tayong muling mangarap.” Paradise Ranch is a sublime way of promoting a “beautiful and caring country” by helping the poor and protecting the environment.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/life/1302-adventure-and-compassion-go-hand-in-hand

Pampanga gov, LGUs eye Gugu River desilting to prevent flooding

Written by Joel P. Mapiles / Correspondent
Wednesday, 15 September 2010 11:31

BACOLOR, Pampanga—Bracing for the perennial flooding besetting several towns in Pampanga, Gov. Lilia Pineda is moving to realize the proposed desilting project along the stretch of Gugu River.

Mainly in consultation with Bacolor Mayor Jose Maria Hizon, Pineda is also reaching out to the local government executives of the affected towns of Minalin and Sasmuan.

Pineda has designated Art Punzalan, head of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro), together with Lita Manalo of the Major Flood Control of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Bacolor town administrator Felix Matic Jr. in conducting a joint inspection of Gugu Dike in relation to its proposed desilting activity as part of the flood-mitigation project of the provincial government.

Punzalan said the desilting activity is expected to benefit thousands of residents from the downstream villages and save more properties from damage.

Manalo said a memorandum of agreement should be signed by the provincial government, municipal governments and the DPWH to clarify the responsibilities, direction and funding of the joint undertaking.

“The DPWH’s contribution is the preparation of profiling and cross-sectioning of the river, program of work and other technical assistance,” she said.

The town administrator said there is a great need for the desilting of the downstream portion of Gugu River, especially this rainy season, to prevent perennial flooding in such areas as Baculud.

If the project is realized, Matic said some of the villages, such as Tinajeros, Sta. Ines, Cabetican and Cabambangan, would be spared from floods.

Matic assured the other project proponents that the LGU has money set aside for the gasoline of the equipment used in the desilting activities in the town.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/regions/1310-pampanga-gov-lgus-eye-gugu-river-desilting-to-prevent-flooding

Residents, farmers ask PNoy to okay P18.7-B Laguna de Bay rehab project

Written by Fernan Marasigan / Reporter
Wednesday, 15 September 2010 11:32

FARMERS, fishers and residents in two districts of Laguna are urging President Aquino to give the green light to the suspended P18.7-billion Laguna de Bay Rehabilitation Project, saying that the dredging of the 94,900-hectare lake would redound to their benefit and to the 13 million people living around the lake and in Metro Manila.

“We have learned that the P18.7-billion Laguna de Bay Rehabilitation Project has been suspended since Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima will review it due to Sen. Franklin Drilon’s rejection of the project,” they said in a petition dated Sept.13, 2010.

“This is the first time that a broad program for the lake would benefit us. The lake would be cleaned and this could lead to the establishment of navigation and mass transport in the lake, floods would be controlled, and the possibility of increased fish production would dawn upon us,” they added.

They scored Drilon for questioning the project on the pretext that since government had reduced capital investment on infrastructures to only P12.8 billion, there is no need to spend P18.7 for dredging Laguna de Bay.

“Drilon may not have seen the benefits of the project to the environment and the economy,” the petitioners said.

They said that based on a study, the economic benefits are anchored on navigation and mass transport due to the nautical highway that could be established. Many products from Laguna and Rizal would become competitive since transport costs would be reduced. The transport of commodities by ferries and barges would be stimulated. This is apart from the positive effect of ferry stations, fish ports and eco-areas for the lakeshore communities.

“We were completely pleased when we learned that such a good project was to be implemented at Laguna de Bay. However, we were stumped when the project implementation was suspended,” the petitioners told President Aquino.

According to the petitioners, they have asked the stakeholders of Laguna de Bay, from agency officials involved to environmental organizations, barangay leaders and even small businessmen why such a very good project, which would profit the lakeshore dwellers and improve the environment, was being subjected to severe battering and in fact, frozen.

“The company undertaking the project is only waiting for the Notice to Proceed [NTP] from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The funds are already there. Why has the project been delayed anew? Why is the leadership undertaking multiple reviews of the project?” they said.

“We have been nauseated by promises that the lake would be rehabilitated. Now that somebody has taken the cudgels for the lake and a project is set to start, some people are questioning it and putting its eventual implementation in doubt. We reiterate our plea, Mr. President: Implement immediately the pending Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project,” the groups said.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/regions/1311-residents-farmers-ask-pnoy-to-okay-p187-b-laguna-de-bay-rehab-project

LGUs in Cebu, Siquijor Get Patrol Boats
By PHOEBE JEN INDINO
September 16, 2010, 9:25pm

BADIAN,Cebu – Towns in Cebu and Siquijor provinces will now have a vehicle to further enforce coastal laws after the Department of Environment and Natural resources (DENR) recent turn over of the last batch of motorboats aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Integrated Coastal Resource Management Project (ICRMP).

A total of 26 motorboats have already been given by the DENR to several local government units (LGUs) in both provinces. The DENR has also provided diving equipments and will soon distribute computers for said undertaking’s database.

The ICRMP is intended to support coastal communities by addressing their needs in sustaining efforts to mitigate coastal pollution and degradation of marine resources.

The last recipients of the project included the towns of Alcantara, Alegria, Aloguinsan, Barili, Dumanjog, Malabuyoc, Moalboal, Ronda and this municipality.

Local officials from the said towns personally received the motorboats, with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia also joining the event.

Aside from the 26 patrol motorboats which are expected to curb illegal fishing activities, two other boats were also provided by the DENR for the conduct of research studies. The boats were turned over to the Cebu Technological University and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 7. The 26 patrol boats cost a total of P11.7 million, with each boat costing P450,000 while the research boats’ cost was pegged at P950,00 each.


http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/277487/lgus-cebu-siquijor-get-patrol-boats

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/8797/davaog.jpg (http://img188.imageshack.us/i/davaog.jpg/)

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/8713/davao2.jpg (http://img713.imageshack.us/i/davao2.jpg/)




Davao City Philippines

This is the climate change action from Davao City Philippines. Taken last February 12, 2010 beside the newly completed Ecological Sanitary Landfill. Davao city through its Mayor Rody Duterte has created a Task Force on Climate Change. Its initial move was to join the 350 movement and be counted as one of the cities in the world calling for the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The landfill is our concrete local action to address the global concern.
Pls acknowledge the photographer Edgar Arro. We were on board a helicopter courtesy of Mayor Duterte.
There was also a tree planting activity around the landfill area, where 350 trees were planted by the people of Davao City

350 Org(flickr) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/350org/4383803843/in/photostream/)

Bill on ozone protection filed

A measure has been filed at the Senate seeking to mitigate the proliferation of greenhouse gases in the country.

Senator Loren B. Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee of Climate Change, has filed Senate Bill No. 1357 or the "Ozone Protection Act of 2007.

"The ’Ozone Protection Act of 2010’ recommends the establishing of local mechanisms for regulating and monitoring the importation of ozone depleting substances," Ms. Legarda said in a statement.

Ms. Legarda added that the bill is "a solution to reconcile the efforts towards our country’s economic growth without compromising the state of our environment."

"I am hopeful that Congress will pursue measures to strengthen the country’s efforts in protecting the ozone layer. The Philippines must show its cooperation as a member of the international community in the fight to preserve the very barrier protecting the earth," Ms. Legarda said.

The Department of Energy, citing international data, has said that the Philippines accounts for less than a percent of total global carbon emissions in the world.
|

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=17946

Sarangani to Protect Environment

By JOSEPH JUBELAG
September 17, 2010, 9:13pm

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Sarangani is set to pass measures that would protect the environment and tourism destinations of the province.

Board Member Eleanor Constantino-Saguiguit, chair of the committee on tourism, said the proposed measures include the solid waste management and clear-cut policies on mining activities within the province of Sarangani.

“We are also conducting deeper study on how to refurbish our remaining watershed and on how to extend ample protection for our marine sanctuaries,” said Saguiguit, the former vice chairman of Malungon Municipal Tourism Council headed by Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao.

She said the provincial government must have clear-cut policies on mining and the preservation of tourist destinations.

Saguiguit raised concern on the continued depletion of the province’s forest reserve areas due to soil erosion and other illegal activities such as timber poaching and slash-and-burn activities.

She said such unlawful practices, if not restrained, would inflict tremendous destruction in the ecosystem and tourist destinations.

“The slash-and-burn farming or kaingin would not only destroy the foliage but would likewise cause the loss of top soil, silting up our rivers, creeks, lakes and the coastal and mangrove areas,” Saguiguit said.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/277671/sarangani-protect-environment

Plastic wastes make up 76% of Manila Bay garbage :ohno:

Business Insight Today - Malaya
September 20, 2010

GREEN advocates EcoWaste Coalition and Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)yesterday reiterated their call to recycle and reuse plastic bags which clog drainages and waterways to avoid a repeat of the floods brought by tropical storm Ondoy last year.

"Let us not forget the lessons of typhoon Ondoy and together let us break the plastic habit and cut our waste size," said Gigie Cruz of GAIA.

Some cities in Metro Manila were submerged in floodwaters from Sept. 25 to 26, as Ondoy dropped almost a month’s worth of rainfall measuring 455 millimeters. The death toll was 341.

"Typhoon Ondoy taught us in a deeply painful and costly way that practices which defile and destroy the ecosystems have no place in our fragile planet and should stop," said EcoWaste president Roy Alvarez.

Alvarez said plastic bags and other disposable items made the post-Ondoy cleanup most difficult.

"By switching from disposable plastic bags to reusable bags and containers, we will dramatically cut our waste size, and clean out our waterways and dumpsites, which are bursting at the seams," he said.

A discards survey conducted by EcoWaste and Greenpeace in 2006 revealed that plastic bags and other synthetic packaging materials comprised 76 percent of the four cubic meters of garbage retrieved from Manila Bay.

Of the 76 percent, 51 percent were plastic carry bags, 19 percent junk food wrappers and sachets, five percent styrofoam and one percent hard plastics.

The rest of the recovered trashes were rubber at 10 percent and biodegradable waste at 13 percent.

A study published in 2009 by the US-based Ocean Conservancy showed that 679,957 of over 1.2 million pieces of marine litter of various types gathered in seaside areas during the 2008 International Coastal Clean-Up Day in the Philippines were plastic bags. – Angela Lopez de Leon

Petron starts to move facility out of Pandacan

By Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:16:00 09/19/2010

Filed Under: Oil & Gas - Downstream activities

MANILA, Philippines—Petron Corp., the country’s largest oil refiner and retailer, will finally start relocating operations out of its Pandacan facility, hoping to complete the move in five years’ time.

Petron chair and chief executive officer Ramon S. Ang said this was in line with the company’s agreement with the city government of Manila. Under the agreement, Petron would scale down oil operations over time, and eventually phase out all activities in Pandacan.

In an interview with the Inquirer, Ang said Petron solely took the initiative to move operations out of Pandacan to a facility at North Harbor.

Pandacan, a busy district in Manila, also plays host to two other oil companies: Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex).

Shell had earlier declared it would not move out of the Pandacan depot anytime soon.

The oil firms, dubbed the “Big 3,” have long been under pressure to relocate operations out of Manila. Local government officials have repeatedly warned the oil firms that their operations pose a threat to the city.

The oil depot presents a target to criminals and terrorists, city officials added.

Ang said that when the Metro Pacific group offered its 35-percent stake in the North Harbor project, San Miguel seized the chance with an eye toward relocating the Petron facility at Manila’s port.

San Miguel holds a 37.8-percent stake in Petron as of end-August, up from the 19.83-percent interest it had initially acquired from the Ashmore group.

It was in May last year when Petron had agreed to start scaling down its depot operations, following a meeting with Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and former Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim, said company president Eric O. Recto.

“We are ready to work on a program to scale down our Pandacan operations. This will coincide with what we foresee will be a growth in demand for petroleum products outside Metro Manila and a corresponding need for us to grow our facilities closer to the emerging demand centers,” Recto earlier explained.

He noted that this approach would address concerns of dislocation among employees and other people who depended on the depot for livelihood.

“We therefore appreciate the efforts ... of the government to come up with a workable solution that will allow burden-sharing among industry, local government and the national government,” Recto had said.

Durian, ‘buko’ shells clog many of Davao City’s waterways

Written by Manuel T. Cayon / Reporter
Monday, 20 September 2010 13:47

DAVAO CITY—Leftover durian and coconut shells have joined the mounting trash clogging the canals of this city, and the operation of a so-called sako (sack) gang and the diversion of a natural waterway by a big mall here have exacerbated the flooding of downtown streets during heavy rains here the past few months.

That’s the downside of the fruit season here, with durian lording it over as the country’s “king of fruits,” the city’s maintenance chief, retired Col. Yusop Jimlani, disclosed in a recent press conference here.

Durian fruits were displayed in many busy street corners and fruit stalls, along with lanzones, rambutan and mangosteen. Buko, or young coconut, is peddled year-round here and sold for its juice and soft meaty pulp.

Jimlani said garbage contributed by all kinds of trash, fruit leftovers, and commercial and household waste still constitute the main cause of flooding due to clogged canals and waterways.

“There’s even a damaged refrigerator and used tires clogging one big canal in barangay 31-B [along Quezon Boulevard.],” he said. “It looked like it was not intended to clog the canal, but simply out of neglect and apathy of residents.”

A worse problem was the intentional blocking of a natural waterway and the covering of a manhole.

The worse flooding was in Bajada, just north outside of downtown area, “where these two activities were discovered by our drainage men,” he said.

Two weeks ago, he said, city maintenance crew discovered that the construction of a multibillion-peso mall here has also blocked a natural passageway of flood waters and diverted to a smaller canal “to avoid the problem to its constructed buildings inside,” he said.

He reported the discovery to City Mayor Sara Duterte, with a copy furnished to the owner of the mall under construction, “but we have not received any response yet.”

“The blocked waterway was already cleared but we have to put our men there to prevent them from blocking other waterways,” he said, adding that his office has also discussed the concern with barangay officials “so that they can also help ensure that canals are not blocked.”

The guarding also focus on the clandestine operation of a local group of men in the locality who were found to have deliberately covered these canals to ensure that the streets would be flooded.

“Their modus operandi was to earn a living pushing vehicles trapped in flood waters,” he said.

The two canals along the Bajada area were found covered by sacks weighed down by a big stone. “We call them sako gang. But later, they even removed the cement cover and inserted plywood inside the manhole to block the water.”

Jimlani expressed hope that the City Engineers’ Office would make modifications to improve the drainage “by using the bigger 72-inch culverts.”

“Our canals were built in the 1960s and designed for a population of 50,000,” he said. The city has now a population of more than 1.3 million residents, the fourth largest in the country, behind the Metro Manila cities of Quezon, Manila and Caloocan.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/regions/1516-durian-buko-shells-clog-many-of-davao-citys-waterways

Philippines digs in for climate change meeting

THE PHILIPPINES will resist pressures for it to commit to greenhouse gas emission cuts and will demand damages from large industrial economies at next month’s talks for a global deal to fight climate change, a ranking official said late last week.

Otherwise, binding this developing country to targets would stunt local farming which already accounts for roughly a third of the country’s emissions, Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo R. Serrano said ahead of technical working group meetings in Tianjin, China on Oct. 4-9.

The stance counters several richer countries’ proposal in the 2009 Copenhagen negotiations for developing economies to contribute more to the worldwide effort to stop global warming.

The meeting was supposed to lay down new emission targets as current Kyoto Protocol commitments will last only until 2012. An unresolved standoff now remains after Europe, Japan, Australia and Canada proposed to forge a new deal separate from the earlier protocol, a move that, in effect, would have junked provisions that had distinguished between developed and developing states’ obligations.

"We will not commit. There will be no cuts," Mr. Serrano said in a chance interview before heading for China.

The meeting will be among "ad hoc" groups tasked to "narrow down options and advance substantive work" ahead of the leaders’ conference in Cancun, Mexico in late-November, data from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Web site show.

"One-third of our emissions come from agriculture from the decomposition of plant matter and methane emissions from piggeries [for instance]. If we commit, we won’t be able to produce anymore," Mr. Serrano said.

"[And we want] reparations. The developed countries are continuing to pollute. They just want [to dole out funding] on their own terms: bilateral loans or converted overseas development assistance," he said.

But such financing terms for poor countries’ programs to adapt to climate change are not suitable since a bulk of the emissions come from rich industrialized countries, Mr. Serrano argued.

No figure on the proposed fund has been specified yet, he said.

Sought for comment, local farmers’ group Alyansa Agrikultura agreed that developing countries must have lighter commitments than their richer counterparts.

"But agriculture itself can cut carbon emissions. We can use organic fertilizers [for instance]," the group’s chairman Ernesto M. Ordoñez said in a telephone interview, noting that the sector will be vulnerable to climate change.

In the meantime, commitments in the Kyoto Protocol stand: several European countries, Japan, Canada, New Zealand must cut their greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2012. The Philippines, which signed the protocol in 1998, is not bound to a target cut. -- Jessica Anne D. Hermosa

Pasig River is one giant septic tank—DENR chief

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:29:00 09/23/2010

Filed Under: Environmental pollution, Water Supply, Waste Management & Pollution Control

MANILA, Philippines—Pasig River is now Metro Manila’s “pozo negro” or septic tank.

This was revealed during the budget hearing for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Senate after Secretary Ramon Paje admitted that only 18 percent of the metropolis waste water goes through a treatment plant with the rest going directly to the Pasig River.

Senator Loren Legarda blamed Pasig River’s worsening state to the private concessionaires Manila Water Co. and Maynilad Water for failing to put up sewage treatment plants and throwing the waste water directly to the river. She also scored the state-run Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for failing to compel the concessionaires to fulfill their commitments.

Legarda noted that the water concessionaires were required to put up water treatment plants as part of their contracts but they opted to just pay the fines rather than invest for the sewerage treatment plant apparently because it was cheaper.

The DENR has slapped a P29.4 million fine against the MWSS, Manila Water and Maynilad for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9275, or the Clean Water Act which requires them to to install and maintain wastewater-treatment facilities within five years after this law took effect in 2004.

Philippines, Australia collaborate for green buildings

THE PHILIPPINES and Australia have started a partnership for energy efficient and green buildings, an Australian trade official said.

Ross Bray, Australian Trade Commission senior trade and investment commissioner to the Philippines and Micronesia, said in an interview that Manila and Canberra are in the early stages of knowledge sharing for green building.

"An early step in the process to share knowledge. The free trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) allows the entrance of technologies for water purification and energy conservation that Australia specializes in can come in at a lower tariff and can be used in the development of the green building sector," said Mr. Bray.

The Australia-New Zealand- ASEAN Free Trade Agreement came into force last January.

Mr. Bray said free trade extends to services "which can allow Australian experts like landscape architects to come in and exchange knowledge."

For her part, Ma. Anna G. Tungol, Philippine Green Building Council (PGBC) executive director, told BusinessWorld in a separate interview: "Since 2009, we have been working with the Green Building Council of Australia with the ratings system we are working on, and we hope that this would become an active partnership and can be sustained with technical training."

According to its Web site, PGBC is a non-stock, non-profit group that promotes the sharing of best practices in green building, or structure that use environment friendly materials. -- E. N. J. David

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=18373

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A group of student volunteers sweep he shore of trash during the observation of the International Coastal Clean-Up Day Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010 along Roxas Blvd. in Manila, Philippines. Filipinos join others around the world in picking up trash on the shore to maintain a clean marine environment.

Humans have been shaping and changing the Earth for thousands of years, sometimes for the better. All too often, though, our terraforming methods have been destructive – sometimes so destructive that they seem like the opposite of terraforming. Mountain top removal mining, for instance, blows the top off of a mountain and fills a nearby valley with the polluted debris. The resulting blasted landscape looks more like we’re turning Earth into Mars than the other way around. Maybe we should call it deterraforming.

Read More http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/terraforming-part-1/#more-36837#ixzz10aDuCuC6

Eco groups observe Coastal Cleanup Day


By Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:01:00 09/26/2010

Filed Under: Environmental Issues, Environmental pollution, Ondoy, Flood

MANILA, Philippines—For environment groups, the observance Saturday of the 26th year of the International Coastal Cleanup Day had added significance because it also commemorated the country’s harrowing experience with Tropical Storm “Ondoy” a year ago.

The Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment said the efforts to remove trash that had collected in the country’s waterways were intended to highlight the need to take action to prevent flooding, and to remind the people of the impact of climate change.

Last year, Ondoy brought unprecedented floods that submerged Metro Manila and several other cities, taking thousands of lives and damaging homes and crops.

“Typhoons naturally happen. But we should note that natural disasters are enhanced and worsened by activities and policies that allow... wanton extractions of our natural resources,” said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator for Kalikasan-PNE. Such policies, he added, have denuded the country’s mountains and polluted its seas.

In a statement, Bautista also said there remains a need for people to understand that the indiscriminate throwing of trash in bodies of water “will come back to haunt them later.”

He also said the rivers and oceans in Asia are among the dirtiest and most polluted in the world. This dismal state is largely due to industrial wastes, he added.

In the Philippines, Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay largely serve as “a septic tank,” he lamented, adding that the government has failed to resolve this problem.

He called on the people to be more active in protecting the country’s natural resources.

Along with the Universidad de Manila Social Work Department, Agham Youth, and UP Youth for Earth Alliance, Kalikasan-PNE on Saturday led volunteers in cleaning up the shores of Manila Bay along Roxas Boulevard.

-dp-

The 1st Asian Bird Fair is a success! " 300 Bird Watchers across the World... Will FACE the LARGEST EAGLE in the World!"


omr9pZbzUDE&feature=player_embedded


Bird Watch (http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?c=11&cate=__9503)



Davao students learn about conservation in first Asian bird fair
Posted at 1:47 pm September 26, 2010

Tags: Environment


By Anna Valmero


DAVAO CITY, DAVAO DEL SUR - Grade Six students CJ Taglao and Angel Rose Diganow now see birds as more than just house pets after attending lectures during the first Asian Bird Festival held here.

CJ and Angel, together with some 1,700 elementary students, learned a lot about the importance of keeping the birds in the wild and what young kids like them can do to take care of birds in their natural habitats.

The event was organized by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP).

The Philippines is among 17 countries that hold majority of the earth’s terrestrial bird species, as identified by the World Conservation Monitoring Center of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

There are more than 600 different species of birds in the Philippines, some 200 of these endemic or can only be found in the country. In 2004, Carmela Española, a Filipino wildlife biologist and WBCP member, discovered the latest bird specie in the country, the Calayan rail.

“Mabuti na may Asian bird festival dito ngayon para malaman ng ibang tao yung mga isyu at matulungan natin yung bird conservation (I think holding the first Asian bird festival here is very helpful in raising the awareness on issues and to help bird conservation efforts),” says CJ, while I chatted with him as he was viewing the photo exhibit by the Philippine Wild Bird Photographers (PWBP).

“Mas maganda na simulan naming mga kabataan na malaman kung bakit dapat hayaan natin ang mga ibon sa labas at hindi nakakulong. Pag inalagaan natin sila, mae-enjoy natin na makita silang lumilipad at hindi sila magiging extinct (It is important that students and the youth like us are aware of these conservation issues so that we will know how to take care of birds in their natural habitats. If we take efforts to conserve and preserve their species, we can enjoy watching them in the wild and they will not become extinct),” says Angel.

WBCP is a nonprofit organization that raises conservation issues through bird watching, said Alice Villa-Real, chairperson of the Asian Bird Festival.

Villa-Real taught the students the basics of bird watching. She says people in Mindanao are lucky because the region is home to numerous endemic species that cannot be seen elsewhere in the world.

Davao, in particular, is home to the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi).

[URL="http://loqal.ph/science-and-education/2010/09/26/davao-students-learn-about-conservation-in

Hong Kong birdwatchers ignore embassy warnings to “help save the environment”
By Germelina Lacorte | Sunday| September 26, 2010 | Filed under: Environment, Protection/Conservation, Top Stories


DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/25 September) — Ignoring their government’s advisory against visiting the Philippines, Hong Kong birdwatchers are in Davao for the 1st Asian Bird Fair, claiming they are on a mission for the environment.

“Bird watching is no pure enjoyment,” said Samson So, 27, a member of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society. “It is also a mission to protect and conserve environment.”

Shum Ting Wing, who calls himself “Bond,” said more people in Hong Kong are increasingly interested in protecting the environment but natural habitats are still being threatened every time new highways are built.

They said some friends discouraged them from coming to the Philippines after the hostage-taking tragedy that took the lives of eight Hong Kong tourists in Manila in August but they said they were determined to come for their “mission.”

So said he chose to ignore the “advice of one person,” referring to the Hong Kong embassy, against the “greater interest” of protecting the environment.

Shum and So were two of three Hong Kong birdwatchers who joined Asia’s first Bird Fair and 6th Philippine Bird Festival, which opened at the Waterfront Hotel on Friday, September 24 and will end on Sunday with a tour to bird watching sites in Eden and Malagos.

At least 18 foreign birdwatchers and conservationists from Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Taiwan and the United Kingdom, joined close to 300 participants in the festival organized by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.

“Birds are good indicators of the health of the environment,” said So, “Through bird watching, we can promote the importance of conservation. Where we can see a large number of birds means that the ecosystem is still healthy.”

He said the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society lobbied in 2004 against the conversion of Hong Kong’s Long Valley marshland into a railway station and won. Shum said the government was forced to build the railway underground to appease the environment group’s lobby against the destruction of the 25-hectare marshland, which is the habitat of over 200 species of birds.

From Hongkong and Taiwan to Burma, Thailand and Nepal, bird watchers shared a common concern over the destruction of bird habitats because of the entry of plantations, illegal logging, and even large-scale environment disasters such as climate change.

Htin Hla of the Biodiversity and Nature conservation Association, also said his group had lobbied for the declaration of an area in Tenintharyi Division in Burma as a sanctuary for the bird Gurney’s Pitta, an endangered species of bird in Thailand. Hla said there were only 12 pairs of Gurney’s Pitta left in Thailand but in 2003, the birds were discovered in Tenintharyi Division in Burma. When his group lobbied for the declaration of the site into a natural sanctuary to protect the birds, the government turned down the proposal, saying the area has already been reserved for an oil palm plantation.

Hla said he is hopeful that the upcoming elections in Burma in November will bring about change that will augur well for their conservation works.

In Nepal, climate change has brought about changes in the behavior of birds, said Hum Gurung, chief executive officer of the Bird Conservation Nepal. He said snow coming from the mountains has been melting rapidly, swelling the rivers and destroying the habitats of river birds. Changes in weather pattern are also changing the behavior of birds. Before they used to wait for the Sarus crane to come down the mountain to signal the change of the season and the time for the Nepalese village people to plant rice but now the bird often gets delayed and sometimes does not show up at all. “Because of climate change, birds are shifting habitats,” he said.

Among the endemic species of birds displayed by Filipino wildlife photographers in an exhibit here were the cattle egret sighted in San Juan, Batangas, the Mindanao Tarictic Hornbill photographed by Kaakbay’s Alain Pascua in Bislig, Surigao del Sur and the Philippine Frogmouth, photographed by Rey Sta Ana also in Bislig, Surigao del Sur.

So and Shum said they look forward to seeing the birds in Malagos. “We’re interested to see where the birds live but we also want to find out what they need,” said So. (Germelina Lacorte/MindaNews)

MIndanNews (http://mindanews.com/main/2010/09/26/hong-kong-birdwatchers-ignore-embassy-warnings-to-help-save-the-environment-2/)

Ynares may support Laguna Lake dredging

(philstar.com) Updated September 26, 2010 04:00 PM Comments (3) View comments

ANTIPOLO City, Philippines - Rizal Governor Casimiro Ynares III recently said he is “willing to support the proposed P18.7 billion project for the dredging of Laguna Lake provided parallel steps are taken to ensure that the funds for the project do not eventually go to waste.”

Ynares said he believes that the plan to dredge Laguna Lake “is important and will benefit the local governments in the lakeshore areas.”

“I am willing to support the dredging project but there are other steps that must be taken while the massive dredging is being done,” Ynares said. “If not, the P18.7 billion in tax payers money that will be spent on the dredging project might just go to waste.”

Among these steps is the reforestation of the areas surrounding the tributaries of Laguna Lake to ensure that there will be no further soil erosion. Ynares said it is also important that the waterways leading up to Asia’s third largest body of fresh water be cleaned up to prevent them from further cascading silt, soil and debris to the lake.

Ynares also said the project should include provisions for the relocation of the hundreds of thousands of informal settlers living at the lakeshore communities, as well as consultations with the lake area stakeholders and local government units within the Laguna Lake region.

Hong Kong birdwatchers ignore embassy warnings to “help save the environment”
By Germelina Lacorte | Sunday| September 26, 2010 | Filed under: Environment, Protection/Conservation, Top Stories


DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/25 September) — Ignoring their government’s advisory against visiting the Philippines, Hong Kong birdwatchers are in Davao for the 1st Asian Bird Fair, claiming they are on a mission for the environment.

“Bird watching is no pure enjoyment,” said Samson So, 27, a member of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society. “It is also a mission to protect and conserve environment.”

(Germelina Lacorte/MindaNews)

MIndanNews (http://mindanews.com/main/2010/09/26/hong-kong-birdwatchers-ignore-embassy-warnings-to-help-save-the-environment-2/)


:okay:......:cheers::cheers:

S&T jibes with Puerto’s environment advocacy

Written by Ramon Efren R. Lazaro / Correspondent
Saturday, 25 September 2010 10:34

IF there is one place in the Philippines where science and technology (S&T) applications are seen and highly appreciated, Puerto Princesa City in Palawan is a hands down choice.

Delegates to the recent Southern Luzon Cluster Science and Technology Fair in the city were awed where a forest environment compliments the progress of a city in a sustainable manner.

Mayor Edward Hagedorn boasted that the city has shown that man’s progress can coexist with nature in a sustainable way and all it needs is the proper application of S&T.

He said the fair has opened new horizons for technological innovations that the city government has been pursuing since he assumed office to make the city coexist with nature.

While factories and mining companies that produce environmentally hazardous waste that spell less job opportunities are banned from operating in the city, proenvironment businesses are only too welcome to be accommodated in Puerto Princesa, Hagedorn said.

He added that the fair would provide entrepreneurs in the city to look for alternative businesses that are technologically and environmentally acceptable.

On the other hand, Ma. Josefina Abilay, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) regional director for Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan Region (Mimaropa), said the fair was conducted to promote technologies developed by different DOST networks, and showcase the latest research results and other useful technical information from DOST.

The fair held from September 14 to 18 at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum conducted students science trivia; techno-business matching that aimed to bring technology-based products to micro, small and medium enterprises for commercialization; technology forums on food fortification; Aqua negosyo; and understanding of food label for food processors. There was even a cashew-delicacy contest.

Abilay said Mimaropa’s rich natural resources needs the utilization of technology to preserve it, noting that Palawan is the “last frontier” and a premier eco-tourism destination that requires various clean and green technologies that were featured in the affair.

Among the products that caught the attention of the S&T fair visitors were those developed by the Western Philippine University (WPU) like the “Ilaw mula sa basura.”

Consepto Maggay, WPU president, explained that the low-cost PV-LED lighting system uses LED from used lighters and assembled on used CDs that serve as reflector of the lamp with power supplied by a 12-volt battery that is charged by a solar panel.

Maggay noted that there are existing products of LED lamps in the market of different sizes and prices, but the difference between the lighting systems, he pointed out, is that the commercial lamps are not rechargeable.

He said the WPU “Ilaw sa basura” lighting system is directly connected to a 12-volt battery with AC-DC converter that lowers and meets the voltage requirement of the LED. He said this feature is a salient factor that will eventually contribute to the sustainability of the PV solar home systems.

Besides the lighting system, WPU has also developed a banana chipper that has a 97.89 chipping efficiency powered by 2 horsepower (hp) electric motor; a coconut coir decortificator that produces coir fibers and coir dust with a machine efficiency of 86 percent on a 10 hp diesel engine, and a peanut sheller that has a 97.86-percent shelling efficiency with a whole kernel recovery of 98.67 percent and shelling recovery of 72 to 86 percent on a 2 hp electric motor, among others.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/science/1717-sat-jibes-with-puertos-environment-advocacy

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P9IeXpKZCrs/TI7PG2gGraI/AAAAAAAAAAM/mwuV_k601eM/s1600/ECPC.JPG





Environmental Conservation and Protection Center
A Research, Advocacy, Laboratory, Training Facility located in Alabel, Sarangani Province
Telefax: 083-508-3501

This is good....:okay:

'Reusable Bag Day' starts today

By Rhodina Villanueva (The Philippine Star) Updated September 29, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (3) View comments

MANILA, Philippines - Today marks the start of “Reusable Bag Day” that is covered by a memorandum of understanding recently signed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and major shopping malls where free plastic bags would no longer be used on Wednesdays.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said incentives would be given to shoppers who will use reusable bags in supermarkets.

“The incentives, which will be provided to encourage this change in the behavior of consumers, shall be left to the discretion of the management of participating supermarkets. These could be in the form of rebates, points, actual cash incentives for every plastic bag saved or any other scheme pursuant to their own promotion scheme,” he explained.

Paje said malls and supermarkets would charge customers a fee for plastic bags during the Reusable Bag Day every Wednesday.

DENR records showed that 756,986 kilograms of garbage or debris were collected from both shoreline and waterways during cleanup operations conducted last year. Plastic bags made up 300,176 kilos or less than half of the garbage.

In cooperation with the Earth Day Network Philippines Inc., the National Solid Waste Management Commission, the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association, and the Philippine Retailers Association together with major malls like SM, Rustan’s, Robinsons, Isetann, Ever, Makro, Hi-top among others, the DENR launched the “Reusable Bag Campaign” to promote the use of reusable bags.

If a shopper asks for a plastic bag they will be charged for every bag they get. Each stakeholder or supermarket owner is free to set the price for each plastic bag that a customer requests. This will serve as a disincentive to encourage customers to bring their own bags instead.

Paje said promotion of reusable bags would be done through printing and putting up of posters in strategic areas in supermarkets.

The poster design shall have space for the supermarket’s logo.

“We leave the discretion to management as to the location of the said posters within the supermarkets,” Paje said.

He urged shoppers to make it a habit to bring their own bags and refrain from using plastics, which he regarded as a major contributor that caused floods during typhoons like the typhoon “Ondoy” that caused massive floods in Metro Manila and destroyed lives and property last year.

Paje lamented that despite the flooding in almost all regions and the collective efforts done in the past, garbage and plastic bags continue to clog rivers and esteros nationwide.

Former Environment secretary Elisea Gozun and now president of Earth Day Network said the campaign will be a positive campaign and shall focus on the reusable bags rather than an “anti-plastic” message.

“This is important because we do not want the consumers to become defensive. Instead, we want them to become pro-active in becoming responsible citizens of the Earth,” she said.

Paje stressed that the agreement calls for a concerted effort in the shift of public consciousness from using plastic bags to reusable bags to address the environmental hazard posed by improper disposal of plastic bags by clients.

Earth Day Network Philippines shall act as the campaign coordinator while the National Solid Waste Management Commission shall assist in securing government support for the campaign both at the national and local levels, and provide technical assistance regarding solid waste management and the hazards of plastic use, among others.

DENR to release Philippine geohazard map


Thursday, 30 September 2010 00:00

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will release next month the complete geohazard map of the entire Philippines that will give government agencies better assessment of indicated danger zones vulnerable to disasters such as landslides, flashfloods, liquefaction and other natural disasters. In a press conference, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said that the geohazard mapping would be complete by the end of October, saying that 97 percent or 1,567 of the total 1,618 target municipalities and cities have already been assessed.

“I have already directed the Mines and Geosciences Bureau [MGB] to prioritize the assessment of the remaining municipalities this October,” Paje added.

The Environment department chief pointed out that the delay in the assessment of the remaining 51 municipalities was because of accessibility and security problems in the area—these municipalities were located in the provinces of Abra, Kalinga and Apayao in the Cordillera Administrative Region, and in Lanao del Sur and Basilan in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“Security threats were the main reason for the delays. But we expect them to be completely covered by the end of next month.

Then we can resume in generating digitized maps of these areas,” the official said.

The Geohazards Mapping and Assessment Program of the DENR-MGB is an important component of the government’s disaster management and mitigation program in order to reduce the loss of lives and properties brought by natural disasters.

The project would involve both the identification of areas of the country that are prone or susceptible to various geologic hazards like rain-induced landslides, floods, flash floods, storm surge, coastal erosion, sea-level rise and other natural disasters.

The geohazard mapping aimed to give better information dissemination to increase public awareness. The output of the program is equally important for land use planning, development and emerging concerns on climate change adaptation, Paje explained.

Meanwhile, Paje said that the process of digitizing the maps at the scales of 1:50,000 and 1:10,000 will take time to complete, and which shall be based on the topographic maps produced by the National Mapping and Resources Information Authority (Namria).

“MGB geologists will have to draw the images and contours of these maps in the computer to produce the digital copies of the maps in JPEG format. These files will be uploaded to the official website of the DENR and Namria, allowing public access,” he said.

He said that production of geohazard maps at the scale of 1:50,000 will be completed by next month, while a more detailed mapping scale of 1:10,000 will be finished by next year.
JAMES KONSTANTIN GALVEZ


http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/nation/27609-denr-to-release-philippine-geohazard-map-

Chevron Say No Cause for Alarm in Bacolod ‘Oil Spill’

By ELLSON A. QUISMORIO
October 1, 2010, 7:24pm

MANILA, Philippines — Major oil player Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex) said on Friday there is no cause for surprise or alarm over the reported “oil spill” originating from the company’s underwater pipeline in Bacolod City.

Toby Nebrida, Chevron communications manager, clarified that what occurred along the coastline of Bacolod was a “controlled release” of their product, which was subsequently recovered.

“What happened was a release of product, under very controlled conditions, as a result of the ongoing decommissioning civil works on the old fuel receiving pipeline,” Nebrida said. To “decommission” means to get rid of the pipeline.

The oil executive said the pipeline stems from Chevron’s old depot in Bacolod and runs two kilometers in the sea.

Initial reports Thursday gave the impression that coastal communities there discovered an oil spill and then reported it to the Coast Guard. This was not the case, according to Nebrida.

“As the cleaning procedure to remove any remaining product from the old pipeline was done, containment teams from both the Bacolod Terminal joint operations teams and the Coast Guard were standing by on the site for the possibility of any product release.

“At the first signs of product seepage, the containment teams immediately mobilized to cordon off the area and recover the product,” he said.

He said the teams recovered practically all the products on the water, consisting of some 40 liters of product mixed with seawater and garbage from the area where the product release occurred. Subsequent checks of the shoreline areas were also conducted to ensure the integrity of the environment.

Nebrida also pointed out that the pipeline cleaning process was fully completed last Sept. 26.

“The bottom line is that the product release was a controlled procedure,” he stressed.

“We prepared for this procedure and coordinated our actions with all the concerned stakeholders that included the Coast Guard, local authorities and our Bacolod Joint Terminal partners prior to implementing the decommissioning works, in order to avoid surprises and ensure the safety of the environment and the public,” Nebrida added.

Nebrida assured the public that the decommissioning works will be completed in three months’ time.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/280068/chevron-say-no-cause-alarm-bacolod-oil-spill

RP to stop issuing logging permits in natural forests

(philstar.com) Updated October 01, 2010 11:00 PM Comments (2) View comments

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippines will no longer issue new logging permits in areas which it describes as "second- growth forests" in line with the country's climate change mitigation program.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) today issued Memorandum Order No. 9 directing all field officials of the department to stop accepting and processing all forms of applications for new timber contracts "with logging component in the natural forests."

"I have already told my officials that I will no longer approve or sign new logging contracts with logging component in natural forest, but directed them instead to fast track the applications for the establishment of tree plantations in idle, denuded and degraded areas," DENR Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje said.

Under the country's Forestry Master Plan, the department recommends the establishment of at least 550,000 hectares of timber plantations for the country to achieve self-sufficiency in its wood requirements.

This, Paje said, is consistent with the country's climate change mitigation program as it will effectively remove the pressure from existing old-growth and second-growth forests that are important in the fight against climate change.

At the same time, Paje said the move will promote tree planting in both public and private lands, from which to source domestic timber needs to minimize timber importation.

Meanwhile, existing logging contracts are being reviewed thoroughly by the department and erring holders of DENR-issued timber permits will be trimmed especially those whose concession area include natural forests, Paje said.

"Natural forests, aside from their capacity to store more carbon, they also can store carbon for longer periods once they continue to remain untouched," Paje said.

With the passage of the National Integrated Protected Areas System in 1992, the remaining old-growth forest areas have been designated as "protection forests" and that logging has shifted to residual forests.

'Reusable Bag Day' starts today

By Rhodina Villanueva (The Philippine Star) Updated September 29, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (3) View comments

MANILA, Philippines - Today marks the start of “Reusable Bag Day” that is covered by a memorandum of understanding recently signed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and major shopping malls where free plastic bags would no longer be used on Wednesdays.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said incentives would be given to shoppers who will use reusable bags in supermarkets.

“The incentives, which will be provided to encourage this change in the behavior of consumers, shall be left to the discretion of the management of participating supermarkets. These could be in the form of rebates, points, actual cash incentives for every plastic bag saved or any other scheme pursuant to their own promotion scheme,” he explained.

Paje said malls and supermarkets would charge customers a fee for plastic bags during the Reusable Bag Day every Wednesday.

DENR records showed that 756,986 kilograms of garbage or debris were collected from both shoreline and waterways during cleanup operations conducted last year. Plastic bags made up 300,176 kilos or less than half of the garbage.

In cooperation with the Earth Day Network Philippines Inc., the National Solid Waste Management Commission, the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association, and the Philippine Retailers Association together with major malls like SM, Rustan’s, Robinsons, Isetann, Ever, Makro, Hi-top among others, the DENR launched the “Reusable Bag Campaign” to promote the use of reusable bags.

If a shopper asks for a plastic bag they will be charged for every bag they get. Each stakeholder or supermarket owner is free to set the price for each plastic bag that a customer requests. This will serve as a disincentive to encourage customers to bring their own bags instead.

Paje said promotion of reusable bags would be done through printing and putting up of posters in strategic areas in supermarkets.

The poster design shall have space for the supermarket’s logo.

“We leave the discretion to management as to the location of the said posters within the supermarkets,” Paje said.

He urged shoppers to make it a habit to bring their own bags and refrain from using plastics, which he regarded as a major contributor that caused floods during typhoons like the typhoon “Ondoy” that caused massive floods in Metro Manila and destroyed lives and property last year.

Paje lamented that despite the flooding in almost all regions and the collective efforts done in the past, garbage and plastic bags continue to clog rivers and esteros nationwide.

Former Environment secretary Elisea Gozun and now president of Earth Day Network said the campaign will be a positive campaign and shall focus on the reusable bags rather than an “anti-plastic” message.

“This is important because we do not want the consumers to become defensive. Instead, we want them to become pro-active in becoming responsible citizens of the Earth,” she said.

Paje stressed that the agreement calls for a concerted effort in the shift of public consciousness from using plastic bags to reusable bags to address the environmental hazard posed by improper disposal of plastic bags by clients.

Earth Day Network Philippines shall act as the campaign coordinator while the National Solid Waste Management Commission shall assist in securing government support for the campaign both at the national and local levels, and provide technical assistance regarding solid waste management and the hazards of plastic use, among others.

Here's another similar article...today we used a reusable bag and carton boxes instead of plastic bags so I've done my share for the environment:)

DENR pushes reusable grocery bags (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100929-295040/DENR-pushes-reusable-grocery-bags)
By Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:59:00 09/29/2010

Filed Under: Environmental Issues, Environmental pollution

MANILA, Philippines—Up to six million plastic bags are eliminated as potential pollutants of the environment when shoppers turn to reusable bags once a week, according to Environment Secretary Ramon Paje.

Paje on Wednesday said he was happy that the people's consciousness of the value of employing reusable bags has been increasing.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources earlier signed an agreement with mall owners and supermarket chains to promote reusable bags and reduce the use of plastic bags. They chose Wednesday as the day when the stores would not give plastic bags to customers so that they would know the virtues of using reusable ones.

Paje said he hoped that awareness of the dangers of using plastic bags would increase, and that instead of having one day of using reusable bags, it would be two days, or more.

Plastic bags are deemed hazardous to the environment because they are non-biodegradeable and clog drainage systems and waterways.

“Our computation is that we might save six million bags per week,” Paje said in a press conference. “According to our biggest department store, they have already monitored more than a million people using reusable bags.”

He also noted that one shopper usually uses not just one but several plastic bags in one go.

The environment secretary said that reducing the use of plastic bags was an urgent necessity, because no water body in Metro Manila remains unpolluted.

Paje said he has urged plastic bag manufacturers to take on the responsibility of retrieving the bags that litter the streets, clogging up the waterways and filling up the landfills.

He noted that the manufacturers have been reluctant to take on the task because getting the plastic bags would net them no profit and would even add to their costs.

But he said they promised to extend their retrieval efforts to include the plastic bags in landfills or dumpsites, and in the river systems and esteros.

“They committed to us that they would try to recover these plastics in all levels,” he said.

SC Upholds Fines on Firms Polluting Laguna Lake

By EDMER PANESA
October 3, 2010, 5:18pm

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the authority of the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) to impose fines on establishments violating quality standards for wastewater and effluents being discharged into the lake.

In a 12-page decision penned by Associate Justice Diosdado M. Peralta, the SC’s Second Division said the LLDA has the power to impose fines in the exercise of its functions as “a regulatory and quasi-judicial body” with regard to pollution cases in the Laguna Lake region.

The High Court said the LLDA derives its authority from Executive Order (EO) 927, which defines certain functions and authority of the agency.

Section 4(d) of EO 927 provides that the LLDA has the power “to make, alter, or modify orders requiring the discontinuance of pollution specifying the conditions and the time within which such discontinuance must be accomplished.”

The ruling arose from the petition filed by LLDA against the Court of Appeals (CA), which had earlier nullified the agency’s imposition of fines on SM Prime Holdings (SMPH).

The LLDA, in an order issued on Oct. 2, 2002, directed SMPH to pay a fine of P50,000 after its Manila City branch was found discharging "pollutive wastewater" during an inspection on Feb. 4, 2002.

The amount represents the accumulated daily penalty computed from Feb. 4, 2002 until March 5, 2002.

In invalidating the fines imposed on SMPH, the CA ruled that the LLDA’s Charter or Republic Act 4850 does not expressly grant the agency any authority to impose finds for violations of effluent standards set by law.

But the SC said that the appellate court erred in ruling against the LLDA. It held that EO 927 gives the LLDA the authority to impose fines as may be necessary to carry out its duties and responsibilities.

“Indeed, how could the LLDA be expected to effectively perform the above-mentioned functions, if, for every act or violation committed against the law it is supposed to enforce, it is required to resort to some other authority for the proper remedy or penalty? ,” the SC asked

“The intendment of the law…is to clothe the LLDA not only with the express powers granted to it, but also those which are implied or incident but, nonetheless, are necessary or essential for the full proper implementation of its purposes and functions,” it added.

SMPH had asked for a waiver of the fine assessed by the LLDA, saying the firm immediately undertook corrective measures and that the levels of its effluent were already controlled even before their request for re-sampling leading to a minimal damage to the environment.

It also claimed to be a responsible operator of malls and department stores and that it was the first time that the wastewater discharge from its Manila City branch failed to meet the standards of law with respect to inland water.



http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/280370/sc-upholds-fines-firms-polluting-laguna-lake

Save Agusan Marsh

By Charlie Agatep (The Philippine Star) Updated October 03, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (0) View comments

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8196/agri1vass.jpg

An aerial view of the Agusan Marsh. (Courtesy of Michael Licup)

MANILA, Philippines – In 2008, 34 international companies joined an initiative of the Conference of Parties to the UN-Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and committed to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects that would contribute to the 2010 goal of reducing biodiversity loss.

The business and biodiversity initiative encourages CSR on biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of biodiversity, and access to and benefits sharing of genetic resources.

The growing awareness on biodiversity conservation and the role that businesses and the private sector can play in this endeavor brings me to the subject of the Agusan Marsh.

I just came from an ecotour of Agusan Marsh and I must say that I was enchanted by the wildlife, the swamp forests and the numerous shallow lakes and ponds. The marsh is indeed lovely beyond any singing of it, to paraphrase Alan Paton in Cry, The Beloved Country.

The marsh did not disappoint. She was a beauty to behold, even more exotic and colorful than all the postcard photographs and video footages that friends had shown me earlier.

To get to the marsh from Butuan City, we spent one and a half hours by jeep to Talacogon, three hours by pump boat from Talacogon to Gibong, and one half hour by banca to the marsh. Despite the long travel, the escapade was exciting.

Agusan Marsh is a vast complex of freshwater swamp forests covering 110,000 hectares with declared protected area of some 44,000 hectares. The marsh acts like a giant sponge that soaks up rain water flowing from the mountains, rivers, creeks and streams of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Compostela Valley, protecting downstream towns and Butuan City from catastrophic floods.

The marsh is one of the most ecologically significant wetland ecosystems in the Philippines. In view of its aesthetic, ecological and economic importance, and to further strengthen its status as a protected area, it is being considered for nomination by the government to the UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage.

Probably the largest wetland in Asia, Agusan Marsh is a wildlife sanctuary with great natural beauty. According to Dr. Jurgenne H. Primavera, scientist emerita and a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation under the US-based Pew Environment Group, it is home to a diverse ecosystem of rare flowering plants and vegetation, more than 17 fish species, and some 200 species of endemic, threatened and migratory birds. Thousands of birds like the purple heron migrate from Japan, China and Russia and come to the Marsh to escape winter in those regions.

But there are human activities that threaten the ecological balance of the marsh. Foremost are the small scale miners in Diwalwal, Compostela Valley, who use mercury to separate gold from the mined ore. Some 300,000 tons of mine tailings are reportedly discharged annually from the creeks around Diwalwal and flow onto the Agusan river, leading to mercury pollution in the marsh.

There are also small settlers in the marsh who continue to drain marginal areas for conversion to rice fields, fruit orchards and palm oil plantations. And there are illegal logging operations by small scale companies who cut trees outside their legally approved areas.

Invasive species of fish, such as the janitor fiish and golden apple snail, are being introduced deliberately or accidentally by the Manobo tribes who rely on fish production for food and income. These maybe displacing native marsh species such as the African catfish, Nile tilapia, and the common carp.

The Aquino government should enforce its protected status in view of these threats to the marsh ecosystem. In the words of Dr. Primavera, development projects and existing exploitation permits in the area should be reviewed by concerned national and local government agencies considering the impact of these activities on this natural heritage.

Belgian firm to Metro Manilans: Take care of Pasig River
(philstar.com) Updated October 10, 2010 03:01 PM Comments (0) View comments

MANILA, Philippines - The Belgian firm Baggerwerken Decloedt & Zoon (BDZ) urged Metro Manila residents and those living in the Marikina Watershed to take good care of the Pasig River to reduce siltation and revive the waterway.

BDZ issued the statement as it completed the dredging of a 17-kilometer stretch of the waterway and turned over the project to the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) during rites at the Makati Park near the Guadalupe Ferry Station.

The company spiced up the rites by holding a floating concert at the river dubbed "Pasig: Ilog ng Buhay" that featured music by Noel Cabangon, Cookie Chua, Aiza Seguerra, Raymond Marasigan, Kyla and Dulce, all of whom asked the audience to make Pasig River "live and live well."

Officials of BDZ said the company recovered 2.5 million cubic meters of silt from the river and deepened the waterway to allow bigger boats and barges to navigate in the project that was finished two months ahead of schedule.

A deeper Pasig is needed to improve its water holding capacity and help ease flooding in the metropolis, added the officials.

BDZ is the same company that proposed and planned the dredging project for the 94,900-hectare Laguna Lake, a catch basin that needs to be deepened to relieve the National Capital Region (NCR) and Laguna of their flooding woes.

The firm’s officials noted the government's campaign to clean up the esteros and engage in an education drive among residents to substantially reduce the dumping of waste in the Pasig River "are most welcome since it would reduce siltation and prevent pollutants from ruining the integrity of the waterway."

Protecting Makiling’s ‘samu’t saring buhay’
Saturday, 09 October 2010 09:14 Anjo C. Alimario / Researcher/Writer

http://businessmirror.com.ph/images/stories/daily_images/2010/October2010/10102010/science01.jpg

MOUNT MAKILING, Laguna—Southeast Asian countries, to which the Philippines is a part of, occupies a miniscule 3 percent of the world’s total area but is an abode to 18 percent of known endemic plant and animal species in the world that account for at least $2 billion in terms of economic services.

Albeit these valued costs, biodiversity—or samu’t saring buhay as defined in Filipino by Rod Fuentes, executive director of ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity—remains threatened that even the legendary Mount Makiling, in Laguna—considered as one of the 32 key-ecotourism sites and one of the 18 centers of plant diversity in the Philippines—endures the weight of human pressures silently.

Roberto Cereno, Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems deputy director and Makiling Botanic Gardens (MBG) head, said recently that Mount Makiling serves as an “umbilical cord” connecting Laguna to Metro Manila mainly on water systems.

“A lot of pressure comes with a high demand to give more water,” Cereno noted. In fact, top three water-bottling companies in the country are getting their water for their businesses from the mountain, he told members of the Philippine Science Journalists Association Inc. (PSciJourn) who visited the botanic garden as part of PSciJourn’s recent seminar on biodiversity.

In addition, Mount Makiling services five water districts in Laguna and Batangas, servicing at least three million residents.

Compounding this situation is the resettlement of the residents who used to clog the roadsides in Makati City but were transferred in Los Baños, particularly on Mount Makiling.

Cereno lamented that there is even a whole community who are thriving inside the protected zone of the mountain.

In addition, conversion of lands to subdivisions and golf courses, among others, and even the presence of a large oil company in the area draw too much pressure that further upset t