By Marvyn N. Benaning
The La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga) has called on President Aquino to issue a firm policy on climate change as it noted that predictions on weather patterns point to disastrous impact on agriculture and fisheries.
It noted that the Philippines is considered one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world and this alone should compel the President to issue his policy on combating climate change, with El Niño alone affecting 43 percent of all agricultural land.
Moreover, an expert from the Department of Agriculture (DA) already predicted that up to 20 percent of farm land may be inundated due to La Niña.
Jonathan Ronquillo, environment campaigner of La Liga said that while climate change has been listed among the seven crucial economic issues that the Aquino administration intends to address in the next six years, there is a need for the President to make an official policy pronouncement on climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Most important, such policy should translate to adequately funded climate-sensitive programs.
“President Aquino can do this by ensuring that a sound climate change adaptation framework is integrated in the new Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) and translated in the General Appropriations Act of 2011,” Ronquillo suggested.
He expressed concern that the issue of the environment and climate change were not among the priority initiatives mentioned during President Aquino’s inaugural speech as well as in his first State-of-the-Nation Address (SoNA).
La Liga, which acts as secretariat of the Environment Cluster of the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI) led by Social Watch Philippines (SWP), is advocating increased budget allocations for the environment and natural resources sector.
