Philippine President Duterte emphasized during his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) that the protection of the environment must be prioritized by the government, and the wealth that nature offers should be used to sustain all generations.
“I exhort all concerned agencies and local government units to uphold the concept of inter-generational responsibility in [the exploration] and utilization of our mineral wealth, the protection and preservation of our biodiversity, anchored on the right to a balanced and healthy ecology,” he said on July 23.
Duterte also highlighted the prohibition of open pit mining, which he said is destroying the country’s environment.
“It [open-pit mining] will destroy the world of tomorrow for our children,” he added.
The President noted the importance of the environment in his speech.
“Nature endowed us with this wealth to be tapped for the benefit of all generations. My policy in the utilization of these resources is nonnegotiable: The protection of the environment must be top priority and extracted resources must be used for the benefit of the Filipino people, not just a select few. Do not just give me taxes. I can get it from other sources. Give me what needs to be given to my countrymen,” he said.
The Executive Director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), Dr. Theresa Mundita S. Lim, expressed her gratitude to the President for highlighting the importance of biodiversity conservation in the Philippines.
“It was the first Sona in Philippine history in which the significance of biodiversity protection and preservation were mentioned and emphasized, and I greatly thank our President for that,” Lim said. “The Philippines is one of the three megadiverse countries in the Asean region. However, it is also a global biodiversity hot spot which means we could lose our rich and diverse biological resources, as well as their potential for creating wealth for the nation, if we do not conserve and are not able to harness these sustainably.“
The President also shared that the Cabinet has approved for immediate endorsement to Congress, the passage of a law creating the “Department of Disaster Management,” an interagency department that will focus on improving the country’s disaster preparedness and resiliency.
“As I had stated last year, we must learn from the experiences from the Supertyphoon Yolanda, and other mega disasters, and from global best practices. We need a truly empowered department characterized by a unity of command, science-based approach and full-time focus on natural hazards and disasters, and the wherewithal to take charge of the disaster-risk reduction; preparedness and response; with better recovery and faster rehabilitation,” Duterte said.
Lim welcomed this and added, “It is also in this light that we have to scale up our conservation efforts to improve our country’s resiliency to natural hazards since the protection of biodiversity is also protecting natural adaptation measures against disasters and climate-change impacts. For example, a biodiversity-rich forest is likely to be less vulnerable to climate risks and impacts than degraded forests. While climate-change is a major threat to biodiversity, the conservation of biological resources and restoration of ecosystems contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.”
Duterte also lauded the hosting of the 50th anniversary of Asean by the Philippines in 2017.
“The success of the 50th anniversary and the 31st Summit of the Asean would have not been possible without the support of the government. The well-organized and peaceful celebration of these events in our country is a testament of not just the ‘world-renowned Filipino hospitality’ as the President mentioned, but also of the good relations among the Asean member-states,” said Lim.
National efforts to combat biodiversity loss
According to the second edition of the Asean Biodiversity Outlook of the ACB, in the Philippines, government agencies and foreign-funded projects are instrumental in raising awareness of, and mainstreaming biodiversity efforts into national sectoral development plans.
Incentives and programs have been created to facilitate biodiversity concerns in industry practices. Various conservation projects in the country targeted critical biodiversity hot spots, such as protected forest, coastal and marine areas.
A national protected areas system safeguards ecosystems, wildlife and genetic resources. There are also programs implemented to restore ecosystem services.
The Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan directs biodiversity conservation action with funding from the national budget.
The Philippines hosts the ACB, an intergovernmental organization that facilitates coordination and cooperation among the Asean member-states in conserving the rich biodiversity of the Asean region.
On June 22 Duterte signed the Republic Act 11038, or the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018, a law that aims to strengthen the management of protected areas in the Philippines.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources explained that the law significantly increased the protected area coverage (with 94 additional protected areas) in the country, and seeks to institutionalize funding for the management of protected areas through the annual General Appropriations Act.
The ACB was established in 2005 by the Asean member-states as a response to biodiversity loss in the region. The Centre supports and coordinates the implementation of activities in the Asean leading to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, for the benefit of the region and the AMS.