P14B budget in ‘15 for LGUs to firm disaster risk reduction plans
BY: FAYETTE C. RIÑEN
CEBU CITY, August 14 (PIA) --- Climate Change Commissioner Usec. Naderev "Yeb" Saño bared the government has earmarked P14 billion for 2015 under the People’s Survival Fund (PSF) to help local government units strengthen their climate change mitigation and disaster risk reduction plans.
Saño was recently in Cebu as keynote speaker in the 1st-ever Barangay Summit on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Central Visayas held in the coastal town of Cordova that was initiated by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA-7) here.
Climate change is one of the five issues given priority by President Aquino in terms of budgetary requirement alongside economic improvement and peace and order among others, said Saño adding that the President even created a specific cabinet cluster on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Saño said the PSF amount could also be used for local government units hit by disasters. Under RA 10174, the PSF is established to provide long-term finance streams to enable the government to effectively address the problem of climate change.
Saño warned of the effects of climate change which include super typhoons, erratic rainfall, increased in temperature and even seawater level rise.
“Climate change is a real problem affecting our country today. It is imperative that we work together, put in place our plan from the barangay up to the municipal or city level then to the provincial and national level,” Saño told almost 100 participants that included town councilors, barangay captains and officials, students and other municipal officials.
For us to survive climate change, we must build a better nation by taking more care of our environment, said Saño.
Saño told barangay officials the critical importance of reducing the risks of disasters by having and implementing its own disaster risk reduction and management plan.
It is also equally important that barangay officials involved the local residents to the ‘purok’ level by informing and educating them in order to develop and build disaster-resilient communities, said Saño.
Usec. Saño meanwhile, said the town of San Francisco in Camotes Island will be the pilot site nationwide for the drafting of the climate change adaptation plan. (mbcn/FCR/PIA7)