Barangays’ resilience needed in climate change fight–DENR
The disaster management and resilience of the barangays in the country must be strengthened to fight climate change impacts.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Antonia Loyzaga emphasized during the barangay leaders resilience forum titled “Barangayan Para sa Kalikasan at Bayang Matatag,” last Thursday in Pasay City.
Loyzaga explained that being in the first line of defense in disaster management, the barangays must be involved in devising context-specific, innovative and responsive approaches to risk reduction, risk management and resilience-building.
“All disaster risk is local while the impacts would cascade globally.
Disaster resilience has no natural constituency. Resilience may appear and manifest differently in each and every barangay and community.
Unfortunately, barangays that are most vulnerable to extreme events and multiple hazards are also most likely to be underinvested in, and this puts them more at risk,” Loyzaga said.
In the Philippines, the barangay is the most basic unit of government and one that hits the grass root as it is the fundamental political unit, serving as the primary planning and implementing body for government policies, plans, programs, projects and activities within the community.
There are over 42,000 in the Philippines spread across 145 cities and 1,489 municipalities.
Each barangay comprises a Punong Barangay, seven Sangguniang members, the Sangguniang Kabataan Chair, a secretary, and a treasurer.
The barangays are also empowered to employ personnel to provide basic services such as peace and order, humanitarian and disaster response and health care.
“Local governments need to be engaged in the crafting of context-specific and responsive policies, programs, and actions that put people and the environment that sustains them, first.
We need to adopt a comprehensive risk management strategy, centered on prevention, rather than on relief and response,” she added.
The DENR, in collaboration with the Department of National Defense-Office of Civil Defense (DND-OCD), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the National Resilience Council (NRC), initiated the forum in line with the Philippines’ preparations for hosting the 2024 Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) in October 2024.
During the forum, H.E. Mami Mizutori , Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction, delivered the keynote address.
Mizutori, who also heads the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), is a staunch advocate of climate change adaptation and mitigation and is driving the UN’s Early Warnings for All initiative.
Other sessions encompassed presentations on the Role of Barangays for Resilient Communities by OCD Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno, as well as panel discussions involving barangay leaders and experts on “Bakit Kailangan Maging Matatag.”
Governor Jose Enrique Garcia III of Bataan and Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez of Ormoc City shared their insights on the Ecological Resilience Imperative during the event.
