
Villafuerte believes PENCAS Law to help gov’t, LGUs protect environment
WITH the climate-induced worsening impact of natural calamities as demonstrated anew in the record flooding caused by severe tropical storm “Kristine” plus five more typhoons that came in quick succession in a month’s time last year, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte has sought the full implementation of eco-friendly programs such as the new law that aims to fuse state planning for sustainable development with environmental protection.
“The devastation brought about by ‘Kristine” on Bicol and other parts of the country that reeled from above-head to roof-level floods showed that now, more than ever, is the time for the no-nonsense implementation of state policies and programs mitigating the impact of climate change responsible for causing natural disasters of increasing frequency and intensity,” Villafuerte, National Unity Party (NUP) president, said.
“It behooves our government and civil society to work closer together on the implementation of laws that are meant to ensure that economic growth and development remains not just high but sustainable as well,” said Villafuerte, who is a congressman representing Camarines Sur that was the worst hit by the record rainfall dumped by “Kristine” in Luzon as well as in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Aside from Kristine, the five more tropical depressions that battered the Philippines over the October-November 2024 period were typhoons Leon, Marce, Nika, Ofel and Pepito.
In a situation briefing in Naga City following the President’s visit to Bula, CamSur last Oct. 26, Mr. Marcos was told that one major reason for the worse-than-expected impact of “Kristine” was the two months’ worth of rainfall that fell in just one day, inundating the Bicol River and causing floods that reached above-head or even roof levels in certain parts of Camarines Sur, where 70% of this huge river basin is located.
In the Naga City briefing, President Marcos ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to “revisit” the long-discontinued Bicol River Basin Development Program (BRBDP) and possibly implement this program that could be the permanent solution to the perennial flooding of this large river basin located mainly in CamSur.
The President said, “Now we have to focus on flood control. And the others, marami naman tayong mga plano for the rest of it. But we have to focus now on flood control … sobra na iyong tubig, hindi na talaga kaya … we have to revisit it (BRBDP) now. Iba na ang conditions ngayon with the advent of climate change. May flood control naman tayo eh, pero hindi kaya iyong ganito kadaming tubig.”
Villafuerte welcomed the President’s order for a DPWH review of the BRBDP, as the congressman already proposed this flood mitigation program for the Bicol River way back in 2019 under the then-Duterte administration.
The BRBDP was established by the President’s late father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., in 1973, but this program was shelved following the change of government in 1986.
Villafuerte said one of the pro-ecology laws that necessitates full implementation is the newly enacted Republic Act (RA) 11995, which tasks the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to work with local government units (LGUs) along with national government (NG) agencies and civil society in coming up with an innovative Philippine Environment and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS).
One of the authors of RA 11995, Villafuerte said this law mandates the PSA, as the overseer of the PENCAS, to coordinate with, and provide technical support to, LGUs as well as with NGs and private groups in “generating and compiling environmental accounts, statistics and data for the purpose of NCA (natural capital accounting) and long-term economic planning.”
Under RA 11995, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is directed to collate and consolidate all NCA-related data and statistics from all LGUs and submit them to the PSA for NCA purposes, he said.
“Moreover, the DILG shall ensure that LGUs utilize and mainstream the would-be NCA into their local policies, plans, and programs,” added Villafuerte, who had served as CamSur governor for three successive terms before being elected congressman.
“The PENCAS law puts in place an innovative system that will finally let Government fuse ecological conservation with sustainable economic planning in the long term,” said Villafuerte.
Villafuerte was lead author of HB 8075 that was one of the bills consolidated into the House-passed House Bill (HB) No. 8443, which was subsequently combined with the Senate-approved version—SB No. 2439—and subsequently ratified by both legislative chambers prior to submission to Malacañan Palace for the President’s approval.
He said that, “The worse-than-expected devastation wrought by severe tropical storm Kristine, apparently a result of climate change, gives the government and private sector more reason to undertake a more concerted effort at fusing state development planning with environmental protection.”
Villafuerte said that, “RA 11995 seeks to establish the PENCAS as a way to reflect environmental inputs and outputs in the determination of national income accounts such as GNP (gross national product) and GDP (gross domestic product), as our conventional national income accounting systems tend to disregard the natural environment that generates goods and services, which are utilized but are not valuated in the process of producing goods and services.”
He pointed out that because “indicators and standards generated by the national income accounting system are considered vital information for economic management and policy-making, it is thus important that our national income accounts, by way now of the PENCAS, shall finally reflect a more accurate state of development and economy by incorporating both environmental and non-environmental economic inputs and outputs in state planning for sustainable growth and development.”
This PENCAS law was on the list of priority bills drawn up by the President with the Legislative-Executive and Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
Villafuerte explained that the PENCAS shall be based on existing environmental accounting frameworks that are covered by the UN’s SEEA (United Nations’ System of Environmental-Economic Accounting) and are theoretically correct and accepted as evaluated based on international standards.”
On its website, the UN’s SEEA is defined as a framework that integrates economic and environment data “to provide a more comprehensive and multipurpose view of the interrelationships between the economy and the environment and the stocks and changes in stocks of environmental assets … (and) contains the internationally agreed standard concepts, definitions, classifications, accounting rules and tables for producing internationally comparable statistics and accounts.”
This PENCAS framework shall consist, he said, of the officially designated statistics on the depreciation of natural capital, environmental protection expenditures, pollution and quality of land, air and sea, environmental damages, and genuine savings.”
“It shall conform to and expound, expand and localize the UN’s SEEA, with the end goal of crafting a roadmap and manual for further development of these indicators that are customized to the ecosystems in the Philippine archipelago that support the terrestrial (land and water) and blue (marine) economies,” Villafuerte said.
“All these NCA-related data shall constitute our country’s natural capital, the conservation of which shall be paramount for the government and our people,” said Villafuerte.
One of the provisions of HB 8075 that was included in RA 11995 was on the twin tasks of the DILG to: (1) assist LGUs in building and performing the PENCAS or NCA functions, and (2) collect and consolidate LGU data and statistics for comparison with the national accounts generated by NGs.
The law also contains a provision in HB 8075 that directs the PSA to ensure that LGUs and other stakeholders are able to formulate templates, guidelines and data for efficient analysis, comparison and consolidation with the PENCAS data.
The NUP president wrote HB 8075 with fellow CamSur Reps. Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata plus Bicol Saro Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan.
Among the functions of the PSA under the new law are:
· Assume overall responsibility for the institutionalization and progressive implementation of PENCAS following the SEEA framework. It shall develop and maintain the compilation of natural capital accounts as well as the environmental and ecosystem accounts at the national and, as necessary, at the sub-national levels;
· Coordinate with, and provide technical support to, NGAs, LGUs, interagency committees, task forces and technical working groups in the generation, compilation and use of environmental accounts, statistics and indicators. In partnership with concerned agencies, the PSA shall designate the required environment and economic statistics in agencies and bureaus responsible for generating data; and
· Create a service to be referred to as Environment, Natural Resources and Ecosystem Account Service (ENREAS), under the Sectoral Statistics Office, necessary for the implementation of this Act.
This ENREAS shall be subject to the evaluation and approval of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and in compliance with the civil service laws, rules, regulations and guidelines.
During the May 22, 2025 signing of RA 11995, President Marcos said this new law shall provide the government with an accounting of the country’s natural resources, “to recognize, protect and promote the ecological balance and resilience of the country.”
In institutionalizing environmental and economic accounting frameworks that are accepted internationally, the President said the PENCAS shall include in its accounting framework the list of officially designated statistics on the depletion, degradation, and restoration of natural capital; environmental protection expenditures; pollution and quality of land, air and water; and environmental damages.”
Hence, this law is expected to support the government’s economic, environmental and health policy development and decision-making, said the President, and will also help provide tools and measures that contribute to the protection, conservation and restoration of the country’s ecosystems.
Villafuerte said the NCA shall cover individual environmental assets or natural resources such as water, ores, minerals, energy, timber, and fish, along with ecosystem assets, biodiversity, and ecosystem.
The PENCAS framework shall include, among others, a list of the officially designated statistics on the depletion, degradation, and restoration of natural capital; environmental protection expenditures; pollution and quality of land, air and water; environmental damages; and adjusted net savings.
Within a year following the effectivity of RA 11995, the PSA shall constitute an inter-agency working group comprising the concerned agencies and sectors to issue the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of this Act.
Chairman Abante: Sen. Bato hiding behind media instead of facing Quad Comm
MANILA Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr., a co-chair of the House Quad Comm, on Tuesday criticized Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa for evading the committee’s inquiries and instead using media to divert attention from the pressing issues hurled at the senator.
“Ang ating senador Bato dela Rosa, nung tinanong siya, ayaw naman niyang humarap sa amin. Pinapaharap namin para maging malinaw ang lahat ng bagay. Anong ginagawa niya? Nagpupunta sa media. Kung anu-ano ang pinagsasabi niya,” Abante, who chairs the House Committee on Human Rights, said in his opening remarks during the Quad Comm’s 14th hearing.
Abante emphasized that the committee’s purpose is not politically motivated but is driven by the pursuit of truth and accountability.
“Kung meron man ditong nagsasabi na we’re gathered here because of politics, gusto naming humarap siya dito para sabihin sa amin directly,” he said, urging detractors to address their concerns head-on.
The lawmaker reiterated the committee’s commitment to ensuring justice without resorting to extrajudicial measures or turning the whole country into a “killing fields.”
“Ayaw po nating mahulog ang bansa sa droga pero ayaw din natin ang buong Pilipinas maging killing fields, na pumatay tayo na hindi sinusunod ang Saligang Batas,” he stressed.
Abante also pointed out that despite the heavy-handed approach of the previous Duterte administration, the illegal drug problem persists.
“Ang question dito ay ito: nawala ba? Hindi nawala ang drugs, ganoon pa rin. Ang inaakala po namin dito ay baka naman tinanggal natin ang kumpetisyon para ang maiwan na lamang sa drug trade ay ‘yung mga nasa kapangyarihan,” he said.
He further accused certain law enforcement officials of failing in their duty to uphold the law and instead becoming instruments of abuse.
“Those entrusted with the duty to protect have enabled injustice. Those who swore to uphold the law have hidden behind silence,” Abante remarked.
He asserted that the Quad Comm remains committed to uncovering the truth and rectifying injustices.
“We wield this power not for personal gain, but for our people. And we will not stop until the evildoers who have plagued our country are unmasked,” he declared.
Despite the resistance faced by the committee, Abante maintained optimism.
“Yet, kahit na po sa ganyang mga bagay, I am not without hope,” he said.
He called on individuals with knowledge of past abuses to come forward and testify without fear.
“To those who come before this Committee, to those who still hesitate, to those who are reluctant and are afraid to speak the truth – do that which is good,” Abante urged.
“Power must never be abused in order to shield wrongdoers. It must never be wielded to sow fear among the innocent,” Abante said.