While we bask in sunny and at times, windy days, residents in the Ukraine, United Kingdom, France, Italy and other parts of Europe are shivering in the biting cold. Some were not lucky. Temperature plunged to minus 38.1 degrees Celsius (minus 36.5 Fahrenheit). Two hundred sixty perished, mostly the elderly, women and children. They were found in streets and empty buildings. Flights were cancelled. So did travel and supplies to various corners of our interconnected world.
In Australia, five days of heavy “summer” rainfall devastated an estimated 10,000 homeless and stranded people in flooded communities in Queensland and New South Wales states. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-16889570)
Last December, residents in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities were hit the hardest by Sendong, the 19th typhoon to ravage the country. The survivors have not recovered from the trauma and still need help and assistance.
If there is one fact we all agree about, it is that disasters have become common occurrence in our time. Climate change is making its strong presence felt, especially to the non-believers and those in a state of denial like our local chief executives and lawmakers.
As the disaster epicenter of the world, are we preparing our citizens to be resilient in facing frequent and more intense calamities and their consequences? Are we not only gearing them up to cope with the contingencies but also instilling in them self-reliance? Can one dispute with Ralph Waldo Emerson who believed that “The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine”?
With the climate, ecosystem, financial and moral crises buffeting nations, including the megadiversity-rich Philippines which will now be importing galunggong, citizens and communities should be exhorted to be self-reliant and rely on homegrown resources, skills and solutions.
Having walkable streets, bike lanes, organic agriculture, green landscapes, buildings and homes, backyard and container gardening, rainwater catchment and collective preparation for disaster management are some of the measures to make us proud of our innate capacity to rise above challenges. The practices also wean us from dependency on climate change-causing-and-polluting fossil fuels and consumerism.
The Local Government Code promotes meaningful and genuine local autonomy for the full development of local government units as “self-reliant” communities and to make them effective partners in attaining national goals. Local development councils (LDCs)are among the institutions required to be established as venues for engagement by citizens with the government and other stakeholders.
Specific environmental laws require active bodies or committees down to the barangay level to help ensure stakeholder participation for the law’s implementation and promotion of the declared public policies. These councils and bodies are the medium for empowering discussions among inhabitants and crafting solutions for livelihood, integrity of the ecosystems, health, sanitation, disasters and enhancement of the quality of life in general.
The importance of these special bodies cannot be downplayed. It is most unfortunate that instead of appreciating their significance, some sectors are threatened by their mere existence.
In this era of disasters, and to save lives and reduce damages to ecosystems and property, the full participation of the citizenry is a must. Residents, who know their problems, are in the best position not only to offer solutions, but to be the solution. The bibingka strategy which former President Fidel Ramos popularized works best. The merging of the steering leadership of political authorities and the people’s initiatives in forging workable programs will always promote the common good.
Alas, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and local chief executives all over the country still get a failing mark in exercising their power of supervision over component LGUs for the latter not only to constitute but have functioning LDCs and special bodies.
Based on DILG’s assessment of compliance to Organization, Meetings, Policies and Plans, and Accomplishments, of the 27 barangays in Mandaue City, seven were rated “functional”, eight were “semi-functional” and 12 were “non-functional.” Hopefully the DILG, Mayor Jonas Cortes and local chief executives (LCEs) and citizens nationwide will exact accountability from the barangay heads on this serious violation of the Code and the public’s deprivation of their right to participation.
Hopefully, the LCEs and the DILG coordinate in making LDCs an authentic tool for people’s participation in governance and specifically in responding to disasters. The citizens and members of the NGOs and POs should likewise push for their activation and consider exploring various remedies to make their right to participate in decision-making real.
DILG has posted in its website a draft of a proposed circular entitled “A Seal of Disaster Preparedness for Local Governments.” (https://www.dilg.gov.ph/PDF_File/issuances/memo_circulars/DILG-Memo_Circular-201223-d687c57c11.pdf). This is a guide for all stakeholders on crafting measures to respond to the grave effects of climate change, as required by Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act Of 2010.
On its website, www.dilg.gov.ph, the agency has a link to the book “Climate Change in the Philippines.” This is timely, as we can no longer feign indifference or ignorance to the grave threats climate change poses on our existence.
I recently had a very interesting discussion with a rare and distinguished public servant who has done his share in empowering constituents to take the sustainable tomorrow into their own hands. San Francisco’s eco-champ, Al Arquillano, has found the formula to make the otherwise-timid citizens to take ownership in governance.
Through the smallest and more manageable political unit, the purok, the people chose their own leaders and craft their own programs, with positive reinforcements from the political authorities. San Francisco is among the few LGUs in the country which has capacitated citizens for disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM), biking lanes, marine protected areas, effective solid waste management implementation and mangrove reforestation program.
Its residents even know about Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). No wonder the municipality received the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Response.
We certainly need more leaders in the mold of Al Arquillano who has improved the health and quality of life of the constituents and helped made them self-reliant and proud of what they have done for themselves, their community and the country. Mabuhay, Sir!