Pamalakaya says PH seat in LDF board should help fishers, farmers

QUICK BREAK Fishermen in Masinloc, Zambales, take a break in this photo taken on April 26, when a ban on sailing was enforced during the war games between the Philippines and the United States. On Thursday, local fishers heading to sea are again cautioned against debris falling from a rocket launched by China on Wednesday. —JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) should leverage its seat on the board of the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) to secure a budget to help the agricultural sector in the country, a pro-environment group said on Monday.

According to Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the DENR’s success in securing a seat on the LDF board should be a springboard to help Filipino fisherfolks and farmers whose livelihoods have been upended by the effects of climate change.

“The climate fund should directly benefit the vulnerable fishing and farming communities,”  the group told Inquirer.net in a text interview.

“This should come in the form of direct compensation to farmers and fishers whose livelihood has deteriorated over the years due to the climate crisis,” it added.

In previous statements, Pamalakaya said that fisherfolks in the country are suffering from the effects of ocean acidification and sea-level rise which are some of the effects of climate change.

Past natural calamities, including the recent low-pressure area (LPA) and shear line, which inundated areas of Visayas and Mindanao in November, have severely impacted farmers and fisherfolks.

Estimates from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council put agricultural loss due to the shear line and LPA at P119,897,021.

Moreover, the group said that a portion of the fund should be used to rehabilitate natural features in the country.

“The LDF should be allotted for the restoration and rehabilitation of degraded natural resources such as mangrove forests, seabeds and coral reefs, and agricultural areas,” the group continued.

READ: Filipino pro-environment groups in Dubai ‘disappointed’ with COP28

Pamalakaya’s call comes a few days after DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga’s announcement that the Philippines has secured a seat on the LDF board.

Yulo-Loyzaga said that this allows the country to “continue to represent the vulnerable countries” in matters regarding the allocation of funds.

However, in past statements, Pamalakaya and other environmental groups said that the Philippine government has no “moral ascendency” in batting to host the LDF board in Manila due to its unclear stance on reclamation projects in Manila Bay and the human rights issues environmental defenders face in the country.

READ: Report: PH still deadliest for environmentalists in Asia

The LDF is a climate fund set up to help vulnerable and developing countries address the costs of the climate crisis. It was launched on the first day of the United Nations 28th Conference of Parties in Dubai on November 30.