Negros Occidental gov signs partnership pact with bishop to protect environment

File Photo: Trimmed trees along Abuanan Road in Bago City, Negros Occidental. 

BACOLOD CITY — The Negros Occidental provincial government has partnered with the Diocese of Bacolod to ensure environmental protection and sustainable resource management of the ecosystems.

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the collaboration between the province and the local church on August 11 was a welcome development for the province’s environmental initiatives.

“The need for the recovery of our ecosystems that have been degraded and destroyed as well as the conservation of those that are still intact have gone beyond the question of choice. It is now a necessity,” Lacson said.

“Humanity is being pressed and threatened on almost every side, and the more we lag on our efforts to save our environment, the more we endanger ourselves, our children, and our future,” he added.

Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon, for his part, said the climate crisis needs drastic action since it is “an emergency that is a matter of life and death.”

Under the Abanse Negrense Development Agenda, the provincial government commits to strengthen sustainable development, empower communities, protect forests, and increase ecological awareness.

Lacson said it is their commitment to strengthen sustainable development, empower communities, protect forests, and increase ecological awareness.

“The concern of our environment is a problem of global proportions but reducing its adverse impacts must be done locally,” he said.

The agreement will be the basis for any concrete joint projects to be discussed on a case-to-case basis and agreed upon, allowing for quick and informal project drafting and efficient implementation, all for the good of the natural environment.

Lacson thanked Buzon for his response to the call of Pope Francis on the care of the environment.

Among those present during the signing of the agreement were Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz, Fr. Chris Gonzales of the Social Action Director of the Diocese of Bacolod, and other stakeholders.

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