The longed-for politics of action

Today marks the beginning of the terms of office of our elective public officials. To them, we, advocates offer our hands of support and in mainstreaming the environment and participatory governance in their agenda.

There is a compelling need to activate the mechanisms for public participation that the Local Government Code and our special laws have carefully laid out ages ago. By doing so, you deliver to our people the message that you truly have their welfare in your heart and mind. Most important, you fulfill the responsibility to deliver responsive, participatory, transparent and accountable governance as among the essential tools to improve the quality of their lives and make them feel that their voices matter.

If there is one big issue that should rank  the highest in priority lists of public authorities, it should be our response to the global climate change that has put humankind on the edge of the survival cliff. Genuine participatory process of inviting people to contribute their ideas and knowledge to cope with, mitigate and adapt to the changing planet is a huge and indispensable first step in the right direction of facing the complex problem head-on.

The Philippines has been cited as one of the disaster risk countries of the world and among the Top 10 most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Yet, how many local government unit officials took seriously their role as front liners in disaster risk reduction and  management (DRRM) delivery and engaged the residents in addressing the issues of their extreme vulnerability and coping mechanisms to disasters?

Disaster is defined by RA 10174, the Climate Change Act as amended, as “a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.”

Global disaster risk is increasing worldwide, threatening development gains owing largely to a mix of: (i) unplanned urban development, (ii) vulnerable livelihoods, (iii) ecosystem degradation and (iv) climate change (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction).

To set aside the important duty of prioritizing the climate change issue is not even an option. The failure to craft the necessary climate change and DRRM action plans and implementing them may potentially be regarded as a gross dereliction of duty that merits severe sanctions and even perpetual disqualification from holding public office, especially if death and destruction ensues in the future under RA 10121, the DRRM Law. Likewise, under existing climate-related statutes, climate change and DRRM considerations should be integrated into the policies, programs and projects of all government agencies. It is not discretionary.

In an article on ‘‘Preventing Disasters and Protecting Rights’’, co-authors Justin Ginnetti and Nina Schrepfer noted, “Disaster risk reduction can effectively prevent the displacement of people. In the case of predictable disasters, authorities are indeed obliged to take measures to reduce the disaster risks to protect people’s lives and property – and this may entail evacuation i.e. displacement.” They also said that “The European Court of Human Rights in its landmark ruling against Russia found a violation of the right to life of those killed by a landslide, because authorities – despite knowing the imminent risk – had not taken available and efficient measures to protect the right to life as well as the right to property. The Court identified four core duties deriving from the right to life: to enact and implement laws and policies on disaster management; to take necessary administrative measures such as observing areas at risk; to inform the population about the risks and dangers; and to evacuate potentially affected populations.” (https://www.fmreview.org/preventing/ginetti-schrepfer)

Our country and our people have high vulnerability to disasters owing not just to our geographical location, but to the prevailing socio-economic conditions such as poverty and high population growth and our very low coping capacity. Our poor and marginalized sectors suffer the most and are considered the world’s “most at risk to disasters.”  A study by International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) based in Geneva, Switzerland showed that “if two equally intense cyclones hit both the Philippines and Japan, 17 times more Filipinos than Japanese would be killed.”

Ineffective governance and substandard housing were among the attributed causes. (https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/01/30/902886/filipino-poor-among-worlds-most-risk-disasters)