PACQUIAO BACKS CLIMATE CHANGE SURVIVAL FUND
abs-cbnNEWS.com
February 23, 2011, updated as of February 24, 11:28 AM

MANILA, Philippines – Boxing superstar and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao is among lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate who are supporting the creation of a climate change survival fund for local governments, a think-tank official said Wednesday.

The number of legislators co-authoring the People's Survival Fund (PSF) Bill has reached 71, according to Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC) executive director Red Constantino.

He said the bill, which was filed as twin measures in the Senate and the Lower Chamber by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada, seeks to provide committed funding to local governments to help them cope with worsening extreme climatic events.

 "The Lower Chamber is heeding the clamor of governors, mayors and local government leaders who continue to convey in writing their call for the early passage of the PSF Bill. This is the kind of response communities need given the increasing magnitude of economic and social costs due to climate change-linked disasters," Constantino said.

The PSF bill has already passed first hearing in both chambers of Congress.

Under the bill, local governments can avail of programs such as the deployment of local agricultural meteorological capability and technology, livelihood and shelter support for communities threatened by rising seas, small water impounding projects and crop shifting support for areas facing anticipated extreme drought conditions, and anti-flooding measures.

Once the bill is passed, annual portions of proceeds from government-owned corporations and the Motor Vehicle Users Charge (MVUC) will be pooled in the climate change survival fund.

It will be managed by the Climate Change Commission, together with agencies such as the Department of Finance, the Department of Budget and Management, with representatives from the business and NGO sectors sitting as observers.

ICSC said record rainfall has led to recent extreme flooding in the eastern side of the Philippines and in places not normally hit by extreme precipitation such as Cebu and Palawan.

“Metro Cebu recently received 400 mm of rainfall in January compared to the 80.9 mm precipitation registered in the same month last year. Over 90% of Butuan City went under water in early February, while provinces such as Agusan del Sur, Sulu, Capiz, Cagayan and Albay experienced severe inundation, resulting in deaths and damage to livelihoods and billions of pesos worth of property,” the think-tank said.

 "It's only February and yet we're already economically reeling from extreme weather. The establishment of the People's Survival Fund is a huge step towards reducing community vulnerability and building local government resiliency," Constantino added. #

Original ABSCBNnews.com story here

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GROWING SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE CHANGE FUND BILL HAILED
Interaksyon.com (online news portal of ABC-5)
February 24, 2011

MANILA, Philippines – More lawmakers have signed on as co-authors of a climate change survival fund bill, earning them a “climate salute” from a policy think tank  that said the House of Representatives “is heeding the clamor of governors, mayors and local government leaders” for the passage of the measure.

Among those who have signed for the bill are world boxing champion and Saranggani Representative Manny Pacquiao.

“This is the kind of response communities need given the increasing magnitude of economic and social costs due to climate change-linked disasters," Red Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC), said.

The People's Survival Fund Bill, which seeks to establish a climate adaptation fund for local governments, was filed in the House by Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tanada, and in the Senate by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

Among the programs the bill intends to fund are the deployment of local agricultural meteorological capability and technology, livelihood and shelter support for communities threatened by rising seas, small water impounding projects and crop shifting support for areas facing anticipated extreme drought conditions, and anti-flooding measures.

Funds will be sourced from proceeds of government-owned corporations and the Motor Vehicles Users Charge (MVUC) and will be managed by the Climate Change Commission together with agencies such as the Departments of Finance and Budget and Management, with representatives from the business and NGO sectors sitting as observers.

The Climate Change Act of 2009 established the Climate Change Commission with the mandate to mainstream climate change into government policy formulation but did not identify sources or mechanisms of financing for climate adaptation activities that may be required over and above existing government programs.

Chief executives from provinces such as Surigao del Norte, Negros Occidental and Benguet have signed manifestos calling for "the early creation of the People's Survival Fund.”

 “If the People's Survival Fund bill is passed, local governments and communities need not tap anymore meager funds allocated to support social services such as health or education. The climate fund will give local governments and communities the means to cope with the rapidly changing climate," said Constantino. #

Original InterAksyon.com story here

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PEOPLE'S SURVIVAL FUND PUSHED TO PROTECT FARMERS FROM CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT
Bong D. Fabe
CBCP News

CAGAYAN DE ORO City, Feb. 18, 2011—Among the vulnerable sectors to climate change in Philippine society the agriculture sector is the most defenseless and exposed, which is why farmers have joined the clamor for the immediate passage of the “Depensa” Bill or the People’s Survival Fund (PSF) Bill (H.B. 3528).

The PSF Bill is an important climate change mitigation measure that will strengthen the Climate Change Act of 2009 (RA 9729) and the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010 (RA 10121), both important measures that seek to protect communities from the impact of climate change.

Joselito Tambalo, president of Kalikasan NE and the Pambansang Samahan ng mga Magsasaka sa Likas-Kayang Pananakahan (SAKAHAN), said that the PSF is an important piece of legislation because it will fund programs, including agricultural programs, before disaster strikes.

But more importantly, PSF will help farmers get back on their feet once disaster brought about by the whims of climate change damages their crops.

“Makakatulong ang PSF sa mga magsasaka dahil ang mga probisyon nito ay siyang magbibigay nga mga programa sakaling ang mga pananim ng mga magsasaka ay masira dahilan sa climate change (The PSF is a big help to farmers because it will fund programs in case our crops are destroyed by climate change),” he said.

SAKAHAN is a federation of farmers for sustainable agriculture while KALIKASAN-NE, which was founded by 64 farmers, aims at developing sustainable rice-based organic agriculture through the provision of technical assistance, training of new members and making inputs such as chicken manure and rice seedlings available to farmers to help considerably reduce the production costs of rice while increasing the net income of farmers.

Elvira Baladad, council member of the Pambansang Konseho ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK), said that aside from farmers, climate change also victimizes poor rural women, who in Philippine rural society bear the brunt of supporting their family.

“Ang mga kababaehan sa kanayunan ay naaapektuhan nga pagbabago-bago nga panahon. Dapat meron silang angklahan para ng sa ganun kung dumating man ito at sila ay maapektohan sila ay merong matatakbuhan upang kanilang maibangon ang kanilang dignidad bilang mga kanbabaehan sa kanauyan(Women are also victims of climate change and they need support during disasters. It will preserve their dignity and stature as women of the community),” she said.

PKKK is a coalition that represents a wide network of national- and provincial-based organizations and federations that are active in the agrarian reform, rural development and democratization, and women's movements.

Among PKKK’s advocacy programs are agrarian reform, fisheries, indigenous women, water, women-friendly support services, microfinance, sustainable agriculture, sectoral representation and participation in gender and development programs in the local communities, reproductive health, and violence against women.

Recently, PKKK formed an environmental cluster to pursue issues on climate change and its impact on rural women and rural development.

Both Tambalo and Baladad said that “PSF matters the most for farmers” like them, which is why “passing the PSF bill means that farmers’ livelihood is being protected from the whims of a changing climate.”
Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tanada III, principal author of the PSF Bill, said that “the PSF can help poor men and women farmers build their resilience to the likes of the recent spate of flooding that destroyed crops and now threatens our national food security.”

“Climate change does not only affect the vulnerable sectors. Everyone is affected. Our economy is dealt huge losses especially those communities deemed most vulnerable,” he said in underscoring the importance of the early passage of the PSF bill.

The PSF Bill recently passed the first reading. It is now with the Technical Working Group, which will review it and then submit it for second reading.

According to Tanada, RA 9729 is not enough because it does carry finance provisions.

“Without finance, sometimes the best initiatives go for naught,” he stressed.

The PSF Bill will establish a P2-billion fund for Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) projects in the local communities to be coursed through the local government units (LGUs). Climate change adaptation refers to activities and projects that would increase disaster risk resiliency of vulnerable communities.

It will be sourced from domestic public funds as well as international public finance. Among the domestic sources of the fund will be the 10 percent of the cash dividends of government- owned and controlled corporations, a portion of the proceeds of carbon trading through the clean development mechanism set-up by the Kyoto Protocol and a portion of the motor vehicle users charge.

The passage of the PSF is an initiative of the DEPENSA campaign, which calls on the government to make the defense of Filipinos against climate change a national priority. DEPENSA is a joint undertaking of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC), artists’ collective Dakila, and international non-profit Oxfam.

We racked up billions of pesos in destroyed rice crops during Typhoon Juan. What will happen if we are continuously hit by typhoons? We need to set up projects that will protect our food sources. Offense is the best defense. We urge the President to pass the PSF and cushion Filipinos from the blows of climate change,” said Renato Redentor “Red” Constantino III, iCSC executive director.

Constantino said that most of the deadliest and damaging typhoons that hit the Philippines occurred in the last two decades, with an estimated cost of over P92 billion in direct damages. According to the Department of Agriculture, the value of lost crops due to Typhoon Juan last year is P10.59 billion.

If enacted into law, the PSF will allocate predictable and regular government funding for local plans in response to creeping climate change, from sea level rise to increasing temperatures. #

Photo by redster/iCSC

Original CBCP story here

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GROUP REPORTS GROWING SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE CHANGE FUND BILL
Jerrie M. Abella/Karl B. Kaufman
GMAnews.tv
February 23, 2011

A non-government organization promoting the use of sustainable energy has welcomed the growing support in Congress for a bill that seeks to establish a climate change survival fund.

In a statement, the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC) said support for House Bill 3258 — or the People’s Survival Fund (PSF) bill — has grown to 71 co-authors, bolstering hopes for the creation of an adaptation fund to increase the resiliency of local government units in surviving the dire effects of climate change.

Filed as twin measures in both houses of Congress by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada, the PSF bill seeks to provide funding to local governments to support climate adaptation programs.

Such programs include improved agricultural meteorological capability and technology, livelihood and shelter support for communities threatened by rising seas, small water impounding projects and crop shifting support for areas facing possible droughts, and anti-flooding measures.

The bill has already passed first reading in both chambers of Congress.

"This is the kind of response communities need given the increasing magnitude of economic and social costs due to climate change-linked disasters," said iCSC executive director Red Constantino.

Filipino boxing icon and Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao is among 70 legislators calling for the PSF's early passage, while Sen. Loren Legarda, who chairs of the Senate committee on climate change, has likewise expressed support for the bill.

Once passed, sources such as annual portions of proceeds from government-owned corporations and the Motor Vehicles Users Charge (MVUC) will be set aside to form the climate change survival fund, to be managed by the Climate Change Commission, along with such agencies such as the Finance and Budget departments, and representatives from the business sectors and non-government organizations as observers.

"If the People's Survival Fund bill is passed, local governments and communities need not tap meager funds allocated to support social services such as health or education. The climate fund will give local governments and communities the means to cope with the rapidly changing climate," said Constantino.

The group cited the increased rainfall resulting in flooding in such areas as Agusan del Sur, Sulu, Capiz, Cagayan and Albay. Rainfall has likewise increased in Cebu and Palawan, the group added.

"It's only February and yet we're already economically reeling from extreme weather. The establishment of the People's Survival Fund is a huge step towards reducing community vulnerability and building local government resiliency," Constantino said. #

Orginal GMAnews.tv story here

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CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE CHANGE FUND CLIMBS
 SunStar Manila
February 25, 2011

Congressional support for a bill that establishes a climate adaptation fund for local governments has risen, a leading Philippine climate policy think tank said.

Lawmakers co-authoring the People's Survival Fund Bill have reached 71. Included in the list is World Boxing Champion and Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao, said the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC).

Once enacted, the bill, which has already passed on first hearing in both chambers, "will give local governments and communities the means to cope with the rapidly changing climate," iCSC executive director Red Constantino said.

Also filed as twin measures in the Senate and the House of Representatives by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada, the bill seeks to provide committed funding to local governments to support climate adaptation programs.

These programs include deployment of local agricultural meteorological capability and technology, livelihood and shelter support for communities threatened by rising seas, small water impounding projects and crop shifting support for areas facing anticipated extreme drought conditions, and anti-flooding measures.

Besides Pacquiao, other lawmakers calling for the PSF Bill's early passage is Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate's committee on climate change, who is leading the charge in the chamber.

Once enacted, various fund sources such as annual portions of proceeds from government-owned corporations and the Motor Vehicles Users Charge (MVUC) will be pooled in the climate change survival fund.

The fund will be managed by the Climate Change Commission, together with the Departments of Finance and Budget and Management, with representatives from the business and non-government organization sectors sitting as observers.

"If the People's Survival Fund bill is passed, local governments and communities need not tap anymore meager funds allocated to support social services such as health or education," Constantino added.

The iCSC is a member of Aksyon Klima, a national network that described the PSF Bill as "a necessary strengthening of RA (Republic Act) 9729."

RA 9729, also known as the Climate Change Act of 2009, established the Climate Change Commission with the mandate to mainstream climate change into government policy formulation.

However, it did not identify sources or mechanisms of financing for climate adaptation activities that may be required over and above existing government programs. The PSF bill seeks to remedy the weakness in the current law. #

SunStar Manila story here

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In CNN Eco Solutions:
Driving ambitions for electric vehicles in Philippines
089 December 2010
By Dean Irvine, CNN

Manila, Philippines (CNN) -- Quietly cutting through the chronic traffic of Manila, the sprawling capital city of Philippines, is a fleet of brightly colored electric vehicles.

Can these e-jeepneys -- eco-friendly versions of the iconic Philippine form of public transport -- lead the country towards a clean, green future?

Red Constantino believes so. He's the Executive Director of the Institute of Climate and Sustainable Cities, the NGO behind the 20 vehicles currently driving around the area of Makati.

"The project was crafted as an element of an integrated program," he said.

"The whole idea was to create a full loop: create energy from waste without burning it, capture the methane, and transform it into electricity which will then power the vehicles. Something that is very replicable that other cities can see and improve on."

While that full loop is yet to be realized, the e-jeepneys have been running two routes for just over a year, powered by old-fashioned lead-acid batteries.

It means the charge time and range of the vehicles are not as impressive as electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion cells; e-jeepney top speeds aren't more than 30 kmph and full charging can take eight hours.

But waiting for more expensive and efficient technologies to come down in price wasn't as important as simply getting an effective project up and running, believes Constantino.

"We didn't think that the challenges lay in the technology but in the application," he said.

With around 70% of the e-jeepneys made locally or in the Philippines, another benefit of the project is helping to grow local industry.

Just getting the vehicles on the road was a challenge in itself that took nearly two years as new regulations had to be made and bureaucratic snarl-ups negotiated.

"It took us that long just to get registration plates because the papers required (the vehicle) to have a tailpipe and an engine number which electric vehicles don't have, and so on and so forth," said Constantino.

"The next stage was to prove technological viability and function normally and by normal people."

Constantino says that passengers and drivers of the old diesel-powered jeepneys have been very supportive. The e-jeepneys have been full on the routes they run, he says (possibly in large part because they are free), while initially skeptical, jeepney drivers would ask questions about how well the new electric variety would fare driving through flooded streets -- a common hazard in the tropical city.

The main roadblocks to electric vehicles won't be from commuters or drivers, says Constantino, but a lack of private enterprise and funding opportunities.

Money, however, is finding its way to eco-friendly transport projects across the Philippines.

Sparked by a recent proposal by the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources to reduce the pollution in Metro Manila by 30% in 2011, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is supporting a project to make the city's tricycle taxis eco-friendly.

"I believe this is going to be a game changer," said Sohail Hasnie, the ADB's Principle Energy Specialist for Southeast Asia.

The ADB's plan is to start small but quickly grow in ambition.

Beginning with 20 vehicles deployed next month in Mandaluyong, another area of Manila, the plan is to scale up to 20,000 tricycles across the city by the middle of next year.

Powering the nation's 3.5 million trikes by clean, renewable energy would stop 10 million tons of CO2 currently being emitted each year, according to the ADB.

Elsewhere Edward Hagadorn, mayor of Puerto Princesa, the capital city on the island of Palawan, is also looking to turn all the city's tricycles electric by 2013.

"The same solutions apply to bigger cities, like Manila, it's just about putting in your political will and then getting the community to agree and support the program," he said.

Whether or not all the projects are going the right way to provide clean, green transport is debatable.

The ADB funded tricycles will have lithium-ion batteries, and Hasnie describes the widespread use of the lead-acid variety as used in the Makati e-jeepneys as an "environmental disaster."

Constantino is similarly skeptical of some of the ADB's plans suggesting "they are pulling things in a different direction" by providing sizable grants to small projects that could make electric vehicles seem like gimmicks.

However, with a new e-jeepney route set to open next month, Constantino is bullish that the future of transport in Manila and other cities will be electric, one way or another.

"Electric vehicles are here to stay, so long as they are intended for public application they will endure and expand." #

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E-vehicles, the next big thing?
abs-cbnNEWS.com
November 25, 2010, Updated as of 11/26/2010 3:27 AM

MANILA, Philippines – Electric vehicles (E-vehicles) could be the next big thing in the country’s automotive industry, advocates and businessmen believe.

Leading figures from the private sector, the government, non-government organizations (NGOs), and the academe have vowed to fast-track and scale up the development of e-vehicles in the country.

They made the vow at the conclusion on Wednesday of the first national summit on e-vehicles.

“The market for electric vehicles in the Philippines is big enough for all. In Mindanao, the potential is particularly promising,” said Ariel Torres, chief executive officer of Alternative Modern Transport.

His company co-sponsored the 2-day summit, which secured support from more than 250 participants from national agencies, city governments, banks, businesses, civil society groups, and international industry associations.

The summit took place at Meralco, which helped put together the meeting.

“The summit ended on a full charge, with robust plans, new alliances and investor interest,” said Red Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC).

“This gathering was about solutions and all representatives from the public and private sector contributed positively, from titans of local industry to jeepney driver associations,” he added.

Constantino’s group has already rolled out e-jeepneys in Makati City and Puerto Princesa City.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) co-organized the summit.

“Harnessing the potential of the market is critical to the country’s response to the climate crisis. Sustainable transport is a key component that can greatly help manage climate change risks and at the same time contribute to the development goals of the Philippines,” said WWF climate change head Gia Ibay.

Top officials who graced the event include Vice-President Jejomar Binay, Meralco president Manuel Pangilinan, and Transportation and Communications Undersecretary Aristotle Batuhan.

Batuhan opened the event’s second day, which tackled regulatory and financing issues, along with challenges posed by battery development and charging stations. #