House panels approve creation of climate change body

MANILA, Philippines - A government body that is specifically tasked to address climate change may soon be created with two House panels' approval of a bill seeking to establish a Climate Change Commission. An article posted on the House of Representatives website on Tuesday said the House committees on Government Reorganization and Appropriations have jointly approved a substitute bill consolidating House Bills No. 400, 1775, 3291, 4051, and 4853 which propose to create the country's climate change framework. The committees are now in the process of finalizing their joint committee report on the consolidated bills. Under the proposed measure, the Climate Change Commission and local government units (LGUs) are mandated to formulate and implement a national climate action plan based on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and other international agreements on climate change. It likewise provides for a Climate Change Fund, which local government units can avail, that will provide financial assistance to adaptation and mitigation projects identified by the Commission. Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio Arroyo, chair of the committee on Natural Resources and author of HB 4051, urged the immediate passage of the consolidated bill in Congress. "Global warming, the gradual worldwide rise in surface temperature is no longer a hypothetical threat to mankind but now a clear and observable fact," Arroyo said. For his part, Siquijor Rep. Orlando Fua, author of HB 3291, said Filipinos in particular should be concerned about the global issue because the Philippines, being an archipelago, is especially vulnerable to effects of global warming such as rising sea levels. "Sea level rise will exacerbate inundation, storm surges, erosion and other coastal hazards thus threatening vital infrastructure settlements and facilities that support livelihood of island communities," Fua said. Also, HB 4853 author Valenzuela Rep. Rex Gatchalian said the creation of a national program that will address climate change will prove the country's commitment to international efforts to address the problem through the establishment of mechanisms that will reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions. - Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV