DOST prepares to lessen impact of climate change
http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p080402.htm&no=62
April 2, 2008, PIA Daily News Reader
Data patterns show that since 1961 to 2003, there has been a decrease of cold days and an increase in the frequency of hot days in the country. The Philippines is also projected to experience stronger tropical cyclones, given the country's vulnerability in the climate change affecting the Northwestern Pacific, the most active tropical basin in the world. There are several S & T mitigation measures being pursued by the DOST. One is the R & D on Bio-fuel that involves feedstocks, processing and vehicle-testing. The plausibility of using electric vehicles has already been proven and eventually a hybrid of those vehicles will also be initiated.
The Philippines Switches Off
http://www.wwf.org.ph/newsfacts.php?pg=det&id=110
WWF - Philippines
In the country's greatest display of solidarity against climate change, more than 50 major Philippine cities and towns switched off their lights to join the rest of the world for Earth Hour.
Climate Change will fuel dengue
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/87162/Climate-change-will-fuel-dengue---WHO-exec
April 1, 2008, GMANews.TV
The World Health Organization on Tuesday warned that that dengue would continue to ravage the earth's population because of climate change. The warning was issued by John Juliard Go, a doctor and WHO's national officer for noncommunicable diseases, who added that by the year 2085, between 50 to 60 percent of the world's population will be exposed to dengue because of climate change.
Philippines Should Strengthen Health System To Manage Increase in Malaria Cases Expected From Climate Change, WHO Official Says
http://www.globalhealthreporting.org/article.asp?DR_ID=51325
April 3, 2008, GlobalHealthReporting.org
The Philippines should strengthen its health system to manage the expected increase in malaria and other diseases resulting from climate change, John Juliard Go, World Health Organization country representative, said recently at a health forum in Quezon City, Philippines, the Philippines News Agency reports. Go said that although some of the anticipated effects of climate change could be beneficial, "most will be adverse"
Asians worried by climate change
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/25253
April 4, 2008, Travel Daily News
Asia's travel industry needs to take heed of the results of recent polls showing that Asian consumers and businesses are increasingly worried about the impacts of climate change, the Pacific Asia Travel Association said yesterday.
Farmers warn that Philippines faces rice shortage, as government signs import deal
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/26/asia/AS-GEN-Philippines-Rice.php
March 26, 2008, International Herald Tribune
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap states a number of factors contributed to rising costs of rice including higher fertilizer and oil prices as well as climate change.
"Don't blame climate change for rice shortage"
http://www.yehey.com/News/article.aspx?id=208089
April 3, 2008, Yehey! News
Clemente Bautista, National Coordinator of Kalikasan, believes that the government is using the climate change as escape goat on the real causes of rice shortage. He lamented the current policies and program of the government to combat climate change which will further threaten our food security. He stated that Biofuels Act of 2007 introduced the commercialization of biofuel production.
P1-B earmarked for environmentally sustainable transport projects
http://www.gov.ph/news/?i=20430
March 26, 2008, Gov.Ph News
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered today the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to allocate P1 billion from the Special Vehicle Control Fund for environmentally sustainable transport-related projects such as alternative fuel.
End in sight for 'colorum' buses in Metro Manila?
http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=20080401-127784
April 1, 2008, Inquirer.net
On Monday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) started cracking down on buses without proper franchises as it prepared to launch a fully automated system of dispatching buses in the metropolis. Around 140 colorum buses have been impounded so far, the agency said after clearing operations conducted at three points on Edsa: Balintawak, White Plains and in front of the VV Soliven building. The crackdown is part of the last stages of the agency's Organized Bus Route System, which would use surveillance cameras and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.
LGUs (local government units) urged to dismantle outdoor tobacco ads
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080208-117661/LGUs-urged-to-dismantle-outdoor-tobacco-ads
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Feb. 8
MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Health (DoH) and anti-smoking advocates have appealed to mayors to get rid of all outdoor tobacco advertisements, in compliance with the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003. ... The Implementing Rules and Regulations on the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 (Republic Act No. 9211) provides: "Beginning July 1, 2007, all cinema and outdoor advertising shall be prohibited. No leaflets, posters and similar outdoor advertising materials may be posted, except inside the premises of point of sale retail establishments." But FCAP's own preliminary documentation -- contained in the "Book of Violations" it turned over to the DoH -- shows continuing violations of the ad ban in Metro Manila (Manila, Makati, Quezon City), as well as the cities of Cebu, Legazpi (Albay), and Roxas (Capiz).
The collected photos of outdoor store signage and mini-billboards, said the FCAP, are collected through their online reporting system in the website www.tobaccocontrol.ph.
Benguet university starts climate change research
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/bag/2008/02/05/news/benguet.university.starts.climate.change.research.html
SunStar Bagiuo, Feb. 5
BENGUET State University (BSU) is now focusing on researches, which will help mitigate the effects of the global problem climate change. BSU President Rogelio Colting said the institution is geared on researches to deal on specific topics to mitigate the effects climate change and its impact on food security.
Provincial governors told to join fight vs global warming
http://www.mb.com.ph/archive.php?date=2008-02-15
Manila Bulletin, Feb. 15
President Arroyo called on the country's provincial governors Wednesday to brace themselves up in joining the national government in addressing the destructive effects of global warming
"We must assume the mantle of leadership and work to address the challenge of climate change. Each and every person bears some measure of responsibility for what we have done today and throughout history to diminish our global environment," the President said in her speech at the 2nd General Assembly of the League of Provinces of the Philippine (LPP) held at the Villa del Rey in this town.
The President said that investing in vital infrastructures includes "building up our environment as a reflection of our commitment to our quality of life. People need to breathe clean air and swim in clean water while we build factories and bridges."
2008 Philippine Energy Summit
http://www.doe.gov.ph/esummit/Overview.htm
The 2008 Philippine Energy Summit presented the Philippine President's current Strategic Directions for the Energy Sector in the immediate, short-, medium- and long-term.
RP to phase out incandescent bulbs by 2010 -- Arroyo
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/05/asia/AS-GEN-Philippines-Bulb-Ban.php
International Herald Tribune
The Philippines will phase out incandescent bulbs by 2010 in favor of more energy-efficient fluorescent globes to help cut greenhouse gas emissions and household costs, the president said Tuesday. Acknowledging similar moves in Canada and Australia, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called for a ban on incandescent bulbs. "Like Australia, we should phase out incandescent lights by 2010,'' Arroyo said in her closing remarks at the Philippine Energy Summit. The Asian Development Bank, a technical adviser at the summit, lauded the Philippine plan as a first in Asia. It said the most effective way to reduce the demand for electricity and greenhouse gases was to use energy more efficiently. The bank "will support and encourage other developing countries to follow the Government of Philippines' lead and make the switch to more energy-efficient products like compact fluorescent lamps,'' Thomas Crouch, deputy director general of ADB's Southeast Asia Department said in a statement.
New LTO chief vows to stop registration of smuggled vehicles
http://www.tribune.net.ph/metro/20080203met6.html
Newly appointed Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Alberto Suansing has said one of his first priorities is to put a stop to the registration of misdeclared imported motor vehicles and operation of colorum vehicles. Suansing, during the simple turn-over ceremony last Wednesday afternoon at the LTO head office in Quezon City, said these were the marching orders he received directly from President Arroyo when he was appointed to his new post. "There are many problems being faced by the LTO that needed to be addressed and the President specifically mentioned to resolve the registration of smuggled vehicles and curbing colorum operation," Suansing told reporters. Suansing replaced Department of Transportation and Communications Assistant Secretary Reynaldo Berroya who, according to DoTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza, will eventually be promoted as undersecretary for telecommunications. "I was ordered by the President to turn this agency around and make it a model of good governance," he added.
[Note: Alberto Suansing, before his appointment as LTO chief, was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Partnership for Clean Air, CAI-Asia's local network in the Philippines.]
Rapid bus system for Cebu eyed
http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV20080207116397.html
Manila Bulletin
The Cebu City Government plans to start the selected implementation of the bus rapid transit system aimed at easing the traffic congestion in major areas of the city. Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who recently attended the World Bank and Asian Development Bank-sponsored two-day discussion on the viability of putting up a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in urban centers in the country, said the proposed transit system will help greatly in solving the traffic problem in the city. Osmeña said he wanted the system tested especially along the city's northern corridor. But a feasibility study will first be conducted to determine the viability of the BRT along the Banilad-Talamban areas. The project will cost around P100 million, but Osmeña said the benefits that it will give to the city will be priceless considering that most of the city's street are now congested. The city government is looking at 18 months to two years to jump-start the Bus Rapid Transit System.
36% of Pinoys say pollution an 'acceptable tradeoff' for economic progress – SWS
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080206168
Philippine Star
Thirty-six percent of Filipinos agree that pollution is "an acceptable tradeoff" for economic progress which could have implications on the government and private groups' campaign to protect the environment, a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said. However, more Filipinos or 42 percent don't agree with this, while 20 percent are undecided, according to the SWS survey commissioned by international environmental group Greenpeace. The survey, conducted from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, 2007, used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The SWS said 48 percent people nationwide say they are aware of at least one environmental law. "Specifically, 27 percent are aware of the Solid Waste Management Act, 26 percent are aware of the Clean Water Act, and 15 percent are aware of other laws enacted to help prevent pollution. Half or 50 percent say they are not aware of any law to prevent pollution." Forty percent say these laws are rarely enforced, 29 percent say they are occasionally enforced, 15 percent say they are often enforced, and eight percent say they are almost always enforced.
Energy Summit Identifies "Quick Wins"
http://www.doe.gov.ph/esummit/Press%20-%20Quick%20wins.htm
Among the quick wins identified in the Energy Summit were: facilitating and ensuring true competition in the electric power industry; and making electricity rates competitive for the industry and business sectors. The immediate actions recommended to promote renewable and alternative energy include the following: improvement of RE and AE policies anchored on the passage of the Renewable Energy Bill and the National Biofuels Program, the creation of a "one-stop-shop" for sustainable energy projects, the improved access to financial packages, and capacity building initiatives. In the area of energy efficiency, among the priority proposals are a major retrofit program for commercial, industrial, and residential sectors, public transport leasing, the expansion of mass transport systems, the promotion of non-motorized technologies, the rationalized operation of tricycles, and an aviation fuel efficiency enhancement program.In the area of social mobilization, one of the key concerns expressed in the Summit was the need for a platform for convergent cross-sectoral actions on energy issues. Among the initiatives that have been identified are the development of a decentralized multi-stakeholder energy planning system, a campaign for a mind and behavior "switch" towards energy conservation, alternative energy, and renewable energy, formulate and advocate an energy policy agenda at both national and local levels, create multi-stakeholder implementation mechanisms, and develop capacity.
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