Youths train in Subic jungles for ecosystem-based disaster management

SUBIC BAY FREPORT — This bustling industrial-commercial zone still plays an important role in educating residents on environmental protection and climate-change mitigation by providing real-life outdoor classrooms for ecosystem-based training.

Recently, some 60 members of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) from communities around the Subic Bay Freeport participated in a disaster-risk management training that focused on the importance of ecosystem and biodiversity in mitigating climate change.

Dubbed as EcoDRRM, or Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, the US Embassy-sponsored project sought to empower participants through outdoor workshops on the pivotal contributions of mangrove, forests and seagrasses to climate change mitigation.

The three-day training conducted under the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), brought youth leaders from Olongapo City, Castillejos, Zambales and Morong, Bataan to various ecosystems in the Subic Bay Freeport that served as backdrop for the program.

The activity was spearheaded by a team of United States-Philippines exchange alumni who won the Small Grant Competition and was given funding to support the conduct of the EcoDRRM project.

Rhea Jane Mallari, an environment officer at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Ecology Center and team leader of the project, said the participants heard lectures on disaster risk management, community risk mapping, climate change adaptation, and other related topics on the first day.

The second day then took the participants to a mangrove area at Sitio Sabang in Morong, Bataan, where they planted mangrove saplings and learned about how the mangrove and seagrass eco-systems serve as bio-shield for natural disasters.

At Day 3, the youth participants trekked the Pamulaklakin forest where they learned about the importance of forests in disaster prevention and received demonstrations on jungle survival, preparing healthy foods during evacuation, and relieving stress during disaster.

Mallari and fellow US-PH exchange alumnus Patrick Escusa said the participants all hailed the project as “a great learning experience that gave them helpful insights on disaster-risk mitigation.”

“We are very happy that the project succeeded in capacitating the youth in DRRM preparedness and prevention through ecosystem management, and imparted the culture of proactive response rather than reactive response to disasters,” Escusa said.

“We will continue the program by assisting and ensuring that the SK officials will apply what they learned from the training-workshop by conducting their own city or municipal-wide EcoDRRM projects,” Escusa added.

The EcoDRRM project was the latest in a long line of activities here that made use of Subic’s biodiversity to train workers and facilitators in environmental protection and resource conservation.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said Subic Freeport’s vast forest, marine, and freshwater resources provide a diverse ecosystem that makes for realistic learning.

“This is why many researchers and academics chose Subic for the conduct of their studies,” Eisma noted. “And as the country’s first eco-urban center, Subic is ideal for these activities and the SBMA is ever supportive of these projects.” (HEE/MPD-SBMA)

PHOTO:

SK leaders listen to a lecture on the importance of mangroves and seagrasses to climate change mitigation.

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SBMA to undertake drainage, road projects to avert flooding

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) will undertake several road and drainage improvement projects to prevent flooding due to heavy rains and rising tides in this Freeport.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the Subic agency has already green-lighted flood-mitigation projects, including a PHP20-million drainage improvement project at the Argonaut Highway-Gateway Park area that is expected to curb tidal flooding in Subic’s Central Business District.

Eisma said the SBMA has also set other flood-mitigation projects like raising the elevation of the Dewey Avenue-Manila Avenue intersection, which suffers heavily from tidal flooding, and de-clogging storm drains at the vicinity of the SBMA Dispensary along Dewey Avenue.

The PHP20-million drainage improvement project will be bid out to contractors before the end of the year while the road improvement project is expected to start early next year, she added.

Eisma explained that aside from exceptionally heavy rains this wet season, flooding at low-lying areas in the Subic Freeport has been exacerbated by rising tide.

“As you know, most flat lands in the Subic Freeport, including the Central Business District, were reclaimed by the US Navy after the World War II to construct the biggest US naval facility outside the US mainland. This area was mostly swampland before it became a naval base,” she said.

“When our Engineering Department conducted water-level elevation checks in the past several months, they found out that some flooding occurred here during high tide even in the summer months,” she added.

Meanwhile, SBMA Engineering Department head Gary Fernandez said that the SBMA will start the rehabilitation of El Kabayo Road, which leads to the Binictican housing area here.

Fernandez said that El Kabayo is identified as one of the areas in the Freeport with perennial flooding problem, along with the Tipo Road-Maritan Highway junction.

The El Kabayo project will be undertaken with a PHP9.2-million fund from the SBMA’s corporate budget.

On the other hand, Fernandez said the NLEX Corporation, which operates the Subic-Tipo Expressway, has proposed to widen the Tipo Road into a four-lane highway, and elevate certain road sections to solve flooding problems.

He said that should the road and drainage improvement projects be finished on time, tidal flooding will be minimized, if not totally eliminated by the next rainy season. (Ruben Veloria/PNA)

PHOTO:

SBMA maintenance workers repair road damaged by floodwaters caused by recent heavy rains in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. (MPD-SBMA)


http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1046995

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Experts urge Subic Freeport stakeholders to use renewable energy

Experts invited by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Thursday urged business locaters and residents in Subic Bay Freeport area to start using renewable energy to help minimize ecological damage and slow down climate change.

In the forum “Climate Change Management and Green Energy: Making Business Green Through Renewable Energy,” speakers led by Climate Change Commissioner Heherson Alvarez explained that the continuing emission of carbon into the atmosphere would create serious consequences like global warming and a drop in global food production.

The forum, which was organized by the SBMA Ecology Center, convened residents, investors, workers, and other stakeholders of the Freeport. The speakers included Alvarez, Dean Felino Lansigan of the College of Arts and Sciences in the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB), and Forester Rex Victor Cruz, who is also the Chancellor of UPLB.

In the forum, Alvarez and the other speakers warned of the dire effects of environmental destruction from the use of carbon-based energy sources and encouraged the tapping of energy from wind, sun, and water.

“Even a temperature increase of just 1.5 degrees Celsius will drive the fish to go deeper and farther into the open seas, as temperature increase may kill all the fish near the coast due to overheating,” Alvarez said.

The increase in global temperature, he said, is caused by over-emission of carbon into the atmosphere from millions of gas-fed vehicles, factories, machines, and power generators.

Alvarez pointed that the Aquino administration has officially committed an Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) target of 70 percent greenhouse gas reduction below business-as-usual levels by 2030. This primarily covers the energy, transport, forestry, waste, and industry sectors.

“That’s why we have to invest in our future and build renewable energy sources, while every Filipino should cut the usual emission of carbon,” Alvarez said.

“Let us mobilize every heart [person] to cut the use of carbon. Remember that we are on the edge of human extinction,” he added.

Meanwhile, Lansigan talked about the effects of climate change on food security and sustainable development, and pointed out that a one-degree increase in temperature would mean a 14.12 percent drop in corn and rice production and that from 20 to 30 percent of crop species would be at risk of extinction.

“Maraming lupa ang lulubog, maraming pananim at hayop ang masisira kung hindi man mawala na, kung hindi natin mapaghahandaan ang climate change,” he said.

Cruz, for his part, explained that while there may be downsides in the use of renewable energy, “cutting the use of carbon will save mankind from extinction.”

Atty. Ruel John Kabigting, who is officer in charge of the SBMA Ecology Center, assured the speakers and stakeholders in Subic Bay Freeport of the agency’s support and participation in various actions to mitigate the effects of climate change.

He also pointed out that because the SBMA strictly enforces laws and policies on environmental protection, the Subic Freeport remains to be the home of many species of plants and animals.

The participants in the forum also all agreed that the government and private groups should start developing and using renewable energy technologies, which are considered healthier to both man and his environment. (RAV/MPD-SBMA)

PHOTO:
Climate Change Commissioner Alvarez talks about the dire consequences of the use of carbon-based fuels while at the same time pushes for increased utilization of renewal energy at the Climate Change Management & Green Energy Forum in Subic Bay Freeport. (photo by Forester Patrick Escusa)

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DENR inaugurates P10-M Air Quality Monitoring Station in Subic Freeport

A P10-million air sensor that measures real-time air quality was inaugurated here on Monday, providing a means to measure systematically the concentrations of pollutants in ambient air and provide a scientific basis for measures to reduce air pollution and protect the community’s health.

The Air Quality Monitoring Station (AQMS) was installed here as part of the Ambient Air Monitoring Network Project of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the assessment of air quality in the entire Philippines.

“The world is changing, and we really have to be very vigilant about how climate change is going to be affecting us,” said Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Roberto Garcia during the launching.

“We are very fortunate here in SBMA to have this facility, for as you know we are very strict as far as our environment is concerned,” Garcia said. “And we really have to ensure excellent air quality in Subic, considering that we are the number one tourist destination in Central Luzon,” he added.

Funded by the DENR, the AQMS is expected to be a big boost to the Freeport’s environmental protection program as it could measure air pollution coming from motor vehicle emissions, as well as factories and construction sites in Subic.

“Once this is connected to the Internet, results of the air quality measurement will be sent to the DENR main office and the SBMA Ecology Center, and will be posted in airquality-embdenr.gov.ph site for its real-time measurement,” said Engr. Zaldy Pagador, Air Quality Management Division chief of the DENR.

The automated AQMS can give real-time measurement levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and ozone present in the air. It is also capable of measuring real-time meteorological factors such as wind speed, direction, humidity, and temperature.

The AQMS project is undertaken pursuant to Republic Act 8749, otherwise known as the Philippine Clean Air Act.

Information from the AQMS will be useful to the SBMA in ensuring that air pollution within the area stays within the standard levels set by the DENR.

The air quality data gathered from the AQMS will also be useful in planning for pollution abatement strategies, Garcia said. (RAV/MPD-SBMA)

PHOTO:
SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia (4th from left), along with Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer Marife Castillo and SBMA Maintenance and Transportation Department head Angel Bagaloyos (2nd from left) inaugurates the Air Quality Monitoring Station (AQMS) at the Remy Field in the Subic Bay Freeport on Monday. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

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SBMA intensifies ‘climate change’ awareness campaign

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has intensified its grassroots information program to instill awareness of climate change and elicit positive response from communities around the Subic Bay Freeport.

The SBMA Ecology Center conducted a workshop-discussion at Sunset Cove Resort in Barangay Mabayo, a seaside village in Morong, Bataan.

The activity, which was attended by barangay officials, community elders, local police, and residents, was aimed at alleviating global warming from a micro-level point of view by spreading information top-down to make change more possible.

Previously, the SBMA team conducted similar seminars at the seaside community of Mabiga and the upland communities of Tipo, Bangal, and Pastolan in Hermosa, Bataan. These communities serve as buffer areas under the SBMA’s “social fencing” program.

The workshop-discussion tackled climate change adaptation, the importance of mangroves, forest fire prevention, and the SBMA’s social fencing program.

According to Environment Management Specialist Rhea Jane Pescador-Mallari, who explained how climate change affect small vulnerable communities, evident changes in global climate had been proven by tropical storms “Ondoy” and “Yolanda,” which devastated huge areas in the country.

“With global warming melting the polar ice caps, water levels rise and will affect coastal areas,” Mallari said, naming other foreseen problems.

She added that among the solutions suggested is monitoring the “carbon diet,” which is basically reducing the consumption of diverse products such as meat, electricity, and fuel for transportation, which all produce carbon gases that lead to global warming.

Mallari also explained the environmental benefits of planting mangrove trees, as these separate salt water from fresh water, serve as home for fish and shells, and act as natural wind breaks.

“Kung tayo ang dahilan ng problema, tayo din ang solusyon,” Mallari challenged the audience, citing how man has degraded his environment and caused his own problems.

Meanwhile, SBMA deputy fire chief Raul Zapanta gave the audience rudiment knowledge on forest fire prevention, starting off with the basic “fire triangle” of heat, fuel, and oxygen without which fire would not start.

Zapanta said that with Mabayo’s location near a forest, residents must be aware of ways to avoid forest fire. He also discussed how a “fire break” and “fire line” could help to prevent forest fire or stop its spread.

SBMA forester Patrick Escusa also discussed the agency’s social fencing program, a community-based forest management agreement that gives rights to those who are members of the program to stay in the land owned by SBMA.

Escusa explained that the program is for the mutual benefit of the SBMA and upland residents, as the occupants are tasked with guarding and caring for the trees and preventing the entry of illegal loggers and poachers.

The interactive workshop ended with an open forum during which community members were encouraged to speak their mind on the topics at hand and give suggestions.

While some Mabayo residents said that they were not aware of the changes in the local climate, more of the locals agreed that weather patterns have changed.

“Mas mahaba na ang tag-init at tag-ulan,” a local fisherman said. “Hindi na matimpla ang panahon, ‘di tulad nang dati.” (ADP/MPD-SBMA)

PHOTOS:
[1] SBMA Environment Management Specialist Rhea Jane Pescador-Mallari explains the dangers posed by climate change to residents of small coastal and upland communities, urging them to help protect the environment to avert further damage. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

[2] SBMA Forester Patrick Escusa discusses the SBMA social fencing program, pointing out how upland residents could help guard and care for the forest and prevent the entry of illegal loggers and poachers. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

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In celebration of Earth Day: SBMA urges locators, residents to cut carbon footprint

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is urging business locators and residents in this free port to reduce their carbon footprint and undertake commitments to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

SBMA Chairman Roberto V. Garcia said the agency, through its Ecology Center, will electronically send out to all SBMA offices and locators a Carbon Footprint Calculator from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) website for them to be able to assess their own environmental footprint.

A carbon footprint is the measure of carbon dioxide which is one of the many greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by a business, society or individual.

A process called carbon accounting measures the amount of carbon dioxide equivalents emitted by an entity and is used, among other things, by nation states, corporations, and individuals to create the carbon credit commodity traded in carbon markets.

Garcia said this project is part of the agency’s program in observance of the Earth Day celebration today, April 22.

This year's Earth Day global theme is “It’s Our Turn to Lead,” which is aimed at seeking commitments from global leaders, businesses, and citizens to pledge “Acts of Green” and to make commitments for meaningful change.

In the spirit of this global call, Garcia said the SBMA is enjoining individuals and companies in Subic “to undertake commitments for a meaningful change by computing and cutting down their carbon or environmental footprints.”

“Earth Day or not, we must all do our share in protecting our environment. So we also urge everybody to make Earth Day an everyday event in our lives,” Garcia added.

Meanwhile, the SBMA Tourism Department said that tourism-related locators in the free port have banded together to organize week-long activities in observance of Earth Day.

Subic Bay's Earth Week 2015 began April 18 with the Summer Xtreme Beach Party at the Moonbay beach, to be followed by a beach clean-up at The Lighthouse Marina Resort beachfront on April 22; yoga and healthy cooking demonstration on April 23; horseback riding, kayaking, and paddle boarding on the 24th; and a beach party at the Moonbay Marina beach on the 25th.

Earth Week 2015 is presented by The Lighthouse Marina Resort Legacy Foundation and the Subic Bay Hotels, Attractions and Tourism Stakeholders Visitors Board in cooperation with IYFR Subic Bay Fleet, Rotary Club of Subic Bay, and Rotary Club of Subic Pearl.

The project is supported by SBMA, Olongapo City, Province of Zambales, Subic Bay Chamber of Commerce, Department Environment and Natural Resources, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary, Earth Day Network, Leave No Trace, and Zero Carbon Resorts. (RBB/MPD-SBMA)

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SBMA launches awareness campaign on climate change adaptation

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), through its Ecology Center, has launched an awareness campaign on climate change adaptation in upland communities adjacent to the Freeport.

SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia said that the campaign aims to educate residents on the impact of climate change world-wide, as well as in their locality, and how to minimize it.

The campaign includes educating residents on how to prevent forest and bush fires and what they can do to help bring back the healthy environment and the forests, Garcia added.

Accordingly, the campaign, which started at Barangay Mabiga in the town of Hermosa, Bataan, was a kick-off to a series of seminars to be held in four barangays outside the perimeter fence of the Freeport. These include the upland communities of Mabiga, Tipo, Bangal, and Pastolan, which serve as buffer areas under the SBMA’s “social fencing” program.

Participants in the one-day awareness campaign seminars included members of farmers’ associations in the four upland communities.

Garcia explained that the local farmers’ associations serve as a vital component of the SBMA Community-Based Forest Management (SCBFMA) system, which watches over the forests and helps protect them against bush and forest fires, illegal cutting of trees, and illegal hunting of animals and birds near and inside the fenced areas of the Freeport.

The SCBFM program also aims to promote the biodiversity of the forests through tree-planting projects and the implementation of livelihood programs that are not dependent on forests such as kaingin, and charcoal-making.

Hermosa Mayor Danilo Malana, who joined the launch of the awareness campaign, lauded the SBMA and the team from Ecology Center for conducting the awareness campaign, saying it was very timely.

“It is very important that we start protecting and preserving our fast diminishing forest areas that give livelihood and food to many of our farmers,” he said.

The mayor, who is known as an advocate of environmental protection, added that there is a need to boost the awareness of residents on how badly climate change affects people’s lives and livelihood so that they could start adapting to it to secure their future. (RAV/MPD-SBMA)

PHOTO:
Community leaders and officials of Brgy. Mabiga, Hermosa in Bataan province pledge to protect the environment during a Climate Change Symposium conducted recently by the SBMA Ecology Center. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

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P14B earmarked for LGUs’ 2015 climate change mitigation programs

The national government has earmarked P14 billion for 2015 to help beef up various climate change mitigation campaigns and programs of local government units (LGUs).

The amount was disclosed by Philippine Climate Change Commissioner Undersecretary Naderev Saño in an interview with the press during the “Hazards and Communicating Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Measures” conference held at Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales recently.

The budget allocation was made under Republic Act 10174, also known as People’s Survival Fund (PSF) Act of 2012, which states that the fund will be sourced from the national treasury to provide assistance to various sectors such as farmers, fishermen, nutrition, infrastructures and those that help in maintaining ecological balance, such as programs to promote disaster-resilient communities, river dredging and rehabilitation, and the construction of bicycle lanes.

Saño, however, said that the Department of Finance (DOF) is currently studying how to obtain funds for the local government, since the budget for survival fund is different from the calamity fund.

“Calamity fund is used after the disaster while the survival fund is a pre-emptive budget intended for climate change mitigation and adaptation,’’ said Saño.

He also said that a PSF board was formed to monitor and supervise LGUs on how or where their funds should be spent.

He added that the board will also ensure that the projects being proposed by the LGUs are important enough to merit the funds.

Organized by the Philippine Information Agency in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Luzon-wide confab saw participation from LGUs in Regions 1, 2, and 3; the Cordillera Administrative Region; and the National Capital Region. (Franco G. Regala, Manila Bulletin)

http://www.mb.com.ph/p14b-earmarked-for-lgus-2015-climate-change-mitigation-programs/

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