House OK’s bill for climate change survival fund

The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading last Monday (June 4) a bill which will help Filipinos “endure, overcome, and adapt to the impacts of climate change.”

The People’s Survival Fund (PSF) bill, now House Bill 6235, aims to establish a climate change fund which can be directly accessed by local governments and communities.

“This is a momentous step towards preparing our communities not only for disasters but for drought and other slow-onset impacts,” said Atty. Elpidio Peria, convenor of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, which is composed of about 40 civil society organizations.

The PSF bill was authored primarily by Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III and co-authored by about 100 other Representatives. The bill was already passed in the Senate last year, with its president Senator Juan Ponce Enrile as the primary author.

“The passing of the PSF bill in the Lower House couldn’t have come at a better time. It hastened the bicameral process between the House and the Senate,” explained Kairos Dela Cruz, policy coordinator of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, the member organization of Aksyon Klima which led the campaigning for the bill.

The consolidated output from the bicameral conference committee can then be turned over to President Benigno Aquino III for approval.

If signed into law, the established fund would be sourced from public and private sources, including foreign grants. Fifty million pesos would be allotted from the General Appropriations Act for its initial implementation.

Fisherfolk from the Save the Fisheries Now network recently visited the members of the Lower House’s fisheries committee to express their support for the PSF.

“Sa pagtaas ng alat ng tubig ay namamatay ang mga corals at bakawan, kaya nawawalan ng tirahan at namamatay rin ang lamang dagat,” said Pablo Rosales, a fisherfolk from Navotas and one of the fisheries network’s leaders. “Lumulubog din ang komunidad sa pagtaas ng tubig dagat. Ang aming mga tahanan sa tabing dagat ang nawawasak sa panahon ng mga kalamidad, kasama na ang mga kagamitan namin sa pangingisda. Hindi pa man kami nakakabangon tatamaan uli kami ng kalamidad.”

(Coral reefs and mangroves are dying because the sea is becoming saltier, which in turn reduces the natural habitat of seafood species. Our communities are also sinking because of sea-level rise. Our homes are destroyed in times of calamities, including our fishing gear. We do not yet recover when another calamity comes our way.)

PRESS RELEASE | 5 June 2012

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