Rich countries must give more

Sen. Loren Legarda emailed me that indeed at the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change she spoke openly for developed countries to aid developing countries affected by climate change.

“I urged the rich countries led by the United States, Europe and Japan to deliver on their pledge to make available $100 billion in aid to developing countries for climate change adaptation.”

The rich countries, she said, “are mainly responsible for the carbon emissions that have polluted the atmosphere and led to global warming that now causes extreme weather shifts like super typhoons and prolonged droughts. It is therefore only proper that they should finance projects to combat climate change, such as conservation and proper management of forest and water resources, irrigation, use of drought-and flood-resistant seeds, to promote agricultural sustainability. After all, it is the poor countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change since they depend mostly on agriculture for their livelihood. The United States, China and the European countries could not agree on definite limits on carbon emission in Copenhagen. But I really hope that the Conference of Parties 16 scheduled next year in Mexico would yield more definite progress.”

It is really up to the legislators in both the developed and developing countries to plug the gap by passing laws that would mitigate climate change in their respective countries, thereby adding collectively to a healthier and more environmentally friendly world, wrote Loren.

Here at home, we must immediately implement the Climate Change Act signed into law in October. As chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, Loren sponsored the bill that called for the establishment of the National Climate Change Commission that would be the sole policy-making body for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction throughout the country. The Commission will coordinate, monitor and evaluate the programs and action plans of the government relating to climate change among national government departments, local government units and non-government organizations.

Loren cited two acts related to climate change. RA 8729, she said, “recognizes the vulnerability of the entire country as well as various sectors, particularly the poor, women and children, to the potentially catastrophic consequences of climate change, such as rising seas, increasing frequency and severity of droughts, damage to ecosystems, biodiversity loss, and climate-related illnesses and diseases.

RA 9729, on the other hand, is “groundbreaking because It makes it a policy of the state to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a safe level and commits the Philippine government to cooperate with the global community in the resolution of climate change issues. It is a big step forward in our efforts to address climate change, but it needs the support of everyone, including media, so that we can collectively attain our goal of a clean and healthy environment for future generations to supply.”

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On another front, where would large corporations be without the communities that purchase their products? It’s interesting to note that the stability of giant, multinational brands depend on the patronage of the so-called regular people or masa. On that merit alone, I believe a corporation has the duty to give back to the people. Especially now that the New Year is on hand, I feel companies should look into how they can uplift their communities.

I had the chance to meet again Glaxo/SmithKline’s managing director Roberto Taboada and his team recently. I’ve heard about GSK’s efforts to help uplift the health condition of poor communities, so I was happy to have a chat with Roberto and ask him about his company’s efforts to pay back its beneficiaries.

It’s a known fact that our less-fortunate countrymen go through their lives without some of the basic necessities we take for granted — education, proper nutrition and adequate clothing. The need for health insurance, according to Roberto, is another requirement some of our poorest are forced to live without. Fortunately, the GlaxoSmithKline Foundation (GSKF) has a long-standing partnership with Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) designed to address this pressing need.

Called Pinoy Health Pass 2, the program endeavors to provide much-needed insurance and health education to poor families. I also learned that GSK and PhilHealth recently brought Pinoy Health Pass 2 to the Dinagat Province and Western Samar. Five thousand families from each locale received insurance benefits. Under Pinoy Health Pass 2, GSKF will subsidize the PhilHealth annual premiums of these families for the first two years.

This is the second run of the program since Pinoy Health Pass was first launched in 2002. To date, GSKF has contributed P9.4 million in annual premiums, giving over 15,000 families access to PhilHealth coverage.           

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On still another front, another Pimentel will be joining the Senate - if the electorate will place her there in the May 2010 election. This is Gwen Pimentel-Gana. Her father, Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. is winding up his last term; her brother Koko, is pursuing his claim that he is the rightful winner in the last senatorial election.

Gwen feels she is fully equipped to do the job of senator. A law graduate, and holder of a master’s degree in public administration from the University of the Philippines, she has served as her father’s chief-of-staff for the last 12 years. Prior to that, she defended government cases for a decade in the solicitor general’s office under the administrations of the late President Cory Aquino and former President Fidel V. Ramos.

For her platform, Gwen, recognizing her father’s huge contribution in setting up the infrastructure of local autonomy among the local government units, will work on improving the local government code. Already 170 amendments have been proposed to empower the barangays, strengthen the barangay justice system to promote alternative ways of dispute resolution, and ensure the automatic release of the internal revenue allotments to the local government.

Gwen will continue her father’s espousal of the establishment of a federal system in the country.

Her personal advocacies lie in the promotion of children’s rights and welfare. She has served as a board member of the Inter country Adoption Board and the InterCountry Adoption Placement Committee, and she is the current president of the Association of Child Caring Agencies. She has written a book, Adopting a Filipino Child the Intercountry Way. To be sure, once she is elected to the Senate, she will work for the protection of the child, by way of laws stopping child trafficking, child labor and child prostitution.

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