DIPOLOG CITY (MindaNews / 24 July) — The provincial government of Zamboanga del Norte and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have entered into a memorandum of agreement tapping the private sector to make the province resilient to climate change.
The MOA, signed by Gov. Darel Uy and Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla, was meant to implement Project Transform, or Transdisciplinary Approach for Resilience and Sustainability through Multistakeholder Engagement.
“This is a DENR-initiated project which will enable our partners from the private sector to contribute what they can for Zamboanga del Norte whether for environment, education, or other possible fields,” said Cidur Julsadjiri, the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer.
Furthermore, the project aims to help local governments address disaster and climate risks by using science, technology, and local knowledge, he added, and aims to improve policies and actions for environmental protection and community resilience.
Julsadjiri said that Project Transform connects national and local efforts with support from the private sector, civil society, academe, and communities, to follow a whole-of-society and evidence-based approach to guide decision-making and investments.
Gov. Uy, meanwhile, said in a phone interview that Project Transform is “more on the collaboration of all sectors.”
He said all those who want to help are “more than welcome,” be they investors in tourism, in education, in solar energy, and other environmental pursuits.
Among the lead partners that already consented to be part of the project are the Department of Interior and Local Government, the National Resilience Council, Aboitiz Power Group, ChildFund Philippines, SeaOil, Wilmar, Union PhilCement, TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc., Industrial Sand and Gravel permitees, Dipolog Coconut Oil Mill, SM, the Industrial Group of Zamboanga Inc., and the Southern Philippines Association of Deep Sea Fishing.
Julsadjiri said Project Transform could also be a risky approach considering that Zamboanga del Norte is a poor province.
In the poverty incidence report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Zamboanga del Norte had the highest poverty incidence in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Julsadjiri said that among the infrastructure and environment issues facing the province include increasing housing needs, low access to level III water supply and lack of water quality monitoring, lack of interest in achieving zero open defecation, waste management, need for alternative or additional sources of power, disaster resiliency-related challenges, susceptibility to natural hazards like flooding and landslide, poor local road conditions, airport and seaport facility requirements, mining, threats of climate change and global warming, decline of natural resources and biodiversity, unresolved cadastral survey, and the presence of lawless elements or threat groups.
Among the agri-related issues that the province is facing, the PENRO said, are the influx of people as a result of the BalikProbinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) Program, the dwindling of agri-based economy, the under-utilization and operationalization of the Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Agri-Industrial Center (ZNPAIC), and the decreasing contribution of the agricultural sector to the economy.
Uy mentioned that the different health-related issues and challenges the province is now facing include the shortage of hospital beds, cases of newborns with weight below 2.5 kgs, acute respiratory infection or urinary tract infection and myocardial infarction topped the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, infant mortality, under-five mortality, maternal mortality, prevalence on stunting, and wasting and underweight.
Despite the high percentage of existing day care centers in the 25 municipalities and 2 cities, there were still quite a number of 3- to 5-year-old children who are left unattended or deprived of access to early education, the governor said, adding that cases of crimes against children have significantly increased in 2018 at 325 cases, cases of child abuse, and teenage pregnancies. (Frencie L. Carreon / MindaNews)
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