House urged to pass bill creating climate change survival fund
A group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on Monday called on the House of Representatives to fast-track the passage of a bill creating a special trust fund for climate change adaptation programs.
Elpidio Peria, convenor of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, said the House committee on ecology should immediately prepare for plenary debates regarding House Bill 3528 or the measure amending the Climate Change Act to create the People’s Survival Fund (PSF).
“The first two things that the House Ecology committee should do after the recess are to finalize the PSF bill and [to] have its members sign it. Only then can it be considered for the third and final reading,” he said in a statement Monday.
He added that the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona should not deter lawmakers from acting on the bill at the plenary level.
“The House of Representatives should not delay further in having this bill approved, if only to show that the legislative mill is proceeding simultaneous with the impeachment trial,” Peria said.
Last Wednesday, the House appropriations committee approved the proposed allocation of P50 million per year from government funds for the PSF.
HB 3528, authored by Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada, seeks to create the PSF to finance the country’s climate change adaptation programs and projects, based on the national strategic framework.
Peria said the passage of amendments to Climate Change Act is very important since the Philippines is vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
“We cannot afford to wait until the next Congress to prepare our communities against the impacts of climate change,” he said.
Last October, the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security ranked the Philippines third in its climate change vulnerability, next to the southern Pacific islands of Tonga and Vanuatu.
HB 3528 will have to get a majority vote of all 286 House members for it to be passed by the lower chamber. A similar bill was passed by the Senate last September. - Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News
Elpidio Peria, convenor of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, said the House committee on ecology should immediately prepare for plenary debates regarding House Bill 3528 or the measure amending the Climate Change Act to create the People’s Survival Fund (PSF).
“The first two things that the House Ecology committee should do after the recess are to finalize the PSF bill and [to] have its members sign it. Only then can it be considered for the third and final reading,” he said in a statement Monday.
He added that the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona should not deter lawmakers from acting on the bill at the plenary level.
“The House of Representatives should not delay further in having this bill approved, if only to show that the legislative mill is proceeding simultaneous with the impeachment trial,” Peria said.
Last Wednesday, the House appropriations committee approved the proposed allocation of P50 million per year from government funds for the PSF.
HB 3528, authored by Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada, seeks to create the PSF to finance the country’s climate change adaptation programs and projects, based on the national strategic framework.
Peria said the passage of amendments to Climate Change Act is very important since the Philippines is vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
“We cannot afford to wait until the next Congress to prepare our communities against the impacts of climate change,” he said.
Last October, the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security ranked the Philippines third in its climate change vulnerability, next to the southern Pacific islands of Tonga and Vanuatu.
HB 3528 will have to get a majority vote of all 286 House members for it to be passed by the lower chamber. A similar bill was passed by the Senate last September. - Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News
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