Raging climate and governance crisis

Mindfully Greenie

The disastrous Kidapawan incident where two farmers were killed, a policeman seriously injured as well as several from both the police and the protesters wounded, should rouse all, most especially the local and national authorities, of the dire situation confronting us now, and in the future,  because of the raging governance and climate crisis.

The farmers reportedly sought government assistance as the drought-ravaged land could no longer provide the yield to sustain them and their suffering families. With nothing to eat, who else can they turn to?

Death and destruction were likewise vividly captured globally when the country was hit by the strongest typhoon to make  landfalls in the country.

The Haiyan/Yolanda tragedy  where more than 7000 lives were lost should have been a long-overdue wake up call for citizens and  authorities alike to reexamine the failure of the government to put in place the necessary response to climate change through a genuine community-based planning and preparation for mitigation and adaptation to the climate crisis, which should include the urgent restoration of the devastated life support systems.

We have enough strong laws to protect our rights to life, health, a healthy environment and to build the resiliency of our people to adapt to the drastic food and national security threat that humanity faces. We were commended to be one of the first in Asia to craft laws for  good governance and local autonomy through the revolutionary Local Government Code.

We were likewise one of the first in the world to craft  what could be an effective climate response through the Climate Change Act and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Law. The national framework for our collective action to climate change was launched amid great celebration.

But these good laws have become empty and meaningless simply because there is not much pressure for the implementing agency or local government to comply.

They much prefer projects which are economically advantageous for some but contrary to their mandate to protect and prioritize the quality of life and the health of the people and our ecosystems.

The institutions such as the largely silent and unnoticed Climate Change Commission, as policy-making body on climate mitigation and adaptation,  and the local government units mandated to ensure the provisions of our laws are implemented, are not even made accountable by the supervising local government unit for political reasons, naturally, or by the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Local government units are made and should be the primary service providers as they are the agents of government at the local level.

But are the local government units prioritizing health, safety, livelihood and the environment as the mandates of their office require them to do?

A quick look at the Local Government Code of 1991 on the provision for agriculture and fisheries (section 17) reveals that:
(1) Barangays, as the basic political unit, are obliged to provide “Agricultural support services which include planting materials, distribution system and operation of farm produce collection and buying stations” and “information and reading center.”

(2) Municipality and city shall  provide “Extension and on-site research services and facilities related to agriculture and fishery activities which include dispersal of livestock and  poultry, fingerlings, and other seeding materials for aquaculture; palay, corn, and vegetable seed farms; medicinal plant gardens; fruit tree, coconut, and other kinds of seedling nurseries; demonstration farms; quality control of copra and improvement and development of local distribution channels, preferably through cooperatives; interbarangay irrigation system; water and soil resource utilization and conservation  projects; and enforcement of fishery laws in municipal waters including the conservation of mangroves.”

“Infrastructure facilities intended primarily to service the needs of the residents of the municipality and which are funded out of municipal funds including, but not limited to, municipal roads and bridges; school buildings and other facilities for public elementary and secondary schools; clinics, health centers and other health facilities necessary to carry out health services; communal irrigation, small water impounding projects and other similar projects; fish ports; artesian wells, spring development,  rainwater collectors and water supply systems; seawalls, dikes, drainage and sewerage, and flood control; traffic signals and road signs; and  similar facilities.”

(3) Cities and provinces shall provide (i) “Agricultural extension and on-site research services and facilities which include the prevention and control of plant and animal pests and  diseases; dairy farms, livestock markets, animal breeding stations, and artificial insemination centers; and assistance in the organization of  farmers’ and fishermen’s cooperatives and other collective organizations, as well as the transfer of appropriate technology.”

Losses of lives and properties and pains and sufferings in Kidapawan and elsewhere would surely have been minimized had human safety and resiliency been highlighted in coping with the intense weather aberration now considered as the new normal that the world is witnessing.

As we all can see, we are not wanting in laws, but we are tremendously wanting in accountability.

Meanwhile, the most marginalized of all — the farmers, fisherfolk, elderly, children, those with disabilities — are expected to continue to suffer worse forms of depravation and displacements because of the collective neglect to prioritize their needs.

We should be mindful of the wisdom of  Nobel Peace Prize awardee, Dr. Norman Borlaug, who reminds us that “You can’t build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and  human misery.”

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