By Dominic I. Sanchez
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Newly-trained climate change mitigation advocates coming from government and non-government institutions here have drafted an action plan to address community issues related to disaster preparedness after a trainors’ training on advocacy sponsored by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) on September 4-5.
Participants, including Pantawid Pamilya city links from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), teachers from the Department of Education (DepEd), non-government organization workers, and some barangay representatives consolidated their individual plans consisting of activities aimed to raise awareness of the sense of urgency in addressing people’s apathy towards climate change and its looming effects.
“Climate change mitigation and adaptation advocacy is not new,” said Rene Carbayas, PIA Basilan field officer. “However, we are making the campaign stronger, hopefully to address apathy. This is now an urgent issue.”
On the part of the DSWD, what they learned from the training would be re-echoed to their district inter-agency committee for wider dissemination.
They will be incorporating modules on disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation with Family Development Sessions for the Pantawid beneficiaries, especially those living in hazard-prone communities.
DepEd will conduct a wide-scale information dissemination campaign for all public school teachers in the district, and shall formulate a school-based disaster risk reduction management plan.
Silsilah, a non-government organization aims to address the degradation of natural resources, illegal mining, and illegal fishing and quarrying through coordination and linkage with government agencies and LGUs.
The Social Action Center (SAC) will also be advocating climate change mitigation measures to the parishioners and basic ecclesiastical communities (BECs).
The Zamboanga-Basilan Integrated Development Alliance (ZABIDA) will engage barangays for climate change mitigation and disaster preparedness through meetings, among others.
“Climate change is an urgent issue. But we have very limited resources, that is why we have conducted this training to have force multipliers in the communities,” said PIA-Zamboanga-Basilan-Sulu-Tawi-Tawi information center manager Dave Malcampo.