Legarda: COVID-19 a Reminder to Enable Climate-Friendly and Healthy Environments

In light of the increasing number of cases of citizens afflicted with the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country and the world, Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda stated that COVID-19 is a reminder to strengthen efforts that could enable healthier, more sustainable, and more climate-friendly environments.

Legarda said that, while more studies are needed to analyze the correlation of climate change and COVID-19, existing climate science and research has already reported that higher temperatures already trigger the surge of other diseases, particularly vector-borne ones, such as dengue, malaria, cholera, and typhoid.

Legarda: Implement Cultural Heritage Law, Preserve Historical Sites

Deputy Speaker and Antique Representative Loren Legarda today urged for the strict implementation of the National Cultural Heritage Act, which calls for the preservation of historical and heritage sites. She made this call during the recent turnover of the newly-restored Bahay Prudencia Fule in San Pablo City, Laguna.

“We are all responsible for the preservation of our heritage, tangible or intangible. As heritage guardians, we have the inherent responsibility to conserve and preserve these structures for the benefit of our present and future generations,” Legarda said.

Legarda: Unlock Full Potential, Enhance Climate and Disaster Resilience of PH Indigenous Weaving Industry

Deputy Speaker and Lone District of Antique Representative Loren Legarda, at the Women 2020: Forum on Women of Impact, urged the government and private sector to continue unlocking the full potential of the country’s indigenous weaving industry, while also ensuring that it remains sustainable and resilient in light of the intensifying impacts of climate change and disasters.

Legarda Files Resolution Declaring Climate and Environmental Emergency

Deputy Speaker and Lone District of Antique Representative Loren Legarda on February 17 filed a resolution at the House of Representatives urging the declaration of a climate and environmental emergency and ensuring enhanced and coherent climate actions in the executive and legislative agenda of the government.

Titled “A Resolution Declaring a Climate Emergency and Environmental Emergency and Calling for the Mobilization of Government Agencies and Instrumentalities and Local Government Units towards the Effective Implementation of Environmental, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Law in light of the Global Climate and Environmental Emergency,” House Resolution No. 724 supports the earlier call for the declaration of climate emergency by the National Panel of Technical Experts (NPTE), an advisory body of the Climate Change Commission (CCC).

Legarda lauds DENR Ban on Single Use Plastics

Nineteen years after the passage of RA 9003, the National Solid Waste Management Commission issued a resolution directing DENR to prepare and implement specific guidelines that would ban single use plastics in all offices of government.

The Philippines holds the dubious distinction of being the third biggest contributor of plastic pollution in the ocean, a conclusion of a study of 192 countries and unless the quality of waste management and implementation of RA 9003 increases in a meaningful way, we would be responsible for much more in the coming years.