Legarda Pushes for Creation of Disaster-Resilient Communities

SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA TODAY CALLED ON THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO WORK ON THE IDEA OF BUILDING DISASTER-RESILIENT COMMUNITIES IN THE COUNTRY.
Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, particularly challenged the private sector and other organizations to follow the lead of MyShelter Foundation, United Architects of the Philippines, RP-United Nations White Helmets, and San Miguel Properties, Inc. in coming up with a green architecture project.
The abovementioned organizations, in partnership with the Quezon City Local Government and the Climate Change Commission, came up with the Design Against the Elements (DAtE) competition, which gathered talented student and professional architects who designed disaster-resilient housing communities.
The winning design will be the prototype for the disaster-resilient eco-village that will be built in Quezon City.
“The Design Against the Elements project is the kind of preparation we need. We need shelters and communities that can endure the effects of intense heat, heavy rains and powerful storms. Indeed, green architecture is essential to our survival against the harsh effects of the changing climate,” Legarda stressed.
The Senator said she is also pushing for the use of green architecture in building other infrastructures, such as schools and hospitals.
“We should also build schools that are innovative and environment-friendly by putting up rainwater catchment systems, growing vegetable gardens, using renewable energy and setting up a recycling program, among others,” Legarda said.
“Our focus now should be more on disaster prevention and mitigation than on relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. I hope to see more projects like the Design Against the Elements—projects that are focused not on what to gain, but on what it can contribute to the people and to our nation,” she concluded.