Legarda: Release of People’s Survival Fund will strengthen implementation of LGUs’ climate change adaptation programs

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda lauded the turnover of the People’s Survival Fund (PSF) to local government unit beneficiaries, saying it would bolster the execution of their climate change adaptation programs as the country works on being disaster resilient.

“The PSF will help local governments’ adaptation activities in relation to land and water resources management, agriculture and fisheries, health, infrastructure development, and natural ecosystems,” Legarda stated.

“This will also support the improvement of the monitoring, controlling, and prevention of diseases triggered by climate change, the establishment of forecasting and early warning systems, and strengthening institutional development for local governments, preventive measures, planning, preparedness, and management of impacts relating to climate change,” she added.

Legarda authored and sponsored the creation of the PSF in 2012 through Republic Act 10174, or the People’s Survival Fund Act, an amendatory law to RA 9729, or the Climate Change Act of 2009, which she principally authored and sponsored.

The four-term senator has been stressing the pressing need to financially support the disaster prevention efforts of LGUs and called the passage of RA 10174 a triumph for the Filipino people and an affirmation of the nation’s commitment to building communities’ resilience to disasters.

The PSF is a special fund in the National Treasury amounting to one billion pesos that will be appropriated annually under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) to finance adaptation programs and projects based on the National Strategic Framework on Climate Change.

Donations, endowments, grants, and contributions may also augment the fund.

On November 29, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. awarded the funds to six (6) LGUs during the ceremonial turnover held in Malacañang.

A total of P541.44 million worth of PSF-funded projects were distributed to the following:

1. The Provincial Government of Mountain Province, led by Governor Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr., received a grant worth P271.15 million for the construction of a Climate Field School (CFS) for farmers;

2. The Municipality of Maramag in Bukidnon, represented by Mayor Jose Joel P. Doroma, received P126.40 million for the installation of drainage and early warning systems as well as the development of the agroforestry industry;

3. The City Local Government of Borongan City, Eastern Samar, through Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan C. Agda, received a grant worth P117.96 million for the installation of embankment infrastructure and reforestation for enhanced flood control of the Lo-om River;

4. The Municipality of Cabagan, Isabela, represented by Mayor Christopher A. Mamauag, was given P21.28 million for the installation of an irrigation project;

5. The Municipality of Catanauan, Quezon Province, represented by Mayor Ramon A. Orfanel, was granted PSF funding worth P2.64 million for its Mangrove rehabilitation project; and

6. The Municipality of Besao, Mountain Province, through Mayor Bryne O. Bacwaden, was awarded a grant worth P2 million for its Water Harvesting Structures Project.

“There is no substitute for national and local government programs and budgets that are climate change-adaptive. The PSF allows us to pole-vault toward ensuring disaster and climate change resilient communities,” concluded Legarda, a United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Global Champion for Resilience. (end)