Davao group proposes 8-point environment agenda to Duterte
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/23 May) – The Davao City Sustainable Movement has asked incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to adopt an eight-point environment agenda that must be acted upon within his six-year term. Released a month after the Philippines signed the Paris agreement on climate change on April 22, the proposal includes some of the city’s landmark environmental ordinances that the group said should be replicated at the national level. In a three-page proposal, the group called for the amendment of Presidential Decree No. 1607, or the Philippine Water Code, to devolve the assessment and monitoring functions of the National Water Resource Board (NWRB).
CENRO urged to implement Ecological Solid Waste law
A resident of Barangay Bucana is urging the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) to strictly implement Republic Act (RA) 9003 and apprehend residents/individuals caught cutting trees without permits. Cora Refulle, who is also president of Bucana Coastal Environment Fisherfolk Association, told Mirror she has been strongly pushing for the implementation of RA 9003. She said she has also asked assistance through a resolution from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). RA 9003 is an act providing for an ecological solid waste management program. “Sige lang man sila ug promise nga adtuan nila sa among barangay pero wala man gihapon nahitabo (They always promised to visit our barangay but nothing happened),” Refulle said.
Saving Panigan-Tamugan Watershed for the Future
DAVAO CITY – The Panigan-Tamugan watershed, while not really well-known, has recently been in the limelight due to the attention given to its surface waters. As a sub-watershed area belonging to the main Davao River Basin, the watershed area is located in the Baguio District and adjacent to the Talomo-Lipadas Watershed, which is currently the source of Davao’s drinking water. In the late 1990s, faced with the problem of dwindling ground water in the aquifers of Talomo-Lipadas, the Davao City Water District (DCWD) sought other viable sources of drinking water in the region to allow the aquifers to recharge.
The Biodiversity of Davao’s Watersheds
DAVAO CITY – In the olden days, Bagobos living in Davao’s watersheds look to the limokun, the white-eared brown Philippine dove, for omens. In indigenous folklore, the limokun is believed to be a spirit messenger, a harbinger of doom or fortune. For Filipino ornithologists, however, the limokun occupies a more mundane status, albeit a very important one, since the dove is a Philippine endemic, which means that it can be found only here in Philippine watersheds. However, like most endemic species, the limokun’s survival is at stake since its habitat, which is found in lowland dipterocarp forests along the watershed, is fast vanishing due to various threats. In 2012, watershed advocacy group Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS) commissioned wildlife biologists from the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) to conduct a biodiversity assessment on two of Davao’s important watersheds, the Talomo-Lipadas (TL) and Panigan-Tamugan (PT) watersheds, which are the current and future sources of the city’s drinking water. “The watersheds, essentially, are a center for endemism.”, said PEF Conservation Director Jayson Ibanez who said that his team was able to document 171 vertebrate species, mostly endemic, which are living in the dipterocarp forests found in the lowland areas. 28 of these species are categorized as threatened and near threatened, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Giving back to the Watersheds: Davao’s Environmental Tax
DAVAO CITY – Taxation can be a problematic word, especially during an election season, but among watershed advocates in Davao City, taxes, or more specifically Green Taxes are just being par for the course when one lives in a city whose mantra is “Life is Here”. 2016 could be the year of the watershed environmental tax, as the city amps up its collection from the agri-businesses operating in the Talomo-Lipadas and Panigan-Tamugan watersheds. Last year, when the envi tax was first implemented, only a handful of businesses complied, under protest. In fact, a case was filed in the courts to contest the tax implementation. Complainants argued that the local government does not have the right to impose an environmental tax since they are already paying property taxes and business permits. They contend that this is a case of double taxation, which is prohibited under the law. But according to the watershed advocacy group Interface Development Interventions (IDIS), the environmental tax imposed by the city’s Watershed Code is within the authority and power conferred to it by the Constitution and the Local Government Code.
4th Lunhaw Awards announces winners
DAVAO CITY – A community-based radio station broadcasting an on-air organic farming school, an underground rainwater catchment system and the green building of a commercial mall are some of the winners of the 2016 Lunhaw Awards. Award organizers recognized five outstanding green initiatives from a shortlist of 21 entries last night in a ceremony attended by Datu Bago Awardee Joey Ayala at the Taboan in Matina Town Square. “We are very glad and honored to announce these year’s winners for the innovative and important green initiatives they have done, and the example they set for all of us Dabawenyos to follow.”, said Lunhaw Awards co-organizer and IDIS executive director Ann Fuertes. “These year’s winners and nominees have made laudable efforts to protect and preserve our air, water and land and by showing that being environment-friendly makes good business sense.”