LEGAZPI CITY, April 23 (PIA) – More local government units (LGUs) are sending their complete teams to the training-workshop on the formulation of both their Local Climate Change Action Plans (LCCAPs) and the Barangay Contingency and Recovery Plans (BCRPs).
LCCAP was designed for the technical staff of provincial, city and municipal governments for their Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) integration into policies, projects and programs to attain zero casualty goals and make their communities resilient to impacts of climate-related disasters.
The BCRP, on the other hand, equips the barangays with concrete response mechanisms prior to, during and after calamities, as they are at the frontline of all types of disasters.
The latest of these LGUs is the municipality of Gen. Mariano Alvarez, Cavite (GMA) with a total of 117 participants that made up the majority of the LCCAP/BCRP Batch 24 held here Apr. 8-10, this year.
GMA-Cavite Mayor Walter Echaverria, Jr. personally joined the teams from his office, the municipal council and all his barangay chairmen including their Task Force Kabataan.
Alfonso local government, also in Cavite, has followed suit and already advised the LCCAD secretariat of its reservation for at least 65 participants in the month of May, while other LGUs have also sent advance information that they will do the same.
Northern Samar’s capital town of Catarman initiated the first complete BCRP training team for all their barangay captains last July 2-4, 2014 after its municipal technical team finished its LCCAP.
Following this example set by Catarman mayor Francisco Rosales, Jr, the towns of Can-Avid Eastern Samar and Bangar, La Union also availed the BCRP last Sep. 10-12, 2014 then Dulag, Leyte led by Mayor Manuel Sia Que last Oct. 22-24, 2014.
With these undertakings, Echaverria is confident that GMA-Cavite is among the LGUs all over the country that are now equipped with the documentary tools for accessing the Php1-billion People’s Survival Fund (PSF) and other supports from national agencies, as well as international financial grants relative to Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk and Vulnerability Reduction (DRVR) programs/projects.
Earlier, Legazpi City Mayor Noel E. Rosal enjoined fellow cities across the country and all the other LGUs to take advantage of the funds available for those who have come up with their respective LCCAP/BCRPs.
Rosal, who is regional representative to the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) and a staunch advocate of Disaster Risk and Vulnerability Reduction (DRVR), said LGUs should tap the PSF to solve the woes of climate impacts in their respective localities once and for all.
PSF is a special Php 1-Billion for financing climate change adaptation programs and projects of LGUs and communities pursuant to PSF Act (Republic Act 10174), which amended RA 9729 otherwise known as Climate Change Act of 2009.
“The LCCAP/BCRP Documents as outputs from the said trainings unburden all LGUs that have undergone the course from difficulties of both budgeting aspects, allocations and re-calibrating their plans and policies. And besides, these documents automatically become inputs to their Comprehensive Land Use and Development Plans (CLUDPs) and Comprehensive Development Plans (CDPs),” said Manuel ‘Nong’ C. Rangasa, the resident trainer and the Executive Director of the Local Climate Change Adaptation for Development (LCCAD).
LCCAP/BCRP is also a documentary tool capable of obtaining fund support from national government agencies and financial grants from international institutions, such as that of Pantukan, Compostela Valley and Catarman, Northern Samar. Pantukan joined LCCAP Batch-2 last Apr. 23-25, 2014, and Pantukan MDRRMO Nick Bryan C. Patalinghug personally announced said foreign funding grant last Oct. 29-31, 2014 during the Batch 16 LCCAP Training. (MAL/RMN-LCCAD/PIA5)