Government gets good environment ratings

MANILA, Philippines — Environment Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje says the positive marks on environmental issues received by President Aquino in an opinion survey will spur better performance by his department.

Paje’s statement came as the survey of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) on the third quarter performance of government showed that Aquino is doing well.

“We are happy with the positive rating given by the people on the government’s performance in-so-far as environmental issues are concerned. This could only mean that our efforts in various fronts of environmental protection and natural resources management are being felt and appreciated by the people. But at the same time, we are challenged to perform even more,” Paje said.

Of importance to both Aquino and Paje is the implementation of the National Greening Program (NGP), an unprecedented program that seeks to restore the integrity of forests and other areas stripped of trees and lush vegetation.

The PIA study primarily intended to assess the President’s performance as of the third quarter of this year on issues related to the economy, good governance, social development, justice and security, and climate change and environmental protection.

It was conducted from September 23 to 25 via face-to-face interviews with 1,262 respondents, representing 10 sectors from 64 provinces nationwide.

Specifically on environment, study results showed that the President scored a net rating of +32 on the issue of stopping abuse and destruction of the environment, +55 on improving the country’s preparedness for disasters, +42 on protecting endangered species and their natural habitat and +28 on cleaning and clearing natural waterways.

Earlier, the Social Weather Station (SWS) also reported a “very good” overall rating for the administration’s 3rd quarter performance based on its survey of 1,200 respondents conducted from September 4 to 7.

Paje stressed that even with the positive response of the public, his department will continue to level up its efforts to respond to public expectations.

“While the series of environmental disasters has somehow made our people become more aware on what could happen if we neglect our environment, I would like to also give credits to the advocacy that we have embarked in partnership with various sectors of our society,” he said.

The environment chief particularly cited the total log ban imposed on natural and residual forests, the NGP and the creation of the National Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force as important high-impact measures that the P-Noy administration has been spearheading.

“These three, along with our intensified actions against forestry law violators, address the issue of environmental protection, disaster preparation, and habitat conservation,” Paje said.

He also mentioned the geohazard maps made available by the DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau to the different local government units (LGUs) as important tools in planning for and avoiding disasters in localities.

As for clean waterways, the DENR secretary said that one of the agency’s initiatives with the private sector and other government partners which is the “Adopt an Estero” program “has shown tangible proof to our stakeholders that cleaning up our waterways is indeed possible.”

To date, the agency has a total of 231 partners nationwide for the program, which aims to clean up or rehabilitate esteros and other waterways to prevent possible flooding.

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