Climate walkers reach Albay

Climate Walkers reach Albay Province,

the “climate change capital” of the Philippines

Legazpi City, Philippines, October 22, 2014 – Today, over a thousand people participated in the Albay leg of the “People’s Walk for Climate Justice”. Albay Governor Joey Salceda welcomed the group who have walked a distance of 500 kilometers and are now more than halfway in their quest to reach Tacloban City by November 8, the first anniversary of super typhoon Yolanda’s historic landfall in the Philippines.

“Albay welcomes these climate advocates, our modern-day heroes who are raising awareness on climate change and are fighting the climate fight on behalf of millions of Filipinos who are bearing the brunt of extreme weather events that often cause disasters and human misery,” said Salceda.

A staunch supporter of the climate revolution and a champion for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation efforts, Governor Salceda spent his birthday by joining the climate walkers.

Hailed by the UN as the role model on good practices on disaster risk reduction program, Albay province consistently follows through with its goal of “zero casualty” in times of calamities whether it be from typhoons, landslides, floods, storm surges. This goal will again be put to a test with the pending eruption of Mayon Volcano.

The province is also lauded for its climate change adaptation (CCA) efforts, with Governor Salceda being the prime mover of the CCA program that led to a commitment between national and local government.

“Albay has a zero casualty policy as far as disaster impacts is concerned. We have also created the institutional frameworks to deal both with climate change and disaster risks, and have set aside budgets to reduce future risks from the impacts of climate change, including through our work to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Dealing with climate change and disaster risks is the responsibility of chief executives of local government and cannot be delegated or outsourced,”[1] Salceda added.

Ron Villafuerte, a Greenpeace volunteer climate walker and a proud native of Bicol, called on the leaders of other cities to follow suit and transition to a more resilient, low carbon pathway. “The Philippines can lead the climate revolution if we replicate the efforts and commitments done by Albay province to the rest of the country.”

For updates like Climate Walk on Facebook. HERE

Now on its 21st day, the climate walk seeks to raise awareness on climate change by getting commitments from local policymakers and holding climate programs in communities, schools and local government offices, sharing stories of local folk on the ground and mobilizing people in demanding world leaders to take climate action and holding big industry polluters and their respective governments accountable for their contribution to the climate crisis.

“Imagine what the world would be like if we had more progressive leaders that value nature and the environment, to ensure a habitable planet for all their citizens. I dedicate this walk to support the call for climate justice because I refuse to succumb to a life that is doomed to the impacts of climate change,” concludes Villafuerte.

For more information on the Climate Walk: A People’s Walk for Climate Justice, please go to http://climatewalknow.wordpress.com


Press contact:

Rash Caritativo
Mobile: +63917 863 8055
Email: media.climatewalk@gmail.com

Diah Abida
Mobile: +63917 8686451
Email: diah.abida@greenpeace.org

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Dakila: Riding the B.E.S.T. Road to Climate Action at the 14th Tour of the Fireflies

PRESS RELEASE

Dakila - Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism

18 November 2012

Press Contact: Rash Caritativo 09163685646

(DISCLAIMER: Any opinions written in this post are Dakila Philippines' own and do not reflect the viewpoint of any other Naga City Deck and/or NCD Contributor)

Riding the B.E.S.T. Road to Climate Action

at the 14th Tour of the Fireflies 

Tiktok Pilipinas, a movement for climate action founded by the Dakila Artist Collective and Oxfam joined The Firefly Brigade on the 14^th Tour of the Fireflies last November 18.  The tour kicked off at Tiendesitas, Pasig and culminated with a program that featured performances from The Jerks, Nityalila, Jeepney Joyride, Color it Red and messages from Climate Action Advocates.

According to Tina dela Cruz, President of The Firefly Brigade, “Fireflies have been known to live only in areas where air is clean, and so it is difficult to find them in polluted cities such as in Metro Manila. But, not only are fireflies sensitive to air, they also only live where there are abundant sources of food. And so, this 14th Tour of the Fireflies, we try to address the issue ofclimate change, which severely affects not only our environment but food security as well.”

Climate change is caused by carbon emissions and some of the biggest culprits are cars and machines. Tiktok Pilipinas supports the use of Bicycles as Environmentally Sustainable Transportation that will contribute to lessening carbon emissions.

“Like fireflies, we not only need clean air to breathe, we also need enough food for us to survive. Carbon emissions have contributed a lot to climate change, leading to problems in food supply of the country,” Nityalila Saulo, Tiktok Pilipinas advocate and cyclist said.

“We can do many things to help our country become more food secure. For example, we can shift to brown rice or unpolished rice which has less wastage during production and buy locally produced food so that we can lessen carbon emission for food transport,” Saulo added.

According to the international development and humanitarian organization Oxfam,  climate change has led to more erratic weather patterns and shifts in the seasons making it more difficult for farmers to decide when and what to plant and limiting fishers time to fish in the sea.   

The 14^th Tour of the Fireflies happened on the eve of the weeklong celebration of the Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week from November 19-25 as declared by the government.

It was also held just in time before the UN Doha Climate Change Conference which will convene 194 countries and 7,000 representatives of non-government organizations on November 26-December 7.

“Hopefully, the Doha Conference will make sure that all countries have a chance of winning against climate change. We all know that developing countries like the Philippines are most vulnerable, leaving us with more damage but taking us a lot of time before we can recuperate,” Miko Aguilar, also a Tiktok Pilipinas advocate, musician and cyclist, said.

“While governments and public officials meet in Doha, we, in our own efforts, also try to make a difference. By cycling, we are making a statement that we want climate justice and food security,” Aguilar added.

Tiktok Pilipinas is a campaign of Dakila - Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism and Oxfam whose mission is to mobilize civil society and galvanize public support to ensure a safe climate future for people and nature, to promote the low-carbon transition of our economies, and to accelerate the adaptation efforts in communities already affected by climate change.

Tiktok Pilipinas has partnered with the Firefly Brigade for this year’s Tour of the Fireflies to campaign for climate action.#

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