LOREN'S OWN GREEN PLEA FOR NATIONAL SAFETY AND REJOINDER
TO ONDONG AND PEPENG PRAYERS

Amidst circulating texts and calls to God to hold Pepeng from falling to Philippine grounds, Loren made her own prayer as a climate change mitigation advocate and Senate chairperson of two oversight committees with strong powers to redirect reforms towards sustainable agriculture. Loren's prayer goes like this: "Dear Lord, in addition to the prayers going around�of petitions that you hold Pepeng by your mighty hands�we pray that we learn to protect Mother Nature from now on. That we will each plant and nurture 5 trees or more a year; that we will Reduce, Recycle and Reuse; and know that YOU ARE GOD."

Loren, United Nations Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in the Asia Pacific and UN Environmental Program Laureate in 2001 has reconsidered her political plans lately to give her time and efforts to humanitarian causes. This change of her political mindset came after the ravaging effects of Typhoon Ondoy on the whole country.

In the Senate, when she sponsored the Climate Change Bill early this year, there were some thoughts that climate change was a myth, that prognoses of erratic weather and geologic changes are exaggerated and do not warrant government quick response like the passage of the bill. The bill still awaits the President's signature.

Meanwhile, called by many as ex-Green President, Loren says that we could actually do a lot while waiting for the signing of the bill.

Loren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM), calls on the education and training departments to use the National Agriculture and Fisheries Education System (NAFES) to maximize the opportunities in providing our people exactly the education and training that they need to protect and rehabilitate our lowland, upland and fish farms. In particular she calls on the Bureau of Alternative Learning Systems (BALS) to hire the right teachers�with appropriate qualifications�for remote rural areas and hinterlands and coastal communities. For 2010, BALS has a proposed budget for hiring 3000 teachers for the purpose. As remote areas could hardly be reached, these should not be the dumping grounds for mediocres but places where first class minds�inspiring and empowering�should be. She said that COCAFM will monitor the hiring of these teachers next year. She urged the Department of Education to work closely with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in revitalizing the NAFES, especially in agriculture and fishery areas where many impoverished farmers and fisherfolk need functional literacy.

The lady senator is happy that the Agri-Agra Bill has passed the Senate on third reading. The amended Agri-Agra bill is expected to improve lending for the agriculture and agrarian reform borrowers to solve the lack of capital to maximize the potential of our lands and waters for food production. "As chair of the Climate Change Committee in the Senate, I will also ensure that agricultural and fisheries ventures coming from agri and agra lending are sustainable.", Loren said.

Loren has also been dismayed about the unsatisfactory performance of the extension workers in local government units (LGUs) for years as a result of the incomplete devolution of resources for extension. In her appeal for the passage of the National Extension Bill which is due for interpellation in the Senate, she urged co-legislators: "We have to let go of needed resources that we have been keeping in the national government if we want the LGUs to be effective. Budgets for extension, communal irrigation, demonstration farms�why don't we give them to the local governments and believe in their capacity for change and development if we only allow them?" I challenge my co-legislators both in the Senate and the House to let go of resources in the hands of national managers and shepherd them in the hands of local leaders. Those who believe in genuine devolution and even call for federalism�help me advocate for the passage of this bill that will energize our agriculture and fishery soldiers in the fields."

Our farmers and fisherfolk need assistance in using the crop varieties that are high-yielding, environmentally safe and flood tolerant; in accessing credit; and in strategic marketing of their products so that they could capture the best price for their produce. "The national government wants to corner resources for these and yet expect a lot from local extension workers? What kind of local empowerment is this? If we want God to save us from Pepeng and other calamities, let us listen and listen carefully to what He is telling us. And in these times of natural calamities, the agri and fishery sector is the most important sector. We have to take care of the people who are producing our food." Loren said.