B.
Sustainable Urban Living and Youth dimension in Disaster risk reduction and
management
Climate Change is no longer an abstraction.
It has become personal and real to every Kagayanon. Our horrific experience
with Sendong has demonstrated how deadly lack of preparation, knowledge and
management is in the face of our mighty river and a changing climate. Disaster
risk reduction and management has been consistently surfaced by youth leaders
showing the growing consciousness on its primary significance in our daily life
today. Rightly so, studies show that the typhoon belt has now descended to
Visayas from much-accustomed areas of southern Luzon[1].
This means that Northern Mindanao should brace for typhoons as the new normal.
In response, the government and private
sector has invested huge resources not only in the hardware reconstruction
efforts of the city but as well as the re-education campaigns on disaster. Though these permanent settlements have been constructed,
many still complain that those sites continue to be unsafe[2].
Some do not have access to basic sustainable drinking water and electricity.
After the Sendong experience, flooding and landslides, as mentioned by the
youth leaders as an effect of regular typhoons and heavy rains, have become an alarming
regularity in several of their Barangays. They have noted clogged drainages and
lack of vegetation as contributors. The leaders then traced the root causes of
these as lack of implementation of the solid waste management law in part of
some barangays, rapid urbanization and cases of logging (legal or illegal) in
the uplands.
Realizing the immensity of the challenge, the
youth leaders conceded that doing actions for our environment entails a long
and slow process of educating our peers about the social and public value of
proper waste management and environmental protection. They realized that as
government work to fulfill its mandate in enforcing the people’s right
to a healthy ecology, the organized youth should include in their advocacies a dimension on environmental stewardship.
YOUTH POLICY AGENDA
During the
Oro Youth Leaders Convergence conducted last March 22, 2014, the following
policy agenda was surfaced with regards to the environment:
a. The city should increase green patches in
the city center to encourage urban gardening and greening.
The rapid urbanization of the
city has led youth leaders to wonder if they will inherit concrete and dust
void of any reasonable amount of greeneries and fresh air. They raised the idea
that the city should increase greeneries in existing parks. They also raised
that idle public lands owned by the city or the barangays in the urban areas should
be converted into temporary greeneries, mini parks or community gardens to
encourage people to plant.
b. The city should increase youth-led action
and youth participation in disaster risk reduction and management and
environmental protection.
The youth
should not just be mere manpower when disaster strikes. They should be active
players in its preparation and response. Noting the increasing consciousness on
disaster management, the youth leaders raised the importance of their
participation in making disaster plans and drills. They mentioned that this is
not just the business of the adults but more importantly, it is a training and
duty for the youth’s part. Flowing from this thought, the youth leaders urge the
city to include youth participation in all stages of disaster planning from the city to the
barangay and organize youth communities in the barangays that specialize in
disaster management. They will be the one to act as influencers for other
youths to be prepared and conscious about disasters. These youth communities
should also take the lead in greening initiatives in the barangay level.
c. The city should strictly implement the provisions of the Solid
Waste Management Act and empower barangays to manage their own waste
The youth
leaders pointed out that it is not enough to simply collect garbage on time. The city
should invest in segregation, recycling and other modes of reducing solid waste
such as waste-to-energy facilities. Most importantly, they cited the vital role
of the barangay as a player in managing our solid waste. The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act or
Republic Act 9003 orders all LGUs to decentralize garbage collection. The
barangay, the smallest unit of government, is put in charge of teaching
residents to segregate, collecting their trash and separating reusable trash
from residual trash – the kind of trash that no one will buy or have any use
for. The barangays should explore creative ways in
improving garbage disposal and observe barangays who are leading in this field
such as barangay Macasandig. In part of the youth, the barangay based youth
organizations should also lead in advocating these methods.
ORO YOUTH PARALLEL
ACTION
Urban Greening
Advocacy
The
different youth organizations especially the out-of-school youth sector would
adopt at least 2 idle land in the Poblacion area to convert it into an urban
forest. This acts as a symbolic statement of the youth’s desire to strike a
balance between urbanization and environmental protection. This would be a yearlong
endeavor where youth from various sectors will personally take care and observe
the progress of their garden. Seeing it grow rather than just having a one-day
tree planting activity brings greater personal value. It teaches the youth on
the basic of gardening, public good and stewardship.
Barangay Youth
Advocacy on Solid Waste Management
The
organized barangay-based youth organization will be trained in a one-day
training of trainers to advocate for solid waste management in the barangay
levels. The training is designed to educate the youth community leaders on the
basic solid waste law, best practices, and community advocacy work. This is in
partnership with the Solid Waste Management Council. Leaders of the various
youth clusters and interns of the SPES Oro Youth will also be tapped as the
leaders of this community-based movement.
Citywide youth forum
on disaster preparedness and management
This
one-shot forum will highlight the different initiatives and methods of the city
and private sector on disaster preparedness. The youth disaster management
communities will also be formed in this forum where they will be the core group
which the barangay and the city disaster risk reduction and management council
will mobilize and include in the planning processes.
Eco-bag use advocacy
By virtue of City Ordinance 12440-2012, business establishments are required to pass to the customers 1.00 for every use of cellophane. This is to encourage people to use eco-bags rather than plastic. In this regard, the youth leaders would like to spread information about the law and encourage the youth to use eco-bags rather than plastic.
Eco-bag use advocacy
By virtue of City Ordinance 12440-2012, business establishments are required to pass to the customers 1.00 for every use of cellophane. This is to encourage people to use eco-bags rather than plastic. In this regard, the youth leaders would like to spread information about the law and encourage the youth to use eco-bags rather than plastic.
[1] http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/01/12/1277812/visayas-now-phls-typhoon-belt
[2] http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2012/12/14/sendong-survivors-still-cry-justice-258435
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