Deputy House Speaker Loren Legarda lamented the fact that only six local governments have secured PSF grants due to the time it takes to process requests, which includes assessing their own locality’s climate risks and vulnerabilities before identifying the needed interventions.
AMID the ongoing deliberations for the 2022 national budget in Congress, Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda urged government agencies to improve the capacity of local government units and organizations to access climate finance from the People’s Survival Fund (PSF).
“Alam naman natin kung gaano ka-vulnerable ang ating bansa sa mga bagyo, tagtuyot, pagbaha, pagtaas ng karagatan, at iba pang epekto ng climate change that’s why it frustrates me that we are not utilizing the one-billion annual allocation for the PSF,” she said.
“That fund is really meant to provide long-term financing for local climate projects and programs in order to prevent further destruction and losses within our vulnerable communities,” Legarda added.
The PSF is the country’s local adaptation fund meant to provide grants to local government units and organizations for their projects and programs that can help communities and ecosystems cope with the impacts of climate change.
During her term as senator, Legarda authored and sponsored its creation in 2012 through Republic Act 10174 or the People’s Survival Fund Act, an amendatory law to the Climate Change Act of 2009.
The fund is annually allocated with 1 billion pesos and may be augmented by other sources.
It is managed by the PSF Board, which is chaired by the Department of Finance (DOF) and includes representatives from other government agencies such as the National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Budget and Management, and Climate Change Commission (CCC), the academe, business sector organizations, and civil society.
The Board considers the presence of multiple climate hazards, poverty incidence, and key biodiversity areas in the approval of proposals from LGUs.
Legarda also lamented the fact that only six local governments have secured PSF grants due to the time it takes to process requests, which includes assessing their own locality’s climate risks and vulnerabilities before identifying the needed interventions.
“That’s why I’m also urging government agencies, most especially the CCC and the Department of the Interior and Local Government – Local Government Academy, to bolster your program in partnership with local academic institutions and civil society organizations, to help our LGUs access the climate finance that they urgently need,” the solon added.
The PSF currently has a total of 29 project proposals in the pipeline, of which 18 are undergoing enhancement.
The CCC's capacity and technical assistance program has integrated orientation and learning sessions on PSF to 167 LGUs, and 124 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
“Tinatayang mas lalala at mas dadalas ang epekto ng climate change sa patuloy na pag-init ng mundo. Mas kakailangan ng ating mga LGUs ang sapat na pondo upang maagapan at maibsan ang magiging epekto nito sa kanilang komunidad” she noted.
“We need to learn and share the experiences of the six LGUs that were successful in securing grants. Our government agencies must also assess other gaps and challenges that our LGUs experience and to address them through our continuing support programs. Let’s make this stringent process easier for them,” Legarda concluded.
Tags: #LorenLegarda, #climatechange, #disasterresiliency, #PeoplesSurvivalFund, #2022budget