The 2nd World Conference on Green Productivity
9–11 Dec. 2002, Manila, Philippines
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Republic of the Philippines
(Read by Executive Secretary Alberto G. Romulo)
Thank
you very much for inviting me to this 2nd World Conference
on Green Productivity sponsored by the Development
Academy of the Philippines-Productivity and Development
Center and the Asian Productivity Organization.
While I wanted so much to personally join you today,
as I am well aware of the importance of this conference,
there are some very pressing issues that I need to
personally attend to. Nevertheless, let me share with
you some of my thoughts on the issues at hand.
Indeed, there are two paramount concerns of our time:
the need to achieve economic development, and the
need to conserve the environment that is the lifeline
of mankind. These concerns are well emphasized in
our country's constitution, which says that the state
shall protect and advance the right of the people
to a balanced and healthful ecology, in accordance
with the rhythm and harmony of nature, and shall promote
their right to health. My administration's development
programs and related initiatives are anchored on these
concerns.
In fact, the first piece of legislation that I signed
into law when I assumed the presidency was Republic
Act No. 9003, otherwise known as the Solid Waste Management
Act. No other country in the world has adopted this
integrated ecological approach and I am happy that
we initiated this unprecedented move.
By instituting mechanisms of waste minimization,
resource recovery, appropriate collection and transport
services, and environmentally sound treatment and
disposal, the new law seeks to address the major cause
of the current garbage problem throughout the country.
My top priority has always been the welfare of our
poor who are the most vulnerable to environmental
disasters. Because they are exposed to pollution,
the unhealthy become ill more easily and more seriously.
Their inability to access medical care and medicines
compounds their problems. When viewed in this light,
environmental abuse becomes an issue of justice and
equity, life and death.
We actually have a number of other environmental
protection laws to address specific environmental
issues, such as R.A. 6969 for nuclear and toxic wastes,
R.A. 7942 for mining and R.A. 8749 or the Clean Air.
Take, for instance, R.A. 8749 or the Clean Air Act
of 1999. This law has laid the comprehensive framework
on air quality enhancement from all economic activities,
including that of energy. It paved the way for the
complete phase out of leaded gasoline early last year.
We have to admit that one of the most polluting sectors
is the transport industry. With millions of vehicles
spewing exhaust fumes into the air each day, we are
exposed daily to hazardous elements that adversely
affect our health. We have been looking for environment-friendly
alternatives and so for have identified and tested
a number of them, including compressed natural gas
or CNG, bio-fuels, coco-diesel and alco-gas. Based
on the result of our tests, there are great prospects
for these alternative fuels. They may just help address
the oil industry's concern for alternative supply
options and also provide a brighter promise for the
quality and emission requirements of the Clean Air
Act.
With regard to natural gas, we now have three big
power plants using this environment-friendly fuel.
They have a combined capacity of 2,500 megawatts,
which is already 18 percent of our total power requirements.
Using natural gas lessens not only generation costs
but also pollution risks.
Under the CAA, stationary and mobile sources of air
pollution were also identified and actions taken to
address their pollutant nature. For instance, the
operation of two oil-fired power plants in Metro-Manila,
the major source of harmful sulfur dioxide, was stopped
as part of the government's commitment to improve
air quality in the metropolis.
In addition, we have formulated guidelines for accrediting
shops and centers for the repair or the required adjustment
of motor vehicle emission system, as well as for the
accreditation of truck rebuilding centers. Moreover,
preparatory work is under way for the eventual privatization
of the motor vehicle inspection system, or MVIS, through
a Build-Operate-Transfer scheme.
The promotion of sustainable environmental practices
in the industrial sector is also gaining headway.
For one, the integration of environmental management
systems, or EMS, in industrial operation, particularly
among small and medium enterprises, is being intensively
promoted by our Department of Trade and Industry.
The EMS has already been successfully piloted in
nine enterprises in key industries under the UNDP-FUNDED
private sector participation in managing the environment
project started in 1999. The DTI also advanced the
principles of industrial ecology and related concepts,
with the implementation of the inter-industrials estate
by-product exchange and waste recovery program in
various industrial estates, and the eco-industrial
park program in a major petrochemical corporation.
To further encourage the adoption of clean and environment-friendly
technologies, financial assistance and incentives
have been made available to industries. Government
banks are administering loan facilities intended primarily
for the adoption of clean technologies and pollution
abatement techniques.
Our board of investments (BOI), on the other hand,
is granting tax holidays and tax credits, among others,
to enterprises that adopt waste minimization and clean
production schemes.
Our Department of Science and Technology is providing
technical information and assistance in the adoption
of such processes. Our Department of Environment and
Natural Resources, with the support of other agencies
such as the Philippine National Police, continues
to apprehend smokebelchers in our streets and mete
out the appropriate penalties and punishments.
Likewise, foremost among our environmental priorities
is the protection of our watersheds to sustain our
forest cover and ensure a sustainable supply of water
for household, agricultural and industrial or commercial
uses.
The decongestion of urban areas to prevent the worsening
of environmental problems in cities also holds high
priority. This we do by, among others, creating more
jobs in the provinces which will stem urban migration.
Our P20-billion agricultural modernization program,
which we launched in the middle of last year, has
already created a million jobs, mostly in the countryside.
Our community-based forest management program, or
CBFM, also continues to provide livelihood for upland
communities and has involved rural folks in economically
viable activities to protect trees and watersheds.
In addition, I can cite our efforts to modernize
and make affordable the transport of people and agricultural
goods to and from Metro-Manila and the regions, including
Mindanao. These are intended to boost rural incomes
by cutting transport costs, and to disperse urban
communities to nearby provinces linked by high-speed
rail to Metro-Manila.
On the international front, one of our latest initiatives
was the RP-US bilateral agreement on the trans-boundary
movement of hazardous wastes, which was signed in
September last year. This will enable the Philippines
to manage the hazardous wastes generated by the semiconductor
and electronics industries in an environmentally sound
manner.
What you will be taking up starting today regarding
green productivity will be very beneficial to our
common desire to promote sustainable development.
We need more reforms geared towards producing as much
as possible immediate and concrete benefits in the
daily lives of our people because there are so many
expectations and so little time.
Through conferences such as this, we affirm the
principle that global environmental care, a worldwide
culture for peace, and human development goals are
intimately related. These are challenges for us to
create initiatives – nationally and internationally
– that will transform visions into realities,
and concepts into deeds.
What we are undertaking today is another sign of
progress in promoting human and ecological security,
and proof that we continue to live up to our commitment
to accept a higher standard of human effort and achievement
than what we have done before.
Your valued deliberations will further strengthen
the foundations that will lead us to a new world –
a new world where our societies and our peoples can
feel more secure environmentally and socially. This
event further proves that there is rising today a
vast army of dedicated stewards who can truly ensure
the survival of humankind on mother earth.
While as a nation we will strive to develop our economy,
strengthen our social cohesion and lift our people
from the mire of poverty, as a nation we also recognize
our responsibility to help in the care of our endangered
planet. We must – and we will – do our part.
Thank you very much and I wish you a successful
conference.
