MANILA, Philippines – Provisions on environmental sustainability continue to be mainstreamed in the proposed P3.35-trillion national budget for 2017 even as the Senate monitors the implementation of the country’s environmental laws, Sen. Loren Legarda said.
Legarda, chairperson of the Senate committee on finance, made the statement during the hearing for the proposed 2017 budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) late last month.
“The environmental laws that this institution enacted in the past decades must be vigilantly, passionately and proactively implemented by the local government units (LGUs) under the strict supervision of DENR,” the senator said.
This year’s General Appropriations Act includes several provisions that reiterate the implementation of environmental laws, mostly introduced by Legarda.
Among the special provisions are the establishment of vegetable gardens, rainwater collection systems, and materials recovery facilities in public schools; the integration and mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation in the development projects and programs of all LGUs and government agencies, and the practice of energy efficiency measures by all government agencies and LGUs.
Source: The Philippine Star | 06 October 2016
