Category: Kamayan Para Sa Kalikasan

The objective of this webinar is for the participants to: (1)Be informed of the carrying capacity concept, its indicators, the challenges that come when it is exceeded and recommendations that can be adopted; (2) Listen to various views regarding carrying capacity; and (3) Gain insights from the presentations and exchanges and develop personal guide on how to ensure ecological sustainable development for our country.

Resource Speakers:

Mr. Rene Pineda, President of Partnership for Clean Air and co-organizer of this month’s Kamayan episode; Dr. Mylene Cayetano,  has over 20 years experience in the environment sector, having contributed her technical expertise in air quality research and monitoring through her chemistry and environmental science background; and Arch. Patrick Andrew Gozon, an assistant professor at U.P. Diliman College of Architecture and currently involved in research about native trees and urban greening.

Reactor: Mr. Ronnie James Casamayor, Housing ad Homesite Regulation Officer III, Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development

There are existing laws and efforts by government to address these concerns but how effective have they been in guarding communities and the environment?  There is what we call responsible mining.  What is this? Can this be the answer we all are looking for?

Resource Persons: Mining Issues in Palawan by Atty. Grizelda “Gerthie” Mayo-Anda (Founder Environmental Legal Assistance Center, Inc. -ELAC); Effectiveness of Philippine Mining Laws by Mr. Bernie Larin (Campaign Officer, Alyansa Tigil Mina -ATM), and the Reactor: Ms. Judy Ladisla (OIC, Caves, Wetlands and Other Ecosystems Biodiversity Management Bureau, Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources)

Brief History of Kamayan

The three ‘founding fathers” were journalists and broadcasters Vic Milan and Ed Aurelio or Ding Reyes, and restaurateur Vicvic Villavicencio of Triple V, the well-known group of Kamayan, Saisaki and Dad’s Restaurants.  All three were Earth and Nature lovers. Vic Milan and Vicvic were scuba divers exposed to Nature’s beauty and bounty, while Ding, who was my younger brother, was – among many other things – an artist who drew inspiration and creativity from God’s creation. In 1990, unhappy about the lack of attention and action on the worsening state of the environment, they hatched a plan to hold a monthly forum to educate journalists on pressing environmental issues, in hopes that this would open up media space for such issues and attract public interest.  Thus, in March 1990, Kamayan Para sa Kalikasan was born, with a roomful of journalists in attendance at Vicvic’s Kamayan Restaurant on EDSA.  It was held there regularly  every 3^rd Friday of the month for more than 3 decades except for one or two occasions of extreme flooding and – if I remember right – one Good Friday. (Can’t compete with that, of course!) Free lunch was always provided, sponsored by the restaurant.

The good news is, it worked!!! Before long, articles on the environment slowly found more and more space in both broadcast and print media. Then reporters took environmental beats, green columnists sprouted, and news on the environment got on the front page.

Subsequently, the forum was opened up to the general public so that it could reach more people directly. Students, teachers, various organizations, faith-based groups and would-be environmentalists came to learn and discuss solutions to the planet’s challenges. Organizations and shared campaigns came into being after some fruitful discussions.

Alas, the founding fathers were all called home to God’s bosom one after the other. When my brother Ding who was the main forum organizer was taken ill in 2012, he entrusted its sustainability to Green Convergence. And GC has, to this day, continued their legacy.

Through this webinar, Green Convergence (GC), provides a stimulating discussion on how nature-based Solution can be institutionalized. To broaden awareness of how Nature-based solutions, as a framework, addresses the biodiversity crisis while
accelerating climate transformation and to gain insights from the presentations and exchanges and get motivated to act and be involved in the Philippine’s move towards integrating Nature-based solutions in its Climate Change mitigation programs.

The goal of our Kamayan episode this December is for participants to be aware of how renewable leading countries transitioned to renewable energy and their existing programs;  gain insights from the presentations and exchanges and get motivated to act and be involved in the Philippine’s move towards transitioning to renewable energy.

The planned Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) aims to contribute to the efficiency of our country’s transportation system.  It is a six-lane elevated infrastructure to be built on top of the Pasig River. However, various groups and individuals disagree due to its perceived negative impact on public mobility, heritage, environment and public health.

Tune in to our 401st episode:

Loss-and-damage (L&D) is one of the most critical and urgent issues to address regarding the climate crisis. The impacts and risks of this crisis are becoming increasingly past the current capacities of mitigation and adaptation, placing millions of lives in short and long-term danger.

The urgency of addressing L&D has been recognized through the perspectives of science, faith, and governance. Scientists worldwide have consistently warned the world of the shrinking window to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid even more destructive climate change impacts that lead to more L&D. With half of the global population considered as highly-vulnerable, the stakes keep getting higher every passing year.

In recognition of this reality, developing countries like the Philippines have been championing scaling up L&D-related solutions, which culminated in the milestone decision at the 2022 UN climate negotiations to establish funding arrangements against L&D. Yet implementing this decision will be entirely different from making it.

On the 10th year since the landfall of super-typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, it is timely for Filipino civil society and community representatives to reflect on the lessons learned from the catastrophe, the challenges they continue to face due to the climate crisis, and what must be done to further enable the Philippines to avert and/or minimize L&D at the national and local levels.

Conventional national income accounting systems measure economic performance by determining the value of goods and services produced in a country and aggregating them to develop economic indicators, such as the GNP and GDP.

Senate Bill 9, otherwise known as the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS) will include what was formerly considered “externalities,” not valued as capital, in the national income accounts.

Filed by Sen. Loren Legarda the bill aims to incorporate both environmental and non-environmental inputs to allow policymakers to make relevant laws and programs necessary for national development.

For Sen. Legarda “Good housekeeping requires that you work on what you have and not live beyond your means. It is the same for national patrimony. Not taking into account how much we have and how to allocate it drives our ecosystems to ruin,”

Co-organized by Climate Action and Sustainability Alliance, in cooperation with Management Association of the Philippines and Kamayan Restaurant.

Hunger stalks millions of people in the Philippines. Hunger leads to poverty and sickness and for many, the loss of life. Against this sad backdrop, Kamayan will present food wastage in the context of the foodservice industry and household food consumption. Discussions will include waste in the flow of food from preparation to consumption, a backgrounder of food waste in the Philippines, food waste in relation to the UNDP SDGs, nutritional and environmental losses in food waste, food waste and nutrition quality, and food waste reduction interventions towards sustainability of food systems and nutrition quality.

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