10
Feb 2016
Good morning! This is still the most important conference of the week because we are talking about our own future – Mother Earth. Conferences like this are important. This can be a venue for the DENR Secretary to account for what he has done or has not done. What government has implemented or has not implemented. Everybody would be able to participate. That is why I will propose to institutionalize this, and make this yearly. As I said yesterday, environment is one of the concerns that require the participation of everyone. Environmental......
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Healthy Land
Educating the Filipinos about the care of our forests and the environment should start with the youth. Considering environmental stewardship as a track in Grades 11 and 12 is a good start to open their eyes in caring for our environment. People in government should also be educated and re-educated and the following items should be given immediate concern: Fast tracking ancestral claims, comprehensive land reform, ecological waste management, release of go and no...
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Mandamus on Manila Bay
In January 1999, concerned residents of Manila Bay filed a complaint with the RTC of Imus, Cavite against several government agencies for the cleanup, rehabilitation and protection of Manila Bay. In December 2008, the Supreme Court issued a Mandamus Ruling that ordered the defendant government agencies to clean up, rehabilitate, and preserve Manila Bay; to restore and maintain its waters; and to submit a progressive report in accordance with the court’s decision. To comply...
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Mangrove Rehabilitation
Mangroves provide ecosystem services that are valued from $14,166 to $16,142 per hectare per year. These services include raw materials and food, coastal protection, erosion control, maintenance of fisheries and carbon sequestration. The present mangroves to ponds ratio is 1:1 lower than the ideal 4:1 ratio because of the massive mangrove conversion in the country. There is a need for mangrove rehabilitation. However, though massive mangroves planting are being conducted, it is being done...
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The ECHO-store Concept
Every consumer needs to know the source of their food to make sure that the food they eat is safe and nutritious. Better yet is for us to produce our own food. Adherent to the principles of slow food movement, which is to promote the production and eating of good food – food that is tasty; clean food which is free from pesticides and other harmful chemicals; and fair food both for the producer...
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Safe Food Manufacturing
I am not sure if you will agree with me that manufacturing might be a broad label for the food production realm or the industry of food production. The word manufacturing evokes factories and mass production every single time. It might not be that, because cottage industries also involve some level of manufacture. So I’d like to propose that we talk about production instead of manufacturing. That is closer to the ideals of small-scale,...
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Organic Agriculture Program of Negros Occidental
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, organic agriculture is an effective strategy for mitigating climate change by building robust soils that are better adapted to extreme weather conditions associated with climate change. The Organic Agriculture Program in Negros Occidental started with the Public- Private Initiative in Organic Agriculture which established the organic vegetable farm in the rear of Capitol Building in 2005 and the 15 pilot organic villages. The...
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Organic Agriculture
Organic agriculture promotes an ecologically sound, socially acceptable and economically viable and technically feasible production of food. This is through the reduction of external inputs by avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and pharmaceuticals, while enhancing productivity without destroying the soil and harming farmers, consumers and the environment. The elements of organic crop production include soil management, crop management or multiple cropping, seeds and planting materials and pest management. Soil management involves composting,...
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Urban Gardening
PERFECTO “JOJO” ROM is an urban farmer. He graduated from Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan in 2001 with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Major in Crop Science through a full scholarship provided by the Xavier Science Foundation from 1997 to 2001. He has visited other countries teaching those willing to listen on the concept of UCG. His work about Urban Farming is known internationally as an efficient way to maximize agriculture in...
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Organic Agriculture
Thank you for inviting me to participate in this event. I also convey the greetings of Archbishop Antonio Ledesma for the success of this undertaking and in the conduct of an objective social audit process of our concerns about the environment. When Nina invited me to chair this session, I told her that I am not an expert on organic farming; but Nina said “don’t worry, just give an overview and help facilitate the...
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