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Official Publication of the Philippine Information Agency Bicol Regional Office, in cooperation with the RIAC-REDIRAS - RDC Bicol



Wednesday, January 27, 2016

CCC-LCCAD pushes Kto12 CCA-DRVR learning materials for students

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 27 (PIA) – The Local Climate Change Adaptation for Development  (LCCAD), in collaboration with  other Office of the President-Climate Change Commission (CCC), the Department of Education, the House of Representatives Special Committee on Climate Change and the United Nations Development Program  (UNDP), will launch here in February this year a project  entitled  “K to 12 Mainstreaming  Climate Change Adaptation , Disaster Risk and Vulnerability  Reduction : Learning Materials for Philippine Schools”.

The project primarily seeks to develop explicit Kto12 learning materials and teaching curriculum modules on climate change adaptation and on disaster risk and vulnerability reduction, in the primary/elementary and secondary levels according to the project initiator, LCCAD Executive Director  Manuel  ‘Nong’ C. Rangasa.

LCCAD is the training institution and service provider based here that caters theoretical moorings to national, local government units (LGUs) and multiple stakeholders.

Rangasa  bared that the project fruition starting on the three-day  technical write shops set  February 19-21 in this city,   came about after  the CCC  through a memorandum of agreement signed recently,  officially recognized the LCCAD as capacity development service provider for climate change adaptation,  disaster risk and vulnerability reduction convergence to LGUs.

LCCAD has since assisted LGUs for implementing their mandate through climate adaptive practices anchored on mainstreaming climate risk, disaster risk and vulnerability reduction into Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP), as well as integration into already mandated local plans such as the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP).

The LCCAD executive director recalled that during the MOA  signing, CCC Secretary Emmanuel  M. de Guzman  took note of the  LCCAD’S K to 12 conceptual framework  calling for the integration of  information on three international agreements crafted in 2015, that are related to disasters and which reflected the growing awareness about the need for more resilient communities and economies.

Secretary De Guzman stressed that 2016 is a critical and exciting year as it marks the start of the implementation of three (3) global agreements: the Paris Agreement of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals, as enshrined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

These agreements are doubly significant for the Philippines in that they address common, interlocking issues affecting the country’s aspiration for a prosperous, sustainable future. These issues converge on the Philippines’ vulnerabilities which stem from its geographical location, socio-economic features like a rapidly growing population, and external factors like climate change which is outstripping the country’s natural coping capacity.

All of these have to be factored in the preparation of the next Philippine Development Plan with resilience becoming a national priority.

Rangasa said five Albayano solons: 3rd District Representative, Fernando V. Gonzalez, 2nd District Representative,  Al Francis Bichara, 1st District Representative, Edcel Greco Lagman;  Ako Bikol Partylist Representatives Christopher Co and Rodel Batocabe;  and Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal are the first  six high ranking officials in the province who have expressed  full support to the  project.

In a huddle here over the weekend, with the Albay legislators  and this city’s chief executive, Representative Fernando Gonzalez explained  that the K to 12 conceptual framework is anchored on educating the youth which is a significant element of a new strategy to embed climate change adaptation,  and disaster risk and vulnerability reduction  in the educational system.

Rep. Gonzalez opined that the project is in support of the global campaign on making communities resilient to disaster amid the irreversible threat of climate change with emphasis on the compelling need for the integration of  the efforts to address the vulnerabilities of all sectors in the country.

Partylist Representative Batocabe, who chairs the House Special Committee on Climate Change, took cognizance of the recent report that the United Nations  Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) has noted that “the 2016 Philippine budget is the first ever  mainstream national budget that has disaster risk reduction features.”

Coupled with this report, it can be recalled that the Philippines, one of the most disaster-prone countries in Asia, was also cited for passing the National Disaster Reduction Act in 2010 and the Climate Change Act of 2009 as amended by Republic Act 10174, the People’s Survival Fund of 2012 which was best described as a “proactive approach to disaster risk and climate governance” that would fully mobilize communities.

Representative Al Francis Bichara stressed that the Philippines has already done a lot to combat and prepare for the adverse effects of climate change and natural hazards and endeavoured to put its development on the path of sustainability. However, the country keeps suffering significant annual losses from disasters and seems unable to maximize opportunities for optimum development.

Rep. Edcel Greco Lagman explained that there is that need to incorporate such information in the learning materials to be produced to make them fully instructional/educational  as regards to the impact of global warming/climate change to the development of the community.

Mayor Rosal expressed optimism that these learning materials   will be a big help in shaping this generation of students into becoming proactive citizens to the government’s risk reduction program.

Rangasa said that the project can very well be categorized as a sequel to the earlier project he initiated and implemented at the Albay Centre for Initiatives and Research on Climate Adaptation  (CIRCA)  in August 2008 when he was then the centre’s executive director.

The project called “Climate Change Adaptation Integration into Curriculum in the Philippines” was designed to bring climate change issues, impacts and responses into the consciousness of the present and the next generation of Albayanos and the Filipinos as a whole,   by integrating such topics in the academic curriculum of primary and secondary schools.

The output of that project were the lesson exemplars in all subject areas in the elementary  and secondary levels, that were pilot tested in  a Training of Trainers Teaching Demo in  some 713 public schools in the province of Albay . “From July 2009 to the present, public schools in Albay are using the lesson exemplars with climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction integrated into the lesson plan.”

Rangasa  pointed out that CCA integration into curriculum initiatives are interlinked but while the former targeted and served the teachers, the sequel  to  be produced probably in handbook  form, will serve not only as reference materials for students but  for other  sectors as well,  public or private,  in need of information, education and communication materials on climate change adaption  and disaster risk and vulnerability reduction initiatives ,  global, national and even in local scale.

 “It will be a tough series of  technical write-shops for the selected writer-teachers coming  from the eight school divisions in the whole Bicol region consisting of seven city  school divisions and one provincial division (Albay)”, DepEd Regional Director Ramon Fief G. Abcede said  “but  we will be buoyed up  by the experience during the first workshop in 2008 for us to come up with a first of its kind climate change adaptation, disaster risk and vulnerability reduction  learning  materials  for Filipino students as a sequel to the lesson exemplars for teachers developed and produced earlier”.    
Rangasa said “equally,  we would like to express appreciation for the National Panel of Technical Experts  (NPTE) coming from the various government agencies  and institutions who will provide the necessary inputs for the project  and the support of our development  and implementing partners namely: the Department of Education (DepEd) Region V; the Climate Change Commission; the House of Representatives  Special Committee on Climate Change; Albay 3rd District Representative Fernando V. Gonzalez;  the League of City Mayors  Bicol representative Noel E. Rosal; and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (MAL/EANunez-LCCAD/PIA5/Albay)

- See more at: http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/3211453877774/ccc-lccad-pushes-kto12-cca-drvr-learning-materials-for-students#sthash.bI7TnKth.dpuf

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