Quezon City, December 17 2010 — UN-HABITAT Philippines capped 2010 with the national training for the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) national and regional officers on “Unpacking the Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment Tool/Process for Local Shelter Plan Development” on 16-17 December 2010 at the Richmonde Hotel, Eastwood, Quezon City. All the HUDCC regional central office personnel who were in Manila for the agency’s strategic planning and Christmas Party, extended their stay for 2 more days to familiarize themselves on the pioneering strides done by UN-HABITAT and DILG in mainstreaming climate change into the local development planning process of which shelter planning is an important component.
HUDCC Assistant Secretary Wendel Avisado, in his welcome message, emphasized HUDCC’s mandate in housing and urban development vis-à-vis DILG’s oversight role in compliance, monitoring and reporting of local governments’ performance. He highlighted the agency’s climate proofing strategy of integrating climate change adaptation (CCA) in local shelter planning. Thus, he stressed the need for the orientation-workshop as HUDCC officers have the responsibility of guiding and supporting local governments in their shelter planning processes.
UN-HABITAT Knowledge Management Specialist Cris Rollo introduced the Climate Change Project of UN-HABITAT which is a convergence of two tracks: UN-HABITAT’S Cities and Climate Change Initiative (CCCI) and the AECID-funded Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund 1656 (MDG-F 1656) which is a joint program of the Philippine Government and the United Nations. He discussed the Sorsogon City climate change project now implementing four demonstration projects which are concrete actions flowing from the city’s strategy on climate change actions.
Department of Interior and Local Government- Bureau of Local Government Development (DILG-BLGD) Assistant Director Priscella B. Mejillano presented the agency’s efforts at mainstreaming DRRM/CCA in local governance through the Risk Sensitive Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) in the Rationalized Local Planning System (RPS). She explained the four components of the RPS which are: 1) the planning structure, 2) the code-mandated plans which are the CLUP and the CDP, 3) the planning process including the synchronized planning calendar, and 4) the tools for implementation. She explained in detail the rationalized planning process and situated shelter planning as an important component of the CDP. She also updated the body on the following:
- New version of CBMS is already DRRM-CCA compliant. This could be piloted in Sorsogon City.
- LGUs to do inventory of sites for socialized housing
- A total of 1,400 of 1,600 LGUs have submitted CLUPs
- GFDRR project: 7 provinces, with 3 LGUs each, will implement CLUP-CDP that is DRRM-CCA compliant
On the question of when is the best time for shelter planning, she suggested that shelter planning be done during the first 6 months in 2011. In considering the political agenda of leaders in local planning, it is best that the local chief executive participate in the whole planning process especially during vision-setting and prioritization.
UN-HABITAT Climate Change Coordinator Adelaida Mias-Mamonong reviewed the basic concepts on climate change and shared the latest projections and scenarios from PAG-ASA. These climate scenarios would be very useful for local planning as they would guide local governments on probable climate scenarios for the short, medium and long term planning horizons. She continued the discussion on the VAA orientation on the 2nd day of the workshop.
The participants requested for copies of the presentation and for further training so that they could confidently echo the same to their respective LGUs in the regions. Further trainings will be conducted for the regional officers as needed.
