DENR Sec: Stronger typhoons 'the new normal'

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon Paje urged Filipinos to accept as the "new normal" the increasing intensity of typhoons lashing the country.

 

“There is nothing we [can] do but adapt to climate change, and the only way we could be prepared for the impact of climate change is to accept that these recent developments in our country, like intense weather disturbances, heavy rainfall, as well as [the] long dry season, are now the 'new normal,'” Paje said in a television interview on Wednesday.

 

Paje also urged people to take the warnings from authorities seriously during calamities and to stop being “sutil," adding that the Litex area in Brgy. Commonwealth, Quezon City had been identified as susceptible to landslide in 2002. A landslide occurred in the area on Tuesday.  

Paje said he would ask the local government of Quezon City to have the area be declared a “permanent danger zone.”

 

The DENR chief added that the Philippines has been identified by a United Nations study as being highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.  Because of this, he said, the government has been working on long-term solutions to minimize damage on people and government infrastructures.

 

He cited the convergence project his agency is working on with the Public Works Department to build small water impounding dams in the uplands.

 

“If you allow rainwater to go down the watersheds it would result in flooding. But if you can impound them, the water becomes [a] precious resource that you can use during dry season,” Paje said. 

 

He also mentioned the Agriculture Department's initiative in successfully developing new rice varieties that are resilient to climate change.

 

Paje added that the DENR's Mines and Geosciences Bureau is developing bigger geohazard maps with a scale of 1:10,000 to be distributed at the barangay level. Previous maps issued by the DENR had a scale of 1:50,000. - BM, GMA News