POLICYMAKERS AND researchers discussed climate change and political stability at the Policy Expo 2024 held at the University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) Thomas Aquinas Research Center auditorium on March 8 and 9, 2024.
Climate Change Commission (CCC) Vice Chair and Commissioner Robert E. A. Borje, Agri party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee, Center for Liberalism and Democracy (CLD) Program Officer PJ Leynes, Quezon City Government City Administrator Michael Victor N. Alimurung, and Philippine Society for Public Administration and Philippine Futures Thinking Society (PhilFutures) President Lizan Perante-Calina were the speakers for the two-day event.
“Kung sino pa ang mga food producers sa bansa, sila pa ang ‘di nakakain at pinakamahirap ang kalagayan,” Lee said.
(The food producers themselves are also the ones who cannot put food on the table.)
On the first day, the exposition tackled measures to ensure the country’s ecological balance and climate change resilience. The speakers on this topic were the CCC’s Borje, Agri Party-list's Lee, and CDL’s Leynes.
Lee emphasized that food security faces threats from climate change and discussed procedures to protect the agricultural sector, such as improved product storage and logistics and the digitalization of registry systems for farmers.
“Climate change is compounded in impacts in economic, political, social, and ecological pressures which, for a country like the Philippines, are already challenging enough as they are,” Borje stated, discussing the interrelatedness of the threats of climate change with other sectors of society.
According to Borje, these pressures lead to the loss of livelihoods, increased competition over resources, displacement, migration, and food crises.
Leynes tackled how climate justice is achievable through sustainable development, renewable energy, and localizing academic research.
“We can jointly develop modules for this. Ano ang pwede nating gawin? Modules about educating the communities, modules on how do we train community leaders to be more aware of this, cognizant of this, and actually teaching them ano ba pwedeng gawin,” Leynes suggested.
(We can jointly develop modules for this. What can we do? Modules about educating the communities, modules on how do we train community leaders to be more aware of this, cognizant of this, and actually teaching them what they can do.)
Meanwhile, the second day explored political stability, peace, and public safety, tackled by Quezon City Government's Alimurung and PhilFutures’s Perante-Calina.
Alimurung underscored the cost and challenges of crafting policies as a city administrator of the Quezon City Government and highlighted the need for localized studies and programs.
“When you do your research, always keep in mind, which is ‘How does my research help?’ actual practice and implementation, because if all you’re going to do is publish a paper that sits in somebody’s door, in somebody’s cabinet, or in some digital file, then we probably haven’t done the Philippines enough of a good service,” Alimurung stressed.
Perante-Calina emphasized the disciplinary approach of “future thinking” and social responsibility in policymaking.
“For you to continue to and improve the present state of your anticipatory skills, you need to sense the future, you need to have the ‘Whole Systems Thinking’ approach, and you need to reframe,” Perante-Calina said.
The exposition aims to pinpoint how scholars and the university's research institutions "can aid and assist government institutions in the pursuit of total security and happiness for all."
The Policy Expo 2024, with the theme "Towards Security Solutions: Creating Strategic Intersections for Scholars and Bureaucrats," was organized by the UST Research Center for Social Sciences and Education. Research academics, faculty members, and students attended the exposition. – Manila Pulse
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