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| Legarda to SUC Accreditors: Help Elevate Quality of Tertiary Education As Philippine universities fall off from the list of top 300 tertiary education institutions worldwide, Senator Loren Legarda today called on the assessors of state universities and colleges’ programs and curricula to help improve the quality of education in the country. "Making the Philippine education system at par with its global counterparts is a gargantuan task, even more so today as the quality of education in our country leaves much to be desired, following the international rating our universities received last year," said Legarda, who was Guest of Honor and Speaker at the Annual National Conference and Silver Anniversary Celebration of the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP). The Senator noted that in 2011, the country’s top universities have fallen from their previous ranks and are no longer in the world’s Top 300 universities based on rankings by international education company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). "Our situation presents a challenge to rise from this daunting deterioration. We have to invest enough to create a pool of experts in our academic institutions. Our SUCs need significant support, especially from the government, in conducting researches and projects that can keep pace with the best in the world, and we must not hesitate in investing in institutions that can in fact lead research and development (R&D)," she said. Legarda also supported the call of SUCs for increased funding assistance, stressing that the additional Php4.2-Billion budget would still be inadequate to make SUCs centers of excellence in Science and Technology, and to enable them to build up a world-class group of professors and researchers and to attract the brightest young minds. "AACCUP plays a key role in monitoring the quality of programs offered by our SUCs and with the accreditors being members of SUCs too, the sharing of best practices and mutual cooperation in developing first-rate curriculum would be necessary; and the superior task of evaluating programs and institutions requires no less than the assessors’ impartiality, objectivity and integrity," the Senator pointed out. "We are confronted with the great task of elevating the quality of higher education in the country, and with our universities plummeting in the global rankings, our actions must be immediate and our efforts must be twice over for we are dealing with the future not only of our youth but of our nation," Legarda concluded. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Senator Loren Legarda, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, greets Ambassador Guy Ledoux, Head of the European Union Delegation in the Philippines, during the courtesy call of Hon. Viorel Isticioaia Budura, Managing Director for Asia and Pacific of the European External Action Service (EEAS), who received from the Senator a copy of her book, Redefining Development. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Legarda: ‘Capitalize on our Resources to end hunger among Filipinos’ Senator Loren Legarda today said that the government must capitalize on the country’s rich resources to address the lingering problem of hunger that many Filipinos are still experiencing. "The Philippines now imports galunggong and dilis. The country’s most popular fish is not just getting fewer. It is also getting smaller and more expensive. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said the country’s marine grounds have become heavily exploited over the years. Ten of 13 areas mapped are said to be very heavily exploited,"Legarda pointed out. She said that the country has one of the world’s richest ecosystems, characterized by extensive coral reefs, sea-grass beds and dense mangroves. The Philippines is 6th in global fish and aquaculture production in 2008. However, 4.5 million families continue to experience hunger based on the last quarter survey of 2011. "This alarming irony becomes even more glaring in the fact that while we are rich in fisheries and coastal resources, among the poorest in our country are coastal communities with 4 of 10 coastal residents living under poverty line," the Senator stressed. In this light, Legarda sought the Senate’s approval of the agreement between the Philippines and the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) to establish the Office of the WorldFish Center here in the country. In sponsoring Committee Report No. 124, Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, explained that the WorldFish Center, also known as the ICLARM, is an international research organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger by improving fisheries and aquaculture. She stressed that the presence of ICLARM in the country, through a duly established Office, will ensure continuity in its programs and joint initiatives with the Philippine government and other partner institutions for the development of the fisheries sector. "Over the years, the ICLARM has been working closely with a number of research institutions in the Philippines to increase fish production, improving resource management and equitable distribution of benefits in developing countries and protecting the environment," she said. "The presence of ICLARM in the country will contribute to our efforts in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on poverty reduction and hunger elimination. The World Fish Center’s projects on small-scale fisheries practice and aquaculture will contribute to improving nutrition and raising incomes in rural areas. Its work on biodiversity information systems will provide scientific basis for projects involving natural resources management and aquaculture. Its work on environmental conservation, jointly with our institutions, will be key to fighting poverty, food security and over-all economic development," Legarda said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Legarda wants better management of country’s rivers In a bid to ensure better management of the country’s rivers and minimize the risks brought by extreme weather events, Senator Loren Legarda has proposed the institutionalization of the Integrated River System Management Approach. Legarda explained that despite the collaborative efforts exerted by various agencies of government on water management, the risks of flashfloods and other water-related disasters continue to threaten communities as witnessed during the onslaught of Tropical Storm Sendong in Northern Mindanao and some parts of Visayas. "Climate change has already aggravated the hazards that we have been experiencing, further worsened by the absence of an institutional framework addressing issues on water resource development which leads to a fragmented and oftentimes conflicted approach in water management," she stressed. "We must adopt and institutionalize the Integrated River System Management Approach as a systematic framework in addressing river water management and development," she added. Legarda’s proposal is contained in Senate Bill 3105, which also aims to classify river basins in terms of importance to land conservation and the national economy and create a National River Council, which will be tasked to provide strategic proposals on resource management of the country’s rivers. The Senator explained that a National River Plan will also be developed. This plan, which shall be reviewed every five years and updated if necessary, will provide river administrators strategies for effective river and river water management based on changing needs and priorities of the country. "In 2007, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) declared that of the 421 principal river basins, 50 are already considered ‘biologically dead’ due to pressures caused by urbanization, industrialization and poor sewerage, sanitation facilities, heavy siltation of rivers and other waterways, among others. This is an ongoing crisis since surface water is one of the country’s three main water sources," she pointed out. "Through the Integrated River System Management Approach, we hope to prevent the risks and maximize the benefits from our rivers as we establish a comprehensive river administration system for flood control, water use and environmental conservation," Legarda concluded. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Senator Legarda presses for stronger disaster-resiliency efforts in Mindanao S enator Loren Legarda Monday called on the national government and local government units (LGUs) in Mindanao to include disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in their priority programs in the Southern Region of the country as they continue to carry out anti-insurgency efforts. Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, said that aside from the lingering insurgency problem, Mindanao today is faced with a greater and more unpredictable threat—natural hazards made harsher and more devastating by climate change. "While the government cannot put aside its anti-insurgency programs in Mindanao, it cannot ignore the pressing need to give equal attention on DRR and CCA. PAGASA continues to warn of scattered rain showers and thunderstorms that could trigger flashfloods and landslides in the region," she explained. She added that soldiers assigned in the region have even shifted to post-disaster operations for citizens affected by Tropical Storm Sendong, citing media reports that immediately after the onslaught of the storm, two army divisions or about 20,000 soldiers based in Mindanao have led the rescue and relief work. Army personnel were also deployed for rescue and retrieval operations when a landslide occurred in Barangay Napnapan, Pantukan, Com-postela Valley last January 5. "The recent flashfloods and landslides in Mindanao have claimed thousands of lives and displaced more families. The Sendong death toll reached 1,257 and affected more than a million individuals, while the landslide in Compostela Valley killed at least 42 persons," Legarda said. "The gravity and frequency of these disasters demand immediate attention and appropriate action from the national government and LGUs. Our disaster risk reduction and management system needs to be more proactive, coherent, and effective. We must realize that every decision we make with regard to DRR and CCA is crucial to our survival. We must plan carefully but swiftly," Legarda said. | |
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