PGMA tells Ocean Park to install MRF
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Quite pleased with the efforts undertaken by newly-opened Manila Ocean Park (MOP) in Ermita to mitigate
climate change and global warming, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo advised its executives today to “adopt
the installation of one materials recovery facility (MRF) as its corporate social responsibility.
The President held her weekly meeting on climate change and reforestation inside the MOP, right in front of
giant aquariums that contained rare and endangered species of fish, manta rays, sharks and other ocean
dwellers while listening to the briefing conducted by Presidential Adviser on Climate Change Mitigation
Secretary Heherson Alvarez in the company of Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim, Congressmen Amado Bagatsing
(5th district) and Jaime Lopez (2nd District).
She asked Mayor Lim to ensure that MRF and recycling facilities will be set up in all barangays of Manila, in
keeping with the mandate of the Clean Air Act.
The President agreed with the suggestion of Alvarez to make the MOP a showcase for schoolchildren on the
importance of preserving the environment, especially the marine habitat, to mitigate global warming and
climate change.
“If we only show to the children, through field trips here, how important the marine biodiversity and forest
resources are in mitigating climate change, then they will exert their best effort not to destroy the Earth’s
environment,” the President said.
She said the MRF’s to be put up do not have to be very big. “In fact the MRF varies in sizes and costs. They
could be anywhere from 10 square meters costing P200,000 to 200 square meter costing P2 million. But what’
s important is we reduce the waste we put into landfills,” the President emphasized.
She then cited the MRFs put up at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources compound (to cater
to nearby Philippine Information Agency compound and the Barangay Vasra along Visayas Avenue); the MRF
in Philamlife Village and in Malacanang.
Mayor Lim told the President that one MRF was put up in the Cardinal Sin Village but it is not operating yet
because the residents complain about the noxious smell.
She also asked Alvarez and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza to provide the forum
whereby barangays and schools that are already practicing climate change mitigation measures can share
their “best practices” with those which are not yet doing these initiatives. She particularly wants a knowledge
sharing in areas like MRF installations, garbage segregation and recycling and converting plastics into
concrete materials for hollow blocks and styropors into sealants.
“Often there is just very little awareness of these things and when they learn of the benefits that these would
bring to their barangays and schools, then they adopt to it more easily,” the President said.
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PGMA to make most of US visit to promote RP
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In her forthcoming visit to the United States, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is expected to promote the
Philippines as an ideal location for increased US investments that will provide jobs for the world-class, highly
competitive and productive Filipino workforce.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde bared this today as he disclosed the tentative scenario of President Arroyo’s
July 30-Aug. 3 visit that will be highlighted by a one-on-one meeting with President Barack Obama.
In a media briefing this afternoon in Malacanang, Remonde said the President will leave Wednesday night,
July 29 for Washington via a commercial flight that will have a brief stopover in San Francisco.
Remonde said the President will be accompanied by five other Philippine officials including Foreign Affairs
Secretary Alberto Romulo and Philippine Ambasador to the US Willy Gaa.
The President, according to him, will have a meeting with the House Ways and Means Committee of the US
Congress and will have lunch with the leaders of the RP-US Friendship Caucus, a group of American
congressmen who are friendly to the Philippines
The Press Secretary said the President will also grace the reception of Senator Harry Reid, the Democrat
Majority Leader of the US Senate; and the forum on the Coral Triangle with the National Geographic.
Remonde said the President will stay overnight in Washington and on Friday will have meetings with officials
on the Millennium Challenge Account and US Veterans Affairs Office as well as other US senators.
Culminating the President’s visit, he said, is the dinner with the Filipino community in Washington.
Remonde noted that among the highlights of the US trip are peace and security issues that include the
continuing fight against terrorism, and advancing the peace process and development assistance in
Mindanao, and the global challenge of climate change.
“This will include discussion on the Coral Triangle initiatives to protect our marine resources and range of
other issues including the global economic crisis to mitigate the impact on the poor everywhere and in the
Philippines,” he said.
Remonde said the President’s meeting with President Obama will also tackle the launching of the National
Youth Service Corps and the importance of the US as the country’s leading trade and investment partner.
The President, according to him, will push for increased market access for Philippines goods and services
many of which come from Mindanao including mangoes, banana, tuna, milkfish, seaweed and carrageenan
and possible technical assistance for Tawi-Tawi and Sulu Sea farmers.
“The President will also have briefings with the American business community where the President will make
a very strong pitch for the Philippines highlighting our country’s resilience in the face of the global economic
crisis,” Remonde said.
On Saturday, July 1, the President will depart Washington for an overnight stay in New York to meet with
various American investors in the Philippines.
The President will have an overnight stay in Chicago to meet with top US businessmen and the Filipino
community.
From Chicago, Remonde said the President will go to Guam to meet with the Filipino community and state
officials many of whom are of Filipino descent.
Remonde said the President is tentatively scheduled to be back in Manila on August 5.
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