|
|
||||
|
|
||||
| PGMA to attend Coral Triangle leaders' meeting in Manado, Indonesia on Wednesday |
|
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will fly to Manado, Indonesia on Wednesday
to attend the leaders’ summit of the Coral Triangle group of countries in
Asia-Pacific that have committed to undertake programs to preserve their
marine resources. Press Secretary Cerge Remonde disclosed over Radyo ng Bayan this afternoon that the President will stay overnight in Indonesia for the Coral Triangle meeting to be attended by her peers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste, all of which have abundant coral reefs. These countries have mutual interest in marine preservation and protection and are committed to preserve their coral treasures and marine ecology. The Coral Triangle is listed by World Wildlife Fund as one of the top priorities for the conservation of marine life. The triangle is the focus of the WWF Coral Triangle Program launched in 2007. The Coral Triangle covers more than 1.6 billion acres (6.5 million square kilometers), with over 600 reef-building coral species, encompassing 75 percent of all species known in the world. More than 3,000 species of fishes are found in the Coral Triangle including the largest - the whale shark. |
| RP to receive $4.6 million from ADB, GEF for coral reef protection |
|
The Philippines stands to receive about $4.6 million from the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for the
protection and preservation of the country’s coral reefs. The commitment from the two funding agencies was announced earlier this week on the sidelines of the ongoing World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado, Indonesia. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will leave for Manado on Thursday (May 14) to attend the WOC of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI). The ADB and GEF are providing $25.5 million for the protection and preservation of the coral reefs of the Coral Triangle countries. Of the amount, $12.3 million will be allocated to Southeast Asia, while the remaining balance will be channeled to Pacific areas covered by the Coral Triangle. The two funding agencies said the $12.3-million fund for the SEA “will be divided among three countries” -- $4.6 million each for Indonesia and the Philippines, and $3.1 million for Malaysia. “As main partners in mobilizing resources to support the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) plan to generate a total of US$25.5 million in funding for Southeast Asia and the Pacific region,” the CTI said in its website. “The Southeast Asian region is expected to receive $12.3 million in funds to support the collaborative program to protect the coral triangle, while the Pacific region is expected to receive $13.2 million,” it added. “ADB natural resources economist Marilou Dilon told The Jakarta Post the budget allocation was indicative of how much the regions would receive in the implementation of the collaborative initiative to protect the coral triangle,” according to the CTI. “The $12.3 million for Southeast Asia will be divided among three countries: $4.6 million for Indonesia, $3.1 million for Malaysia and $4.6 million for the Philippines," Dilon said. Of the total funds for Southeast Asia, some $10.3 million would come from the GEF, “the largest funder of projects to protect the environment, with a total of 178 member countries.” The ADB and GEF funds for the Pacific region will be distributed as follows: Papua New Guinea, $4.5 million; Timor Leste, $2.6 million; the Solomon Islands, $2.8 million; Vanuatu, $2.3 million; and Fiji, $958,000. |
| PGMA off for CTI summit in Indon City |
|
BACOLOD CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo left here today for Manado
City in Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia to attend the 2009 leaders’ summit of
member countries of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI. The 20-seater Gulf Stream 200 jet bearing the President and her party departed from the Bacolod-Silay International Airport at 2 p.m. for the Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado. With the President were Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, Environment Secretary Jose Atienza, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and Trade Secretary Peter Favila. The President was seen off by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Victor Ibrado, the three military service commanders, and local officials. The President is expected to arrive at 3:50 p.m. in Manado. On hand to meet her at the Sam Ratulangi Airport tarmac are Indonesian officials led by Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Hassan Wirajuda and Protocol chief Lutfi Rauf, and Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Vidal Querol. At the VIP Room of the airport, President Arroyo will be welcomed by North Sulawesi officials led by Governor Sinyo Harry Sarundajang, Regional Police chief Brig.Gen. Bekto Suprapto and Army head Col. Istu Subagio. The President, who will be billeted at the Ritzy Hotel, will attend the Gala Dinner for heads of state of the CTI countries at the Grand Kawanua Convention Center (GKCC). The summit will open Friday (May 15) morning with a brief photo session. The signing of the “CTI Leaders’ Declaration and Symbolic Monument” will serve as the summit’s penultimate event. After the CTI summit, the President will meet with the Filipino community (FilCom) in Indonesia at the Grand Ballroom of the Ritzy Hotel. At past 1 p.m., she will then head for the Sam Ratulangi Airport here where she will ceremonially inaugurate Tuna Processing Plant of PT International Alliance Food Indonesia at the VIP Lounge of the air terminal. The President is scheduled to fly back to Manila at 1:35 p.m. |
|
Statement of President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security Leaders’ Summit Grand Kawanua Convention Center, Manado, Indonesia, 15 May 2009 |
|
Your excellencies, President Yudhoyono, President Ramos Horta, Prime
Minister Somare, Prime Minister Sikua, Prime Minister Najib, development
partners, delegates, ladies and gentlemen: Thank you, President Yudhoyono for making this summit happen. At a time when the world seems mired in bad news, the Coral Triangle Initiative is genuine good news. Here we have nations coming together in common purpose to protect a vital segment of our common global environment. During times of economic hardhip, the pressures are greatest to abandon our obligation to the environment or to loosen the rules. That is precisely why, now, we must be even more vigilant in advancing the CTI program. To a world struggling with global warming, we are showing the way toward a united front to keep our biodiversity intact, our food resources strong and our environment pristine. The Coral Triangle is potentially the world’s most important “refuge” for marine life—but only if we do our part to keep it in good health. For too long, we have let our environment become degraded, our natural resources diminished, our social contract with nature destroyed. It is time to rebalance our approach: develop a strong economy, provide full employment and maintain the sacred relationship of human beings to Mother Earth. This is not an either-or proposition. This must be a win-win solution to not just stopping the degradation, but also improving, restoring and enhancing our ecology. We rely on the sea for food, jobs and pleasure. Let us not destroy this resource. President Yudhoyono’s CTI proposal was welcomed at the 2007 APEC, ASEAN and BIMP-EAGA summits. CTI ministerial and senior officials developed a joint regional plan of action which we are slated to adopt today. We in BIMP-EAGA reinforced the synergies with the CTI. We are pursuing the establishment of a joint fisheries consortium among our private sectors. We are pursuing the adoption of policies that call on the tuna industry to share the costs of caring for tuna spawning grounds in the Coral Triangle. Funding and technical assistance is being provided by the Global Environment Facility or GEF, the Asian Development Bank, and the Australian and United States governments, among others. International non-governmental organizations such as conservation international, the nature conservancy and the worldwide fund for nature are also joining forces to work with the Coral Triangle governments in pursuing the regional plan of action as well national action plans. I have signed Executive Order 797 mandating the Philippine National Plan of Action that follows the general outline of the CTI regional plan and adopts the guiding principles enunciated by our six Coral Triangle countries in 2007. My earlier Executive Order 533, adopting integrated coastal management as a national strategy to ensure the sustainable development of our nation’s coasts, oceans and marine resources, is further adherence to the CTI. We have taken decisive action at the community, local government, provincial, district and national levels on coastal resource management and multi-sectoral climate change adaptation planning, with national budget funding equivalent to what president Yudhoyono has committed for Indonesia. We have also allocated funds this year in our national government appropriations to support the conservation of important species and management of several protected areas including the Apo Reef Natural Park, the Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary and the renowned Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. If we are going to impact the climate change dialogue, we must strive to carry the message of Manado into the ongoing meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We must call on all countries, but most importantly the major industrialized nations and the rest of the developed world, to live up to their UNFCCC obligations, particularly those related to access to affordable and appropriate technology and the provision of funding for climate change management programs. In the Philippines we are carrying out a joint effort of our government, Conservation International and WWF to identify a new priority seascape in line with the regional plan of action and our own national plan. This is a true government-NGO partnership that is successfully working to protect our marine resources. We hope to continue our collaboration with our development partners, particularly in expanding opportunities for private sector participation in the CTI. We have initiated constructive dialogues with global players in the tuna and tourism industries at an event we co-hosted with our international NGO partners. Our national plan uses the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion Program, the SSME, as its platform in such areas as the management of marine protected areas and networks, and the use of an ecosystem approach to sustainable fisheries management. Our current SSME efforts include the development and planned implementation this year, with Malaysia and Indonesia, of the tri-national Sulu-Celebes seas small pelagic fisheries management project. This project, with funding support from GEF through UNDP, supports the goal of the CTI regional plan of action on sustainable fisheries management. The Philippines is honored to take the lead in its implementation. We are also working to strengthen our bilateral relations with CTI countries. We signed separate MOU’s on fisheries cooperation with Timor Leste and with Papua New Guinea as part of our commitment to the sustainable development of the fishing industry. These exchanges will contribute to capacity building in each of our nations. We are interested in Papua New Guinea’s leadership in innovative and effective tuna fisheries management as we look at ways to effectively protect the juvenile and spawning grounds of tuna in our own part of the Coral Triangle. In the next few years, we will work to improve practices and policies towards achieving sustainability of the live reef fish trade in Palawan, a major source of live reef fish for restaurants all over Asia. We have made great strides in engaging the traders and industry players active in Palawan with the help of WWF. We look forward to the day when Palawan seafood will be recognized as sustainable seafood. The Filipino people love the environment. They embrace the need to invest in keeping our environment clean, our seas full of fish and our coral free from exploitation and degradation. That is why we have the Green Philippines Initiative. This includes a national commitment to clean air, clean water and clean land. We are also working to find harmony between jobs and the environment and to find new ways to provide clean energy. We have a moral obligation to ensure that the beauty and bounty of the land, air and sea remain for the rest of time. Let us continue our efforts towards sustainable development of our shared coastal and marine resources. There is no higher calling than the protection of our environment. The CTI is central to our individual sense of self-worth, the prosperity of our nations and our commitment to a sustainable globe. |
| PGMA, 5 other heads of state sign Coral Triangle Initiative declaration |
|
MANADO, Indonesia – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today
(Friday, May 15) signed with five other Asia-Pacific leaders the Coral
Triangle Initiative (CTI) on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security at the
Grand Kawanua Convention Center (GCKK). The five other signatories were Malaysia Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare, Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Derek Sikua, and Democratic Republic of Timor Leste President Jose Ramos Horta. The signing of the Leaders Declaration officially launched the CTI Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) “to address threats to the marine, coastal, and small island ecosystems within the Coral Triangle region through accelerated and collaborative action, taking into consideration multi-stakeholder participation in all of our six countries.” Agreeing that the CTI “primarily focuses on areas of cooperation in relation to coral reefs, fisheries, food security, and adaptation to climate change,” the six heads of state affirmed the Joint Statement of the first Ministerial Meeting of CTI-CFF held in Port Moresby, PNG on March 10, 2009. The leaders also adopted the CTI Regional Plan of Action -- describing it as “a living and non-legally binding document” – in an effort to conserve and sustainably manage coastal and marine resources within the CT region while taking into consideration the laws and policies of each country. The leaders also vowed to “recognize that the implementation of the CTI-CFF is a voluntary cooperation and without prejudice to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, sovereign rights of the six countries respectively over their marine resources, and the position of each state on the on-going and future negotiation on delimitation of maritime boundaries between the countries.” The declaration stressed that the cooperation of CTI-CFF shall be subject to the laws, regulation, national policies and priorities of the respective countries; and subject to the application of relevant sustainable development principles to trans-boundary management, conservation and development within the CT region. It also takes into consideration relevant multi-lateral, regional and bilateral environmental agreements.” The leaders also tasked the “relevant ministers” of their respective governments to “to formulate the implementation modalities of CTI-CFF with a view to enhancing the cooperation.” Agreeing to establish a permanent secretariat for CTI-CFF to service the ongoing CTI-CFF implementation process, the CTI leaders called for the “mobilization and effective allocation of sustainable financial resources needed to implement the CTI regional and national plans of action.” They also expressed appreciation to CTI-CFF partners “for their continuing support towards the successful implementation of CTI-CFF programs in the region,” and welcomed the participation by new partners. They agreed to convene the next CTI summit “when deemed necessary, on a date mutually agreed by the CTI countries, to help ensure that a high level of political commitment continues to be dedicated in furthering the attainment of the goals of CTI-CFF.” |
| PGMA urges vigilance vs. lax regulations on protection, preservation of environment |
|
MANADO, North Sulawesi, Indonesia -- President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo today called on Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) leaders,
development partners and delegates to be more vigilant in implementing the
CTI program. “During times of economic hardship, the pressures are greatest to abandon our obligation to the environment or to loosen the rules. That is precisely why, now, we must be even more vigilant in advancing the CTI program,” President Arroyo said in her statement before the signing of the CTI Leaders Declaration. Thanking Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for “making this summit happen,” the President stressed that the CTI is “genuine good news,” especially “at a time when the world seems mired in bad news…” “Here we have nations coming together in common purpose to protect a vital segment of our common global environment. “To a world struggling with global warming, we are showing the way toward a united front to keep our biodiversity intact, our food resources strong and our environment pristine,” President Arroyo said, pointing out that “the coral triangle is potentially the world’s most important ‘refuge’ for marine life—but only if we do our part to keep it in good health.” “It is time,” she pointed out, to “rebalance our approach: develop a strong economy; provide full employment; and maintain the sacred relationship of human beings to mother earth.” “This is not an either-or proposition. This must be a win-win solution to not just stopping the degradation, but also improving, restoring and enhancing our ecology. We rely on the sea for food, jobs and pleasure. Let us not destroy this resource,” she said. The President said she had signed Executive Order 797 “mandating the Philippine National Plan of Action that follows the general outline of the CTI regional plan and adopts the guiding principles enunciated by our six Coral Triangle countries in 2007.” “My earlier Executive Order 533 -- adopting integrated coastal management as a national strategy to ensure the sustainable development of our nation’s coasts, oceans and marine resources -- is further adherence to the CTI,” she added. President Arroyo also revealed that her administration had “taken decisive action at the community, local government, provincial, district and national levels on coastal resource management and multi-sectoral climate change adaptation planning, with national budget funding equivalent to what President Yudhoyono has committed for Indonesia.” “We have also allocated funds this year in our national government appropriations to support the conservation of important species and management of several protected areas, including the Apo Reef Natural Park, the Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary and the renowned Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, a UNESCO world natural heritage site,” she said. The President was accompanied to the Manado Summit by Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, Natural Resources Secretary Jose Atienza, BIMP-EAGA Special Envoy Efren Abu, Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change Secretary Heherson Alvarez, and other government officials. |
| Let us input Manado message into climate-change framework of the U.N. – PGMA |
|
MANADO, North Sulawesi, Indonesia – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has
called on Coral Triangle (CT) countries to carry the CTI Leaders Declaration
to the United Nations (UN) so that it could be uploaded into the UN’s
framework convention on climate change. Speaking ahead of the five other heads of state of the CT region during the CTI Summit 2009 here, President Arroyo – the most senior head of state of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) – pointed out thus: “If we are going to impact the climate change dialogue, we must strive to carry the message of Manado into the ongoing meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.” “We must call on all countries -- but most importantly, the major industrialized nations and the rest of the developed world -- to live up to their UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) obligations, particularly those related to access to affordable and appropriate technology and the provision of funding for climate change management programs,” President Arroyo urged. “In the Philippines, we are carrying out a joint effort of our government, Conservation International and WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to identify a new priority seascape in line with the regional plan of action and our own national plan,” said the President who was accompanied to the CTI summit by daughter Luli, a WWF officer. “This is a true government-NGO (non-government organization) partnership that is successfully working to protect our marine resources. “We hope to continue our collaboration with our development partners, particularly in expanding opportunities for private sector participation in the CTI,” said President Arroyo, adding, “We have initiated constructive dialogues with global players in the tuna and tourism industries at an event we co-hosted with our international NGO partners.” President Arroyo also talked about the trade of reef fish in Palawan. “In the next few years, we will work to improve practices and policies towards achieving sustainability of the live reef fish trade in Palawan, a major source of live reef fish for restaurants all over Asia. “We have made great strides in engaging the traders and industry players active in Palawan with the help of WWF. We look forward to the day when Palawan seafood will be recognized as sustainable seafood.” The Philippine chief executive -- who had reserved one day each week of her official schedule for environment-protection programs – added: “The Filipino people love the environment; They embrace the need to invest in keeping our environment clean, our seas full of fish and our coral free from exploitation and degradation. “That is why we have the Green Philippines Initiative – this includes a national commitment to clean air, clean water and clean land. We are also working to find harmony between jobs and the environment and to find new ways to provide clean energy.” |
| PGMA picked to lead RP-Malaysia-Indon tri-national Sulu-Celebes Seas fisheries project |
|
MANADO, North Sulawesi, Indonesia – The Philippines is leading a
tri-national fisheries management project with Indonesia and Malaysia and is
in the midst of several fisheries partnership agreements with fellow Coral
Triangle (CT) countries. This was revealed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Friday (May 15) when she addressed the just-concluded Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit 2009 at the Grand Kawanua Convention Center (GKCC) here. “The Philippines is honored to take the lead in its implementation,” said President Arroyo of the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion Program (SSME). “Our current SSME efforts include the development and planned implementation this year, with Malaysia and Indonesia, of the tri-national Sulu-Celebes Seas Small Pelagic Fisheries Management Project,” the President announced. “Our national plan uses the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion program, the SSME, as its platform in such areas as the management of marine protected areas and networks, and the use of an ecosystem approach to sustainable fisheries management,” the President added. Stressing that the Philippines is “also working to strengthen our bilateral relations with CT countries,” President Arroyo said the Philippines had earlier “signed separate MOU’s (memoranda of understanding) on fisheries cooperation with Timor Leste and with Papua New Guinea (PNG) as part of our commitment to the sustainable development of the fishing industry.” “These exchanges will contribute to capacity building in each of our nations,” said President Arroyo who would later sign the CTI Leaders Declaration here with the heads of state of the five other Coral Triangle member-countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. “We are interested in Papua New Guinea’s leadership in innovative and effective tuna fisheries management as we look at ways to effectively protect the juvenile and spawning grounds of tuna in our own part of the coral triangle,” said President Arroyo as she pointed out that the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines - East Asia Growth Area) “reinforce the synergies with the CTI.” “We (BIMP-EAGA) are pursuing the establishment of a joint fisheries consortium among our private sectors. We are pursuing the adoption of policies that call on the tuna industry to share the costs of caring for tuna spawning grounds in the coral triangle,” said President Arroyo whose delegation to Manado included RP Special Envoy to BIMP-EAGA Efren Abu. Pointing out that “we have a moral obligation to ensure that the beauty and bounty of the land, air and sea remain for the rest of time,” the President then called on the CTI member countries and development partners, thus: “Let us continue our efforts towards sustainable development of our shared coastal and marine resources -- there is no higher calling than the protection of our environment. “The CTI is central to our individual sense of self-worth, the prosperity of our nations and our commitment to a sustainable globe,” the President said. |
| PGMA inaugurates Filipino-owned tuna-canning plant in North Sulawesi |
|
MANADO, North Sulawesi, Indonesia – President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated Friday (May 15) the PT International Alliance
Food Indonesia, a Filipino-owned tuna canning plant in Bitung, North
Sulawesi. The inauguration of the plant which is the Philippines’ only publicly-listed tuna-canning enterprise was held at the VVIP Room of the Sam Ratulangi International Airport here before the President flew back to the Philippines. The 1 p.m. event followed President Arroyo’s luncheon meeting with the Filipino community at the Grand Ballroom of the Ritzy Hotel in downtown Manado. Sulawesi Utara Governor Sinyo Harry Sarundajang welcomed to the inauguration President Arroyo and her delegation which included Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, Environment Secretary Jose Atienza, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, and other government officials. Governor Sarundajang’s welcome remarks were followed by the speech of Indonesia Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Freddy Numberi who gave an overview of the fisheries situation in North Sulawesi as he hoped that the Filipino investment in Bitung “will benefit both countries, and especially North Sulawesi.” The inauguration was capped by the signing by President Arroyo with gold ink the giant metal plaque that proclaims, “By the grace of our Lord, a new era of cooperation dawns with the inauguration of PT International Alliance Food Indonesia in Bitung, North Sulawesi on 15 May 2009.” Jonathan Dee, Alliance Tuna president and chief executive officer, said the 60-ton-per-day Sulawesi plant augments the company’s cannery in General Santos City which packs 140 tons of tuna per day. The President – who returned to the country after the ceremonial inauguration -- was in Manado on Thursday (May 14) and Friday to attend the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit 2009 at the Grand Kawanua Convention Center. In her statement at the CTI Summit, President Arroyo revealed to the CTI member nations and development partners that the BIMP-EAGA – the East Asia growth area covering Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines – is “pursuing the establishment of a joint fisheries consortium among our private sectors.” “We are pursuing the adoption of policies that call on the tuna industry to share the costs of caring for tuna spawning grounds in the Coral Triangle. “Funding and technical assistance is being provided by the Global Environment Facility or GEF, the Asian Development Bank, and the Australian and United States governments, among others,” the President revealed. “International non-governmental organizations such as Conservation International, the Nature Conservancy and the Worldwide Fund for Nature are also joining forces to work with the Coral Triangle governments in pursuing the regional plan of action as well national action plans,” the President added. |
