Thursday, October 16, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY: The city continues to reap dividends on its exemplary environmental protection, conservation and sustainable development programs as it added another feather to its cap after bagging the Asean Environmentally Sustainable Cities Award in Hanoi, Vietnam last week.
This is the first time that the Asean gave out such an award, which was received by Councilor Miguel Cuaderno 4th. Puerto Princesa City was nominated by the Department of Environment and Natural Rresources-Environment Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) in recognition of its role as the country’s foremost champion of sustainable development.
Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Asean Secretary general explained that the award is an initiative of the Asean Environment Ministers which aims “to give recognition to cities in Asean that have taken exemplary measures to keep their cities clean, green and livable even as they continue to grow as centers of economic and industrial activity.”
Aside from Puerto Princesa City, other recipients of the ESC Award were Temburong District, Negara Brunei Darussalam; Municipality of Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia; Palembang City, Republic of Indonesia; Luang Prabang District, Lao PDR; North Kucing City Hall, Malaysia; Taungyi City, Union of Myanmar; South West Community Development Council, Republic of Singapore; Bangkok City, Kingdom of Thailand’ and Ha Long City, Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Dr. Pitsuwan stressed that the award is significant because “each awardee-city tells a compelling story of how it has placed environment and nature at the core of city planning, the challenges it faced and its resolve to ensure the cities remain environmentally sustainable as it develops and modernizes. Their ability to successfully focus on the sustainability of their environment provides an experiential model that other cities can emulate,” Dr. Pitsuwan said.
Pitsuwan explained that the rapid economic growth and the increase of population in cities in Asean pose serious pressure on the environment. Numerous studies across the region have reported the significant impact of degraded urban environment on human health. Addressing these challenges will not be an easy task. However, it is not impossible. There are already many best practices from cities in Asean that can be shared and learned.
In response to the Asean award, Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn said: “We are happy and proud and grateful to have represented the Philippines in this very prestigious Asean search for the region’s most environmentally sustainable cities. This is a very meaningful award because it recognizes and validates the correctness of our long-avowed policy of sustainable development in lieu of the destructive boom-and-bust cycles of environmental exploitation characterized by the wanton abuse and destruction of land, air and water resources—the very sources of life—as if these were infinite,” Hagedorn said.
“We thank the DENR-EMB for acknowledging our people’s efforts by nominating us to the Asean Environmentally Sustainable Cities [ESC] Award 2008,” Hagedorn said.
