The Philippine Online Chronicles

Philippine National Climate Change Commission Vice-Chairman Secretary Mary Lucille Sering said the government should start addressing how water and forest resources are being consumed and perhaps conduct a “full economic valuation.”

“We need a (definitive) mining policy,” she said, adding that mine operators should have investments to sustain the resources they consume. The investment could be in the form of taxes or infrastructure projects for the upkeep of rivers or forests.

Attending the First Philippine City Councilors Summit on Climate Change, Sering said that under a climate of extreme weather conditions, enterprises compete for substantial amounts of resources. She said governments should plan ahead to ensure that resources will not be depleted.

According to Inquirer, The Cordillera Administrative Region in 2008 conducted an “interregional water and resources initiative” in Ilocos and Cagayan Valley to study the possibility of a watershed tax.

However instead of collecting payment from firms, Sering said the Aquino administration prefers “monetizing the protection of resources.”

The government is considering a conditional cash transfer program that would provide for payments to communities that are able to keep their natural resources intact.