BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan emphasized the local government has always been supportive of efforts by the national government to guarantee the sustained preservation and protection of the state of the environment in the country through various pro-environment programs put in place through the years.
The city chief executive said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s warning to local governments during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) to guarantee the preservation and protection of the environment serves as a stern warning to those who continue to destroy the environment to shape up.
Since he entered public service three decades ago, Domogan had been a staunch advocate for the preservation and protection of the environment that resulted to the city being elevated as a Hall of Fame awardee in the cleanest and greenest highly urbanized city category.
Among the institutionalized pro-environment programs of the city that are supported with existing local legislations include the government-led and private sector supported Alay sa Kalinisan, anti-smoke belching campaign, regreening program, no smoking program, barangay-based clean-up program, Salaknib ti Waig program, and air quality monitoring aside from the intensified segregation of waste at source.
“We cannot succeed in the implementation of our pro-environment programs without the active participation and cooperation of the residents because everything starts from the discipline of a person thus it is time for us to reflect on our discipline and our attitude towards the matters that we are confronted with,” Domogan stressed.
He emphasized the importance of preserving and protecting the state of the environment because people are duty-bound to provide the future generations with a good state of the environment which they must also conserve, preserve and protect.
According to him, people should not allow nature to get back at them thus it is best to make sure that environmental destructions are mitigated the earliest for the benefit of our children and their children’s children who deserve to enjoy a good environment to live in.
He said the state of environment in the city is its asset because the forests and watersheds help maintain its cool climate and scenery, the attraction for thousands of foreign and domestic visitors during the weekends and holidays, thus concerned government agencies and the local government are working towards the sustainable preservation and protection of nature.
Domogan claimed concerned stakeholders must not be satisfied with just planting trees but they must also involve themselves in the caring and nurturing of these tree seedlings to ensure their proper growth and serve their environmental and aesthetic purposes.
He urged the private sector and other concerned non-government organizations as well as civil society groups to intensify their efforts in helping the government strike a balance between the rapidly growing population and efforts to maintain a decent state of the environment.
By Dexter A. See
