TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Tabuk City Planning and Development Officer Maricel Kiley added a feather in her cap when she hurdled the list of passers for the June 2017 Environmental Planner Licensure Examination.
For having such a limited time to review, Kiley turned out to be a howling success obtaining a rating of 74.20%.
She said in the interview that the capability course she attended from February 13-17 of last year refreshed her thoughts on environmental planning which happened to be her only weapon in the examination.
Kiley, now 47, earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1992 at St. Louis University and a Masters in Public Administration in 1996 at the Baguio Central University and Urban Management and Development in Netherlands in September 2015.
Describe by her colleagues in the city government as an exceptional achiever, Kiley explained that as an environmental planner, some of her tasks are to develop short and long-term plans for land use in urban and rural areas while balancing considerations such as social, economic, and environmental issues; plan, prepare and monitor environmental research and evaluate potential impact of assigned project; and ensure if all sites, structures and buildings within the city conform with environmental policies and guidelines.
Kiley said that her success in the exam boosted her confidence as the city’s planning and development officer, in developing her public speaking skills and increasing the way she looks at herself and how she can impact other employees in the city government.
”One year study in Netherlands was a good preparation for me, in particular, the policy on climate change and disaster which luckily have been included in the exam,” she informed.
Inquired about her plans after passing the exam, she said she wants to build Tabuk City as a green city. She explained that everyone is now facing with the global challenge of mitigating catastrophic climate change.
”While we still have minimal effect in the country, we are lucky that we have the opportune time to plan for it,” she reminded.
Regarding sustainable and environment-friendly buildings and structures, Kiley pointed out these must undergo urban design to adapt them to climate change.
”As the issue of climate change continues to make headlines, we need to use sustainable, eco-friendly building practices such as the use of renewable sources of energy like solar panels in buildings and structures; use of light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs; and greener landscaping especially on road networks,” she explained.
She said climate change, as a worldwide environmental threat, can be addressed through maximum use of other renewable sources of energy like hydropower, windmill and others; establishment of green parks in all the barangays of the city; sustaining protected forest lands; and the promotion of E-governance.
Buildings, she added, should also be disabled person-friendly. This means that there should be ramps and lifting devices installed for the faster, safer and more-convenient mobility of the PWDs.
Kiley believes these can only happen with strong political will and huge financial resources.
When asked of her greatest accomplishment, Kiley responded the technical assistance rendered among barangay officials in crafting their barangay development plans since 1991.
She also considered her contributions to the barangays that helped them acquire post-harvest facility, multi-purpose pavements, farm-to-market roads to transport agricultural products, and the opening and concreting of roads.
Kiley said that the licensure examination was made compulsory for all municipal/city planning and development officers in 2013 by virtue of RA 10587 (An act regulating the practice of environmental planning) and whoever failed in the said exam for two consecutive years will be required to take an urban and rural planning course.
She said graduates of any bachelor degree course can take the said exam next year but come 2019, this will be restricted to urban and rural planning graduates only.
The Professional Regulation Commission announced that 739 out of 1,739 passed the examination administered by the Board of Environmental Planning headed by its chairman Josefina Ramos and members Lirio Abuyuan and Dolores Endriga in Manila, Baguio, Cagayan De Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian and Tacloban.
The examination comprised three main disciplines, namely History, Concepts, Theories and Principles of Environmental Planning; Environmental Planning Process, Methods, Techniques and Strategies; and Environmental Plan Implementation, Legal Aspects and Administration.
By Darwin S. Serion
