Stressing that there is “no price tag on environmental sustainability", Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine “Nene” Sato batted for the prioritization of bills ensuring environmental protection and biodiversity pending in Congress.
Sato said provinces such as Occidental Mindoro should continue to enjoy protection in law to ensure their ecological integrity.
Sato, who is now serving as a United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Global Legislative Champion for Biodiversity and Environment, has pledged to continue to ensure the protection of the province’s ecology as she vowed solid support for programs and advocacies that would protect and conserve the environmental jewels of the island district.
To better guarantee this the senior administration lawmaker stressed the significance of the swift passage of bills on environment and biodiversity, among them legislative proposals she has filed in the House of Representatives.
Among these measures are those seeking to revise and strengthen the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act and prosecute illegal wildlife trade as an organized transnational crime; strengthen and institutionalize the national policy on access and benefit-sharing from the utilization of the Philippine Genetic Resources (or the “PGRABs” bill); institutionalize the Tamaraw Conservation Program that will scale-up tamaraw conservation efforts similar to that of the Philippine eagle; and declare the entire island of Mindoro as a mining-free zone to institutionalize the 25-year mining moratorium.
“There is no price tag on environment sustainability. No promise of economic benefit can outweigh the importance of environment sustainability and biodiversity conservation. Let us all work together in taking care of Mother Nature and of making sure that no one, nothing hurts her,” the veteran lawmaker said.
The lawmaker, who is now seeking to go back to the capitol and serve as the province’s governor, is likewise the brains and efforts behind the enactment of the landmark Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (ENIPAS) Act of 2018 (or Republic Act 11038), which increased to 107 the country’s total protected areas spanning 15 regions, across 53 provinces covering over three million hectares or roughly 10% of the Philippines’ land area.
“There is no planet B, we do not have a spare planet. Compromising the environment and our biodiversity will have far reaching adverse impact and will put the next generation in dire condition. So, if there's a plan, program, project or any activity that may potentially harm the environment, don't do it,” Sato said.