Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Thousands join global warming summit
SEVERAL thousands of Zamboagueños join the first Summit on Disaster Preparedness for the Global Warming and Food Security held Tuesday, at the Zamboanga City Coliseum, which was fully packed to its capacity of 10,000 people.
Different sectors, like the academe, media, urban poor, military, health, education, transport and others, participated in the one-day event.
The Summit was organized by the City Government of Zamboanga, through the City Disaster Coordinating Council led by Mayor Celso Lobragat and congressman Erbie Fabian.
The event was believed to be the first of its kind in the region.
In his opening remarks, Lobregat raised the importance of being aware on the effects of global warming, saying "people should take it seriously."
Speakers during the Summit include Edna Juanito, supervising weather specialist from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astrnomical Services (Pag-asa), who talked on the Global Warming and Climate Change: An Overview; Thelma Cinco, Sr. Weather Specialist, Department of Science and Technology (DOST), on Climate Trends/Change in the Philippines; Cesario Pagdilao, deputy executive director of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development, who discussed the Effects of Global Warming on Coastal Resources; Elisea Gozun, project director of the City Development Strategies, who spoke on Global Warming and the Impact on Agriculture.
For the second part, resource persons were Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras of the Department of Agriculture (DA); Dr. Frisco Malabanan of the GMA Rice Program; Antonio Incentes of the Department of Education (DepEd); Director Emelita Aguinaldo of the National Solid Waste Commission, among others.
Philippine National Red Cross Zamboanga City Chapter Administrator Victor Liozo Jr. stood as moderator during the open forum.
Prior to the Summit, the city joined in the celebration of Earth Day last April, when people around the world turned off their lights for an hour to send message of cooperation to efforts that will cushion the effects of global warming.
Lobregat said that the objective of the Summit is to educate people on how pervasive global warming is today. (Amir Mawallil/Paul Marquez/CO)
