ANGELES CITY--The Philippines is vulnerable to climate change and is a natural hazard area.
This was revealed by environment officers during a seminar dubbed A Call for Climate Change Action initiated by SM City Clark yesterday.
During his talk, Francis Pangilinan, environment officer of Angeles City, said that every Filipino should do its part to protect the environment and be aware of the impact of climate change to the society.
"That is the challenge to us. As we advance dapat tumataas din ang level ng ating disaster preparedness. We have to be prepared. Why? Because of country is natural-hazard prone," Pangilinan told the tenants and employees of SM City Clark.
The Philippines is geographically located the Pacific Ring of Fire, where active tectonic plates are active and ground shaking is prevalent. There are about 23 active volcanoes in the country, which is also sliced by active faults and trenches, according to Pangilinan.
Aside from these, the Philippines is hit by an average of 20 typhoons every year, the environment official added. Pangilinan said that every household should implement proper waste segregation and disposal.
Ryan Pamintuan, assistant mall manager of SM City Clark, said that the climate change forum is a project of SM Cares on environmental protection.
"Ito, yearly event ito, it's open to all mall tenants across the 50 plus different SM Supermalls. Every year, this conference features topics that address environment [issues], climate change, and its relationship to sustainable business and development," Pamintuan said.
He said that the forum is an opportunity for SM mall tenants to implement sustainable business practices.
Pangilinan lauded the officials of SM Supermalls for sustaining its environmental protection programs including the yearly workshop on waste management.
Rogelio Magat, environment officer of Clark Development Corporation (CDC), also briefed the SM Clark employees about the mandate of the state-owned firm in terms of environment laws implementation.