A Bioregional Platform
As the 2010 election approaches, aspirants to various political offices have already started laying down their respective platforms of government as they try to woo voters into backing their candidacies. Some capitalize on good governance catchphrases while others bank on local economic development slogans. There are those who vow to build a city college and there are also those who pledge to provide employment to every city residents. Every program is attractive, every promise is enticing.
But recent events brought about by climate change require candidates to look beyond parochial plans and start considering the local impacts of this global phenomenon. Beautifully-crafted governance and economic programs won’t have meaning at all if they don’t contain measures that would cushion the blow of natural disasters, rising sea level, declining rice production, water shortage, and climate-induced diseases, among others.
Our experience with Typhoons Frank, Ondoy and Pepeng tells us that no matter how hard a city or a municipality tries to attract investments to create jobs and generate revenues, decades of development can be wiped out in a snap. Of course, no government program can immediately reverse the global malady that we are now facing, but environmental shocks can be cushioned by building resilient communities through effective bioregional planning.
Indeed, only local officials with a bioregional consciousness can provide answers to the perennial problems of flooding, displacement of coastal villages, food and water crises, and outbreak of diseases, among others, caused by the deterioration of our ecosystem. Bioregional consciousness means the ability to see beyond municipal boundaries by looking at a land and water territory, the limits of which are not defined by political borders but by the geographical boundaries of human communities and ecological systems.
At first, it may not seem politically attractive considering that elections are defined by administrative boundaries, and to candidates running for public office, the voters in other local government units are inconsequential. Why would a candidate include in his platform of government a program that will benefit even those who can’t vote for him? But isn’t it that creating employment opportunities benefits not only a politician’s constituency but all who are qualified for the jobs regardless of where they live?
It is time for our politicians to reject parochialism, see the larger picture and push for bioregionalism as a program of government. There is nothing wrong with partnering with your neighbors to maximize government resources and address problems shared by adjoining local government units. In fact, the Local Government Code of 1991 encourages that through the promotion of inter-local government cooperation as a way of addressing problems that cut across boundaries. “Local government units may group themselves, consolidate or coordinate their efforts, services and resources for purposes commonly beneficial to them in accordance with law,” says Section 13, Article X of the Code.
A bioregional platform reveals a candidate’s foresight, and his or her ability to innovate to be able to solve problems pestering his or her constituents and the community that he or she wants to serve. It means that a candidate can see things outside of the box and find other effective and efficient ways of addressing challenges that had developed in recent times, especially those created by climate change.
Yes, it is good to build bridges and farm-to-market roads but how can one sustain the benefits that they bring to people when it will take only one flood to destroy not only these infrastructures but their livelihood as well? Yes, it is good to develop investment zones and provide jobs but what use do the taxes and incomes have if there is no more food to be bought because our farmlands have been cemented to give way to high-rise buildings and rice production has gone down due to rising global temperature?
Most of our candidates have good plans that when only implemented to the letter, they can put not just food on every table but provide a sumptuous meal with dessert for the household. But the bigger question is: What will happen to these projects and programs when seawater submerges a city, or when food and water shortage hit the country? A good plan can become better if it contains adaptation and mitigation measures that will make communities resilient to climate change.
There is really no rosy road to development in the same manner that there is no perfect solution to environmental degradation. The only option is to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change. And candidates who can provide bioregional solutions to environmental challenges deserve election because they have a clearer vision of what they want to take shape not only for their constituents but for the bioregion as a whole.
Nereo C. Lujan
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