Mindanao Environment Summit

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) held a two-day environment summit in Davao City on August 4-5 in partnership with the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU). The event was named “Oya Mindanao! The State of Mindanao Environment Day” and was attended by 4,000 participants from the academe, civil societies and other stakeholders from across Mindanao’s six regions.

DENR Secretary Gina Lopez said that the summit is aimed to engage and involve the people in the implementation of programs and projects for Mindanao.

“Participants will know more about the DENR’s programs and understand them better. At the same time, it will be a chance for stakeholders to present ways for us to strengthen program implementation,” Lopez explained. She added, “The most important thing is, everything will be interactive and will allow all stakeholders to foster a closer working relationship. This is also a step for the DENR in embarking towards being more than regulatory, but an activator of change.”

The summit opened with a segment called “State of the Mindanao Environment Day” or SOMEDay facilitated by AdDU President Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ. During the forum, civil society organizations (CSO) presented their concerns and recommendations to the new DENR Secretary. The program included the turnover of a Mindanao Environment Agenda of civil society organizations (CSO) from Mindanao to the DENR. In the afternoon of the first day, the President delivered his speech Some 200 CSO representatives were oriented on the major programs of the DENR during the event.

Secretary Regina L. Lopez on Thursday rallied the people of Mindanao including the officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to work together to make Mindanao a model of social justice and upliftment. “Mindanao resources are for Mindanawans, not for business and foreign interests. Let’s make Mindanao a model of social justice and upliftment,” Lopez said. ●