Good morning and thank you to Usec Marc Fragada and our REDs, PENROs, and CENROs for organizing the Mindanao Mid-Year Management Conference.

These couple of days are an opportunity for us to explore ways by which we can continue to support this administration’s priorities for economic recovery, resilient and inclusive development, and a just transition towards the green and blue economy. Everyone’s active engagement will be instrumental in driving our continued exchange of knowledge and experiences, and ensuring that our dialogues remain constructive, forward-looking and solutions-oriented.

The Mindanao region is faced with many challenges but it is also very rich in opportunities. If we are all synergized and have unity of purpose, Mindanao’s potential can be unlocked and we can truly accelerate development in the region.

Our President said that the preservation of the environment is the preservation of life, and this emphasizes the value of our ecosystems as our natural life support. Our lives, livelihood, and well-being depend on the natural environment. The interplay between the challenge pertaining to climate change, rapid urbanization, pollution, waste generation, ecosystem integrity, and biodiversity call for bold, collective, and transformative action.

In this regard, the DENR’s theory of change outlines five strategies to enable us to achieve our vision of sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development. The first is operationalizing an integrated and ecosystems-based approach (ridge to reef). Second is establishing a national natural geospatial database as a common platform for planning, budgeting, and implementation. This is the natural capital accounting and valuation of our natural resources and ecosystem services (measure what we treasure) which is vital to understanding the wealth and capacity of our country to attain inclusive growth. Fourth is adopting a climate risk lens in national planning and policy formulation. Fifth is applying science and evidence-based environmental management – and this includes abiding by the mitigation hierarchy.

During the Multistakeholder Forum in Mindanao in February, we said that sustainability is at the heart of all successful development efforts and it is what we strive for at the Department. Sustainable development respects, responds, and takes into account local conditions whether cultural or environmental, and this includes respecting our indigenous peoples and recognizing their untapped potential and important contribution to sustainable development.

The transformation change that we speak of goes beyond political and administrative boundaries. It requires effective implementation and consistency amidst varying priorities. We cannot do it alone. The challenges we face require concerted action from the public and private sectors, academe, civil society, and local communities. We need to work alongside our development partners and seize opportunities to truly make a lasting impact.

Any interventions we make must also have an extensive consultation process with local actors at all stages. As I mentioned before during the Field Operations Management Conference in April, we stand by the principle of common but differentiated responsibility in terms of environmental degradation and we acknowledge that some bear more responsibility than others in our pursuit of development. We are, however, hopeful that through our close collaboration with our stakeholders, we will be able to generate new capacity and have renewed energy to protect, restore, and enhance our environment.

This is my call to everyone here today. This past year, we have laid the foundation for all our priorities and we continue to develop and cascade these to the regions, but we need your cooperation. You are the Department’s greatest assets and you are our force multipliers for implementation. While our understanding of the challenges we face have deepened, we must also realize that this understanding must be coupled with action. While we have much to be proud of as a Department, there is also still a lot of work to be done.

As President Marcos said in his SONA:
“We can never lose sight of our responsibility to the future.”
(SONA 2023)

Thank you very much, and good morning.