At best, Republic Act 9729 or Climate Change Act of 2009, which was signed recently by President Arroyo reiterates what has been recognized by the international community for decades now, that climate change is a real and present concern that needs to be addressed concertedly at the local, national and global levels.

Other than this, the passage of the act is just another form of greenwashing by the Arroyo government, a knee-jerk response to the recent disasters, and its denial of the root causes of  the current environment, human and climate crisis.

The main content of RA 9729 is the creation of Climate Change Commission, headed by no less than the president of the Philippines,  which will incorporate climate change concepts in policy and development plans, as well as receive funds and endowments to address this problem. The law also provides for the  formulation of the Framework Program on Climate Change and National Climate Change Action Plan, aims that have already been mentioned in previous legislations.

In 1991, President Aquino created the Inter-Agency Committee on Climate Change (IACCC) under the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through Presidential Order No. 220. The stated aim of the committee is to "harness and synergize the various activities being undertaken by the national government and civil society in response to the crisis posed by growing problem on climate change".

In 1992, the Philippines signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and have agreed to the mandate that "should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities."

In 1997, the country drafted the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAP), becoming one of the world's first countries to produce such a plan. The NAP is a framework aimed to identify the general thrusts for stakeholders, particularly the government, to address the issue of climate change.

The Arroyo administration, itself, has long made public pronouncements that the issue of climate change is high on its agenda. Mrs. Arroyo created the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change (PTFCC) through Administrative Order (AO) 171 issued on February 2007 in recognition of the "urgent need to confront the issue of climate change and decisively address its adverse effects on the people and the production sectors". She then appointed herself as head in 2008 and replaced DOE Secretary Angelo Reyes so she can have a "hands-on approach in crafting and implementing initiatives for environmental security".

Yet, flashfloods and landslides have come and gone, in spite  all these climate change and environmental laws, committees and agreements, impacts on people and the environment have gone from bad to worst.

Much touted infrastructure projects, which have already displaced thousands of families during their construction,  like Manggahan floodway projects,  the San Roque Mulit-Purpose Dam, the ADB-funded project in Panay were all useless  to the typhoons that hit the country in recent years, months and days.  Information on geohazards,  early warning systems in disaster-prone areas which dominate the Philippine landscape are hardly in place.

Worse, the government still pursue environmentally destructive and climate change-causing projects in the name of accessing foreign investments.  

As a result, the number of climate related disaster victims have increased over the years, especially during 8-year term of President Arroyo. Case in point of the government's continuing ineffectiveness to deal with climate change related disasters is proven by its poor response to the recent storms Ondoy and Pepeng.

Ultimately, even with the passage of the Act, we should brace ourselves for more disasters in view of fundamental political and economic problems that remain ignored.

One, though the law seeks to address the vulnerabilities of our people and country to the impacts of climate change, we have yet to hear a commitment from the Arroyo administration to reverse its policies and projects that are destructive to the environment and communities, that only serve to increase the country's vulnerability to climate change.

The Arroyo administration's program of selling our country's natural resources to foreign investors contradicts the aim to build an enabling environment for climate adaptation by grassroots communities. The Forestry Code of 1975, Philippine Mining Act of 1995, Biofuel Act of 2007, and Energy Privatization Reform Act (EPIRA), to cite a few laws, commodify and privatize our common natural resources, creating so much havoc, aggravating climate change impacts,  that our people are now enduring. These policies, aside from causing environmental destruction and making communities more vulnerable to disasters have driven millions of people from their land and communities.

Underscoring this situation is the continuing promotion of mining liberalization in the Philippines and the implementation of RA 7942 (Philippine Mining Act of 1995). In recent years, mining projects have directly caused disasters or indirectly contributed to natural disasters, such as landslides, land subsidence, fish kills, pollution, contamination, and siltation of freshwater bodies.

Second, the new law has no basic appreciation about the roots of the current crisis which is the unsustainable and destructive global economy and production. It also falls silent on who are responsible and thus must be held to account for the continuing rise in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission.

Unlike the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), that the Philippine government ratified in 1994 and which has paid lip service to the historic role and responsibility of capitalist countries and their transnational corporations (TNCs) on the  bulk of GHGs that are causing global warming, the Philippine law has no mention of this. These capitalist countries, led by the United States continue to block the call for deep and drastic cuts of their carbon emissions while continuing the push for a fossil fuel-based global economy.

They are now trying to erase or muddle what remains the positive aspect of the UNFCCC, that of enshrining the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities." Developed countries or the Annex 1 countries, in UNFCCC parlance, are sharing the burden of mitigation to developing countries, while they, themselves, continue to evade real GHG cuts by promoting  carbon trading and introducing experimental, monopoly-controlled climate technologies and geo-engineering. A climate change Philippine law, can make it the country's business to continue calling for deep and drastic cuts from Annex 1 countries, and imposing greater tariffs or requiring for only clean or "climate-proof" foreign business or investments in the country.

Third, no amount of institutionalization can improve the climate change resiliency of the Philippines if current state of governance remains rotten to the core. We will find it very difficult to respond to climate change and its impacts if the national government siphons off large amounts of disaster relief, rehabilitation, and infrastructure funds to corrupt or inept officials.

The planned adaptation and mitigation strategies must be realigned to the Filipino people's long-standing call for genuine land reform and national industrialization, just jobs and wages, and rights.  As climate change is a political issue as it is environmental, the ways to address it will be a long process, requiring substantial changes in the political structures of our society.

Ultimately, the genuine solution to building a climate-resilient nation lies in a foundation of good governance, the people's sovereign control over their natural resources, and the rights of nations to genuine development.
Consequently, genuine solutions must be pushed for by the majority of the Filipino people. Nothing can be expected  from a corrupt, subservient and negligent government with no regard for the welfare, safety and interest of the people and environment.