News & Updates
FEATURED | 06 May 2024
Threat to planet earth and environment a national security concern- Jimenez
This was stressed by Atty. Angelo A. Jimenez, President of the University of the Philippines System, during the signing ceremonies of the environmental diplomacy and negotiations last April 29, 2024, at the School of Environmental Science and Management-University of the Philippines Los Baños (SESAM-UPLB) Academic Quadrangle. Atty. Jimenez was the distinguished guest of the event, entitled “Toward a Common Ground: Forging Partnerships for the environment and groundbreaking ceremony for the SESAM Annex Building.”
Atty. Jimenez is the 22nd president of the UP System. He said that he studied his first year in the university here in UPLB. He later finished BS Sociology and Bachelor of Laws from UP Diliman. A former resident of the FOREHA dorm, he said he loves the environment and fresh air of UPLB. Now he is proud to see that SESAM is now offering the PhD Environmental Diplomacy and Negotiations program.
“When I fought for the approval of the PhD program on environmental diplomacy, there were very serious questions about it, the first question is why UPLB? Because we put the word ‘diplomacy’, you talk about people in ties and suits, it is a diplomat-level. But of course, we realized that the world has changed and much of what we know about national security has to do on what we call today as ‘non-traditional security threats,’ and one of the biggest threats today is the threat to planet earth and the environment,” Atty. Jimenez stressed.
UPLB signed two memoranda, namely a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Security Council (NSC), represented by Gen. Benjamin R. Madrigal, Jr. (Ret.), Deputy Director; and a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Foreign Service Institute, represented by Atty. Francisco Noel R. Fernandez, III, Director General. UPLB was represented by the Chancellor, Dr. Jose V. Camacho, Jr.
After the memoranda signing, SESAM relaunched its website. The SESAM official Facebook Page and the link to the Journal of Environmental Science and Management (JESAM) webpage at the UPLB Journals Online website can now be accessed thru the new SESAM website. New links of interdisciplinary centers and SESAM projects will also be accessed from the school’s website soon. Also during the event, audio visual presentations of the school, PhD EDN and SESAM Annex Building were also shown.
In the SESAM annex building groundbreaking, Chancellor Camacho said that with the new facility, SESAM will efficiently carry out the instruction and research functions. “This is for our students,” Dr. Camacho said, as SESAM’s population increases and pushes for internationalization.
Dr. Rico C. Ancog, Dean of SESAM thanked the UP System and UPLB officials for the continuing support and he hope that in a few years SESAM will have a new building. “We dreamed and it is now almost a reality,” Dr. Ancog said. He also thanked the previous deans of SESAM who started this endeavor.The Continuing Education and Training Division (CETD) led the facilitation of the memoranda signings and groundbreaking activities. The event invited SESAM students and alumni, university officials, faculty members and partner agencies of the school.
SESAM, CALACA LGU ink e-code MOA
The School of Environmental Science and Management-University of the Philippines (SESAM-UPLB) and the City of Calaca, Batangas signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to craft the city’s Environmental Code last April 26, 2024 at the Calaca City Hall.
The City of Calaca, coordinated with SESAM-UPLB thru the Office of the City Environment and Natural Resources head Ms. Maria Cristina H. Sunguad, who is also an alumni of UPLB. The Continuing Education and Training Division (CETD) of SESAM facilitated the signing of the MOA.
Dr. Enrico Supangco, Executive Director of the UPLB Foundation Inc., with SESAM Dean, Dr. Rico Ancog represented SESAM-UPLB. Meanwhile Mayor Sofronio “Nas” C. Ona, Jr. signed on behalf of the City of Calaca. This MOA is the first official engagement of the City of Calaca with UPLB.
Calaca was proclaimed a 1st class component city on September 3, 2022. It has 40 baranggays, with an official population of 87,361 based on the 2020 census. The environmental code will benefit the city as it attracts more and more industries and investments.
The environmental code is based on the 1987 Constitution, as stated in Section 16, Article II, of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, that the State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.
Mayor Ona, who is serving his 2nd term as mayor, was also the vice governor of Batangas from 2016 to 2019. “The local government keeps on reinventing and we have to be dynamic… all LGUs in the Philippines must have an e-code, the ordinance is one part, but the implementation is the most important,” Mayor Ona said.
SESAM-UPLB has been actively involved in the crafting of e-codes of different LGUs around the country, namely Laguna Province, Batangas City and Tanuan City, Batangas. This six-month project which is entitled “Development of Environmental Code of Calaca City,” will start this May 2024. Joining Dean Ancog are members of CETD led by For. Sofia A. Alaira, Dr. Thaddeus P. Lawas, Mr. Patrick M. Cabangbang, Ms. Cherry S. Padilla and Ms. Jessa O. Aquino-Cando, EnP.
The Philippines can raise its voice loudly in the international stage against global warming- Garrity
The discussion during the 13th SESAM ExChanges last April 16, 2024 circled around landscapes, people and planet, featuring Dr. Dennis Garrity, former Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre. SESAM ExChanges is an environmental challenges and solution seminar series organized by the University of the Philippines-School of Environmental Science and Management (UPLB-SESAM).
Dr. Garrity, a systems agronomist and research leader whose career has focused on improving small-scale farming systems in the tropics. He has been serving as drylands ambassador for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, emphasizing the role of agroforestry, evergreen agriculture and landcare for sustainable land management.
He currently chairs Global Evergreening Alliance based in Victoria, Australia. It is a partnership of nearly all of the major development and conservation organizations around the world. In addition, Dr. Garrity also chairs Landcare International, worldwide effort to support grassroots community-based natural resource management.
Meanwhile in his opening speech, Dr. Rico C. Ancog, Dean of SESAM, expressed his appreciation to Dr. Garrity who has been doing plenty of research and other related endeavors in environmental science. “His ideas are quite not the norm now, but we are inviting everyone to have an open mind because any complex problems will really require thinking out-of-the-box, meaning maybe not within the usual norm, but that is precisely the role of the academic community,” Dr. Ancog said.
Dr. Garrity is a supporter of SESAM for decades. “I’ve followed the development of the School of Environmental Science and Management ever since it started out as the hydro-ecology project under the leadership of Dr. Percy Sajise in 1975 when I was a graduate student in UPLB and he was my professor in advanced ecology,” Dr. Garrity said.
In his lecture entitled “human and ecosystems vulnerability to accelerated global heating in the Philippines, so what’s the plan?” Dr. Garrity stressed the importance of improving small-scale farming systems in the tropics. “The earth is cooking and the ecosystem is bearing the brunt of it, along with billions of vulnerable people and the organisms that we share with in this beautiful planet,” he added.
“The policy implication of such a prospect for the Philippines is such enormous, the question is how can we inform the Philippine public and political leaders that it is not necessary just to sit back and wait for disaster to happen, the Philippines can raise its voice in the international stage and call vigorously for more research and development in these science-based solutions,” Dr. Garrity stressed.
In the synthesis and closing remarks, Dr. Antonio Contreras, Professor, SESAM said that Dr. Garrity’s presentation was very scientifically warranted and necessary. “It is an eye-opener for all of us, which highlighted specifically what needs to be reinforced and replicated to solve the crisis we have now,” Dr. Contreras said.
SESAM ExChanges is organized by the Continuing Education and Training Division (CETD) of SESAM. More than 400 attended via Zoom and Facebook Live.
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Chocolate Hills to be discussed in the next SESAM ExChanges
We must clearly define what to be included in a protected area- Rep. Chatto
Smashing success: SESAM hosts the 1st Badminton Smash Tournament
SESAM-CETD wraps-up 9-day training on environmental management
SESAM conducts fire drill
There is a need for expansive science to understand people-planet dynamics- Ben Malayang
1st SESAM ExChanges in 2024 Featured ESG in the Asian Perspective
Former SESAM Dean Ben Malayang to discuss environmental security and sustainability in ExChanges Series 11
