Press Release - Dela Rosa: Co-sponsorship speech

SENATOR RONALD "BATO" DELA ROSA


Senate Bill No. 2780
An Act Granting Juridical Personality And Legal Capacity To The Board of the Fund For Responding to Loss and Damage Due to Climate Change "Loss and Damage Fund Board Act"
August 13, 2024

Good afternoon, Mr. President and distinguished colleagues:

I rise today before this august chamber to co-sponsor Senate Bill No. 2780, An Act Granting Juridical Personality And Legal Capacity To The Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage Due to Climate Change.

To the uninitiated, Loss and Damage may seem to be a topic too technical to understand. Ano nga naman ang kinalaman ng loss and damage sa buhay ng karaniwang Pilipino? And yet, Mr. President, Filipino households continue to face and suffer typhoons, water shortages, and heat waves. To give a more recent example, Carina was unrelenting, unforgiving, and everywhere one could hear statements like: "First time pong bumaha rito sa amin." "Ngayon lang po kami nakaranas ng ganito." Climate change, Mr. President, is all too real.

And because climate change is real, then so, too, are loss and damage. Let us understand loss as permanent and irreversible, while damage can be addressed through reparation and restoration. Ang halimbawa ng loss ay kapag tayo ay nawalan ng mahal sa buhay dahil sa isang sakuna. Hindi na natin sila maibabalik, hindi na natin sila kayang buhayin muli. A loss, therefore, shall remain to be a loss. Samantalang ang halimbawa ng damage naman ay iyong pagkasira ng mga tirahan nang dahil sa parehong sakuna. Maaari pa nating ayusin, o kung may sapat na pera, maaari tayong magpatayo ng panibagong bahay. That which is damaged can still be repaired.

In 2022, the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 27) was held. There, a consensus was reached: a climate change loss and damage fund shall be established. Defining loss and damage as the unavoidable consequences from climate change, the Loss and Damage Fund shall therefore serve as a financial pool for assistance to countries most impacted by climate change.

Mr. President, hindi natin maipagkakaila na bagamat ramdam ng buong mundo ang epekto ng climate change, 'di hamak na