Jansen

The frequency and intensity of typhoons in the Philippines, especially those that are highlighted, makes clear the destructive nature of climate change on the environment and its role in increasing poverty. As in the case of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013, it ravaged entire provinces and left thousands of people without shelter and wrecked means of making a living. In addition, rising sea levels menace coastal-based communities that make them leave their households, culture, and economic activities. Such abrupt changes tend to increase the population of the cities where most of such people settle, thereby aggravating the existing limited infrastructure and resources. To many of the Filipinos, climate change is not only environmental, it is also social and economic. On top of these extreme events, climate change impacts, particularly temperature increase and erratic rainfall, have a bearing on agriculture, which is a major sector in the Philippines. Most farmers are unable to harvest ...

The chosen theme for 2024 National Children’s Month (NCM) is centered around the campaign “Break the Prevalence, End the Violence: Protecting Children, Creating a Safe Philippines.” This theme rekindles the challenges that a good number of children go through by way of abuse, neglect or even exploitation. Research shows that violence towards children is likely to cause emotional, mental wise as well as physical more often than not impediments to their potential of growing up confident and useful in the society. The main objective of this theme is to give a voice to the children’s issues that are often silenced. It stresses the need to build a supportive and protective environment for children where they feel safe, cared for, and encouraged. In this thematic area the focus is on the sufficiency of legal and institutional frameworks for the children’s protection. In the Philippines, there have been laws proposed for the protection of children such as the Anti-Violence Against Women and C...