THE WORLD IS PUTTING 30 BILLION tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. The building industry is responsible for half of the total carbon emissions. We cannot underestimate the need to put climate change to the forefront of global consciousness. We cannot fail to involve architects and engineers in the pressing problem to control global warming. read more

DAVAO CITY – Climate Change Secretary Heherson Alvarez is calling for communities to act in helping curb climate change, particularly lessening its consumption of various equipment that produce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. read more

MANILA, Philippines - An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday said the Lenten Season should be a time for candidates to internalize and decide if they are running for national and local positions for the right reasons. read more

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippines will be conducting consultations with concerned local sectors before officially associating itself with the controversial Copenhagen Accord.read more

The National Arts Month sa Mga Sangay ng Pamahalaan officially started at the Malacañang Palace on February 1, 2010 hosted by The Office of Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. read more

A jovial and visibly delighted crowd joined acclaimed Filipino artists to begin the festivities of month-long Philippine International Arts Festival in celebration of the National Arts Month on January 31 at the Lapu-Lapu Shrine in Luneta Park, Manila. read more

THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Climate Change Commission (CCC) for the Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (DRR/CCA) in Local Development Planning and Decision-making Processes project. read more

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo distributed charcoal briquetting machines to six towns here. read more

On December 1, 2009 just before Secretary Heherson Alvarez traveled to Copenhagen to head the Philippine delegation at COP 15, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed him to the powerful position of Climate Change Commissioner and Vice Chairman of the National Commission on Climate Change. Recognizing that climate change has crucial implications for the Philippines and requires long-term strategies that transcend partisan politics, the Philippines has provided for six year terms for Climate Change Commissioners that extend past any single Presidential administration. The President of the Philippines will serve as Chair of the National Climate Change Commission. As Vice Chair, Alvarez will lead the Philippine delegation in international negotiations and coordinate domestic climate policy formulation. read more

YOUR editorial, "What's At Stake," last December 23 captured the modest role of the Philippine delegation on the front lines of the 15th Conference of Parties (COP-15), the arena of 192 nations in Copenhagen that sought an ambitious global agreement to save humanity from climate change two years before the Kyo-to Protocol terminates in 2012. read more

"Firecrackers should be banned." read more

From Ondoy to Pepeng and every typhoon in between, this has been one of the worst years for the Philippines in terms of natural disasters. As a matter of fact, we are frequently ranked among the top, if not the top, most natural disaster prone country in the world. According to the latest Global Report of the German Watch, the Philippines is one of the top 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events over the past 18 years; with a rate of 799 deaths per year and a yearly average economic losses estimated at $544 million. Sadly, deaths and damages this year far exceeded the average, as did last year. read more

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines - Malacañang is not satisfied with how the media have treated the issue of climate change, and government environmental advocates expect the topic to become a household byword only because of the 2010 elections. read more

Presidential Adviser on Climate Change Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez was appointed by President Arroyo Vice Chair and Commissioner of the newly created Climate Change Commission. The President is the chairperson. read more

The good news about the "Copenhagen Accord" held in Copenhagen was that President Arroyo was able to put forward the case of developing countries needing funding for devastation, death and losses, such as what Ondoy and Pepeng did in the Philippines. This was revealed by Climate Change Commission Vice-Chair and chief climate negotiator Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez upon his return to the country. The other chair was Sen. Loren Legarda, one of the country�s top environmentalists who spoke openly for developed countries to come to the aid of developing countries affected by climate change. read more

The prepared remarks of Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez, the Presidential Adviser for Climate Change, for the plenary when the Philippines endorsed the Copenhagen Accord. read more

President Arroyo has appointed presidential adviser on global warming and climate change Heherson Alvarez as commissioner and vice chairman of the Climate Change Commission, an independent and autonomous policymaking body which would coordinate, monitor, and evaluate government's programs and action plans to address climate change. read more

PRESIDENT Arroyo flew to Copenhagen yesterday for the Climate Change summit, saying she hopes to encourage other nations to band together in fighting global warming. read more

COPENHAGEN: The Philippine proposal for a "deep and early cut" in global carbon emissions has gained momentum here at the United Nations climate change summit, where some 115 heads of state will gather in a bid to seal a crucial legally-binding deal to combat global warming. read more

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo leaves for Copenhagen, Denmark today for a four-day working visit, highlighted by her attendance at the 15th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. read more

President Gloria Arroyo will aggressively push the interest of poor nations like the Philippines in the ongoing climate change summit in Copenhagen, her spokesman on the economy, Gary Olivar, said Monday. read more

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo leaves for Copenhagen tomorrow to appeal for measures that will help reduce the vulnerability of countries like the Philippines to climate change. read more

PRESIDENT Arroyo will leave tomorrow for the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark set Dec. 18-19. read more

Even before protecting the environment has become THE fashionable cause to support, or even before Al Gore first showed his award-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and shocked the world, Heherson T. Alvarez, Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change, was already fighting the good fight - for the environment. read more

MANILA, Philippines - The government's global warming and climate change adviser Heherson Alvarez disclosed yesterday that President Arroyo would unveil a broader program for climate change called the Green Philippines Agenda in the final United Nations climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark. read more

Three days to the UN Framework Convention Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, we are encouraged that the prediction of failure has moved to a more positive note of generating the collective will to carbon cutting and financing mechanisms for technology transfer, science research, education and communications. read more

Students in colorful native costumes crowded Heroes Hall in Malaca�ang on Friday morning. There were dancers, singers, musicians who played tunes by blowing on used soft-drink bottles filled with varying amounts of water. A mural by an Isabela-based artist was unveiled. A woman from Palau rendered a native chant. read more

MANILA, Philippines: A colorful assortment of tricycles, jeepneys and cars - all powered by environment-friendly fuel - paraded around the Quezon Memorial Circle on Saturday in a bid to raise awareness of the ill effects of climate change and global warming especially in underdeveloped countries. read more

The Philippines, on global television, has become a vivid victim of climate change disasters with the serial onslaught of super typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng, Santi. There are forecasts of more ferocious storms to come. More than ever, the observance of Climate Change Consciousness Week, November 19-25 declared by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo becomes very urgent and relevant to forge the collective will to respond to the perils of global warming and the crucial need to mitigate, and adapt to climate change including disaster risk management. read more

Two weeks before the historic climate change meeting of world leaders in Copenhagen to decide on a new climate treaty, the Philippine government expressed optimism that the country's ambitious call for "deep and early cut" in greenhouse gas emissions is still within reach. read more

URBAN DEVELOPMENT and climate change experts will meet next week to chart an action plan on sustainable urban development amid shifting weather patterns. read more

President Macapagal-Arroyo signed last Oct. 23 the Philippine Climate Change Act, creating the Climate Change Commission tasked with coordinating, monitoring and evaluating programs and action plans relating to climate change. read more

There are many who have leadership qualities. But men of vision are a rarity. read more

SINCE the year started, President Arroyo has been spending part of her Fridays in local governments around the country to preside over briefings on climate change and solid-waste management, provide support for environmentally sound projects, and to warn local officials of the perils of delayed action against global warming. read more

While it is important for us to cut our carbon emissions to support the world effort to mitigate climate change - in particular through clean energy - in reality we are a minor contributor to carbon emissions. What we really need to prioritize, as an archipelago already beginning to feel the impact of climate change, is adaptation. read more

WITH the climate conference in Copenhagen just several weeks away, the Philippines has started making an inventory of "climate-change adaptation best practices and science-based information," with a view to guiding all stakeholders on directions to take as more disasters linked to extreme weather, among others, are foreseen. read more

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, California, United States- The congresswoman of the district with the largest population of Filipinos in the continental US assured that the US will do its part to support typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines and will reduce the carbon emissions that are causing climate change. read more

President Gloria Arroyo on Friday signed a law creating the Climate Change Commission that she said would help the country, which was recently devastated by two storms, better prepare for natural disasters in the future. read more

In the aftermath of devastating back-to-back storms, President Arroyo on Friday signed into law the "Climate Change Act of 2009" that calls for a national strategy for dealing with what many scientists regard as the gravest threat to the planet. The signing came amid the country's preparations for Typhoon Ramil, which is expected to hit northern Luzon over the weekend. read more

MANILA - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed on Friday the "Climate Change Act of 2009," a landmark bill that will institutionalize government response to climate change. read more

SOUTHEAST ASIAN countries should consider establishing a $5-billion contingency fund which can be used in times of natural disasters, a Palace economic adviser yesterday said. read more

The Philippines should propose an Asian climate change adaptation fund, a move that will help countries gain immediate access to foreign resources in case of a disaster. read more

BANGKOK - As the Philippines was struggling to recover from the aftermath of two tropical cyclones, delegates from 177 countries were meeting in Thailand's capital to iron out a comprehensive climate change agreement that is set to be finalized this December in Denmark. read more

MANILA, Philippines - United Nations Undersecretary General John Holmes said a "flash appeal" for Philippine calamity victims has raised $20 million in pledges. read more

MANILA, Philippines - With the country still reeling from the catastrophic impacts of storm "Ondoy" and typhoon "Pepeng," the government appealed yesterday to the United Nations to open up the Climate Change Adaptation Fund (CCAF) to help nations like the Philippines adjust to climate change. read more

BANGKOK: The two-week climate talks here reached a sour ending yesterday, with tension rising betweendeveloped and developing countries amid failure of government negotiators from around 190 nations to firmly agree on fundamentals for a treaty that would ensure continued restraint on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as support for mitigation and adaptation measures in developing countries, which suffer most from the wrath of climate change. read more

BANGKOK, Thailand: The Philippine delegation to the global climate change summit here led by Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change Heherson Alvarez yesterday pressed developed countries to see eye to eye with developing countries and make deep and early cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. read more

BANGKOK - The Philippines strongly urged developed countries Wednesday to cut greenhouse-gas emissions to stem the impact of climate change in the wake of its worst flooding in decades. read more

In her State of the Nation Address last July 27, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said: "As a country in the path of typhoons and the Pacific Rim of Fire, we must be prepared, as the latest technology permits, to anticipate natural calamities when that is possible; to extend immediate and effective relief when it is not." She also asserted that the mapping of flood-and landslide-prone areas is "almost complete", citing the improvement of "early warning, forecasting and monitoring systems" and the installation of flood-control infrastructure in areas of Luzon, including the Pasig and Marikina rivers. read more

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is pushing a draft resolution in the United Nations aimed at increasing awareness on global warming that officials said is key in successfully combating climate change. read more

Visiting Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) asked yesterday for the Philippine government's support to come up with a "forward-looking" climate change pact in the Copenhagen conference in December. read more

MANILA, Philippines�The executive secretary of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 1:10 p.m. on Tuesday for talks with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang. read more

Inquirer's July 14 editorial ("Near tipping point") stated that Heherson T. Alvarez, presidential adviser on global warming and climate change, "cited the warning of scientists that the world is moving toward a dangerous tipping point�the point at which climate change becomes irreversible." It further stated that "Alarmed by the possible effects of climate change, Alvarez, speaking on behalf of the Philippines at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference in Bonn in April, urged Annex I parties to make deep and early cuts on greenhouse gas emissions: more than 30 to 40 percent from 2013 to 2017 and more than 50 percent from 2018 to 2022 from the 1990 levels." read more

WASHINGTON (VIA PLDT):(UPDATE) A 10-day period of national mourning has been ordered by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the woman she called a "national treasure". read more

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is glad that the Philippines will elect its new leaders next year in an exercise that will "solidify the democratic process". read more

After meeting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the first Southeast Asian leader invited to the White House in his administration, US President Barack Obama on Friday paid tribute to the Philippines using a boxing metaphor. read more

MANILA - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and US President Barack Obama finally met at the White House Thursday (early morning Friday), with the two leaders praising Philippine-US partnership in a range of issues. read more

WASHINGTON: President Arroyo said the honor of being the first leader from Southeast Asia invited by President Barack Obama to Washington was a testament to the strong ties between the two countries. read more

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo will leave for the United States today for her first meeting with US President Barack Obama. read more

MANILA, Philippines - Global warming is slowly pushing the world to the brink of destruction but the Philippines is doing its share to lessen the impact, according to Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change (PAGWCC) Heherson Alvarez. read more

MANILA, Philippines - The meeting between President Arroyo and US President Barack Obama at the White House would tackle "substantive matters' and not about the country's internal politics as the opposition are claiming, a top Palace official said yesterday. read more