The Climate Change Commission (CCC) announced that it is bringing its capacity-building program on climate change to Bohol on Wednesday, after its successful pilot run in Davao and Cagayan de Oro earlier this year.
Secretary Emmanuel De Guzman, CCC vice chairman and executive director, said they will train Bohol LGUs in implementing climate-change adaptation and mitigation, and disaster risk reduction and management.
De Guzman said the commission is happy to bring the Communities for Resilience (CORE) Convergence Forum to Bohol, one of the most disaster-prone provinces in the country. The forum will bring together local government units within the Wahig-Inabanga Upper River Basin, which hosts the largest and most important river in Central Visayas.
The Wahig-Inabanga is considered the largest and most important river in Central Visayas due to its high potential as source of surface water for agricultural, household, commercial, industrial and recreational uses; its significant physical features and biological resources; and its strategic location.
It is one of the 18 river basins and communities identified by experts as pilot areas and models for the convergence of climate-change adaptation, mitigation, and disaster risk reduction programs of the government.
In 2013, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Bohol, spurring geological and topographical changes in the province. A year later, floods became the biggest concern for the province, especially the towns of Inabanga and Duero, following the onslaught of tropical storms “Seniang” and “Queenie.”
Most recently, the provincial government placed Bohol under a state of calamity amid reports that the six-month El Niño phenomenon destroyed around P313 million worth of high-value crops.