After Odette, climate adaptation is our only option

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Typhoon Odette struck islands in Visayas and Mindanao on December 17 and 18, 2021, bringing utter devastation to not just one or two provinces, but to entire regions.

Atty. Angela Consuelo Ibay, Head of the Climate and Energy Program at World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines (WWF-Philippines), said:

“Just as 2021 is about to close, the country is once again scrambling to provide aid to towns and provinces that have been ravaged by a typhoon. Once again, we are left in a reactive stance rushing to the rescue after the catastrophe. The images of towns devastated by Odette (International name: Rai) in Siargao and Dinagat islands, Central Visayas, and all the way to Palawan are like recurring nightmares afflicting our national psyche.

“After Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses in 2020, Ompong in 2018, Lando in 2015, and Yolanda in 2013, the Philippine government should have learned one important lesson by now: climate change means no longer wondering if a stronger storm will hit the Philippines in the future, but when and where it will hit.”

Katherine Custodio, WWF-Philippines Executive Director, added:

“Preparing ahead of destructive typhoons requires long-term vision, commitment, and investment as the next super typhoon can come in 2 or 3 years or it could come next month. There is no way to know when it will happen, making it even more urgent to prepare while the weather is clear. Resources, financial or otherwise, have to be allocated in preparing towns, provinces, and islands from becoming the next disaster.

“WWF-Philippines has projects in some of typhoon Odette’s hardest hit areas and we have launched Oplan Pandamayan to help in the relief efforts. However, we emphasize the need to extricate our country from an endless cycle of relief efforts which are short-term measures against a climate that is changing in the long-term. Our call is for adaptive measures to be urgently implemented so concrete and permanent solutions can protect Filipinos moving forward.”

WWF-Philippines is calling for a clear and comprehensive government plan of action to adapt to the changing climate. With the country’s National Adaptation Plan yet to be finalised, this plan of action should include the following points:

1. Make “build back better” a reality through stronger climate-resilient infrastructure. Houses, evacuation centers, schools, bridges, power lines, and other basic infrastructure should be built to standards that can withstand typhoons so that people are protected from the impacts of storms. Lives can be saved with appropriate storm shelters that can supply the people with their needs during the strongest typhoons.
2. Comprehensive urban and environmental planning. Rebuilding towns flattened by Odette has to be done with a lot of thought and planning so that areas with high risks of strong winds, waves can be avoided. The development of cities and towns must take into consideration the extreme weather which can include typhoons or even drought.
3. Prioritize nature-based solutions. Forests are effective in cushioning strong winds while mangroves at the coasts are highly effective at dampening strong waves. If these natural barriers are destroyed for short-term profit, it reduces the long-term protection of the people. A nationwide rehabilitation and reforestation effort needs to be implemented in areas where tree cover has been severely degraded.
4. Increase the national budget allocation for climate adaptation actions. Though the national government has stated that climate adaptation is a national priority, the funding for adaptation has to reflect this priority. The government's climate budget increased in 2021 compared to the previous year, but this P282 billion is only 6.26% of the total national budget. A significant portion of the investments on climate change, P273 billion, were concentrated on climate change adaptation actions.

At this point in the climate crisis, we are past the need to praise the resilience of Filipinos. We should also be past the point of hoping for a better future where strong storms will not hit the country. The ultimate lesson is an old one but one that is commonly taken for granted: prevention is better than cure. And to prevent death, disaster and destruction in the future, we must plan, fund, and implement effective adaptive measures and policies across the country now. We, as a people and as a country, deserve a better future. Let’s change the ending.

Christmas Trees: 900,000 Trees to be Planted for Christmas

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

What’s better than planting a tree? Well, you can plant 900,000 of them.

From 1900 to 2015, the Philippines lost two-thirds of all its forests, with its once-impressive coverage of 21 million hectares reduced to a mere seven million hectares.

Despite a government ban on logging, the war against our trees rolls on. About 52,000 of them are felled daily for timber, charcoal, mining, slash-and-burn farming and land development. This intensifies soil erosion, flooding, river siltation, storm surges and droughts.

But there’s good news for our forests this Christmas. As part of its GForest movement, GCash and its allies have pledged to plant over 900,000 trees before the year ends.

Together with the United Nations Development Programme’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (UNDP-BIOFIN), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines), Ramon Aboitiz Foundation (RAFI), Century Pacific, Ayala Land and Friends of HOPE, GCash will finish planting 120,000 timber trees in Bulacan’s Ipo Watershed, 26,596 timber trees in Pangasinan’s Alaminos Carbon Forest, 300,000 fruit and timber trees in Cebu’s Luyang Watershed and 500,000 coconut trees in the provinces of South Cotabato and Sarangani.

“With our current partnerships, we will be planting at least an additional 400,000 trees in 2022 to bring our total up to 1.3 million trees. We hope to further scale the positive impact of the GForest movement in 2022 as GCash continuously engages fresh and old partners to find new sites to reforest and farmer-beneficiaries to help,” explains GCash President and CEO Martha Sazon.


How to Use the GForest App

GForest was launched in 2019 to boost awareness and funding for Philippine forests by tapping users of GCash, the country’s top cashless service. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased the number of people using GCash, which has reached over 51 million users in 2021.

Half of the country’s population currently have GCash accounts to conveniently send money, pay bills and more. In addition, GCash now has approximately four million merchants and social sellers, which is more than double its previous number of 600,000 business-solutions users in 2019. The app was also able to reach an average of 13 million log-ins per day, peaking at more than 15 million on June 16, 2021.

Over nine million GCash users have so far signed up for GForest, with over 1.2 million regular monthly supporters.

Upon logging in, GCash users are given the option to plant virtual trees, which generates funds to plant real trees around the country. Users earn green energy points by reducing their individual carbon footprints.

Since 2019, GForest users have generated over 16 billion green energy points by doing over 133 million low-impact paperless transactions. Paying bills online for instance, eliminates the need to drive to a bank and consume paper for receipts and forms. More points can be garnered for walking to work, taking the stairs and avoiding single-use plastic items. GForest interfaces seamlessly with existing mobile fitness apps to accurately measure not just energy saved, but exactly how much carbon emissions are reduced.

Each green energy point corresponds to a gram of carbon saved. Points are then used to nourish a virtual tree in GForest. After a user claims enough energy points by doing cashless transactions in GCash, they can use their points to "claim" a virtual tree in the GForest app. GCash and its allies will then plant a corresponding tree in one of its partner sites for each virtual tree claimed in this way. As of December 2021, users have planted well over one million virtual trees in GForest.

“Through GForest, we fully support our local farming communities not just by boosting their livelihoods through tree planting, but by empowering them through farm design and farm planting workshops plus educating them on our financial services which supports our vision of finance for all,” explains GCash Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Vice-president Chito Maniago.

For its part, RAFI conducts tree growing orientations and farm management sessions to help farmer beneficiaries take care of their trees.

“One to Tree is RAFI’s environmental arm that works with communities, for communities,” shares RAFI Partnerships and Portfolios Manager Miggo Bautista. “We work with partner farmers and provide them with technical trainings to ensure that their trees thrive, boosting their livelihoods while fostering their sense of stewardship. This way, we promote both community development and project sustainability.”

RAFI is just one of many GForest partners working to restore the glory of Philippine forests, one tree at a time.
"People talk a lot about innovative financing for biodiversity and GForest is one of the best examples to date of a how fintech can channel significant funds towards conservation protection. GForest has set an inspiring example to companies and organizations around the world to follow," concludes BIOFIN Global Manager Onno van den Heuvel.

UnionBank announces its acquisition of Citigroup's PH consumer banking business

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Following Citigroup's major exit across various APAC markets including the Philippines, Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) officially takes over Citi's consumer banking business in the country. 

From potential seller to now the buyer, the Aboitiz family is beefing up its banking biz.

It wasn't so long ago when selling Unionbank was on the radar. UnionBank bested other suitors to acquire Citigroup's consumer banking biz in Philippines.

Union Bank of the Philippines is taking over American banking giant Citigroup Inc.’s consumer banking business in the Philippines. UBP will buy Citigroup's consumer banking business in the country for at least 45.3 billion pesos ($908 million).

"UBP was selected by Citi following an extensive and competitive auction process," says the American bank giant, stressing there will be no change in their service to customers during the transition to the agreement’s closing. 

UBP has entered into a Share & Business Transfer Agreement with various subsidiaries of Citi which includes Citi’s credit card, personal loans, wealth management, & retail deposit businesses, as well as Citi’s real estate interests in Citibank Square (Eastwood), 3 full-service bank branches, 5 wealth centers, & 2 bank branch lites. 

UnionBank says the acquisition will be funded by a combination of internal resources, stock rights offering (SRO)

UnionBank: The Bank’s key shareholders – Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Insular Life Assurance, and Social Security System – are fully committed to the SRO.

To recall, the banking giant earlier this year, on April 2021, said it will be leaving 13 APAC markets. It will continue its corporate banking presence in the Philippines.

The transaction with Citi is expected to close in the second half of 2022 and will be funded mainly by a stock rights offering, and is subject to regulatory approvals (BSP Monetary Board, PCC, PDIC, SEC, IC).

Citi will keep running its PH consumer banking business until the acquisition's completion, it adds.

UnionBank also sought a trading halt until 10:30am to give investors 'time to clearly understand and absorb' its announcement on the acquisition of Citi's PH consumer banking business.

About 1,750 employees are expected to transfer to the new owner.

Citi Philippines assures its customers that the development will have no immediate impact on their accounts, deposits, investments, credit cards, or any other services.