On June 09, 2023, the UP Resilience Institute (UP RI) and the Municipality of Paete held a Capacity Building and Crafting of Mandated Local Plans Meeting with the office of Mayor Ronwald B. Cosico of the Municipality of Paete. The meeting preceded the initial exploratory talks and courtesy call last March 02, 2023 with the municipality. The UP RI Institution Building headed by Director Prof. Genaro A Cuaresma was represented by Supervising Science Research Specialist Rojo Guerrero T. Padilla and Junior Office Assistant Mr. Ian Gonzalez in discussing the risks of Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, and the initiatives of UP RI in providing capacity building training for the Municipality of Paete. The meeting was attended by the Municipal Administrator Mr. Carlos Miguel B. Cosico, the head of the Municipal Planning and Development Officer Eng. Jeriel L. Baldemor, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office Mr. Allan Castillo, and Engineering staff from Research and Planning Mr. Roberto Dono.
During the meeting with the Municipality of Paete, Mr. Rojo Guerrero T. Padilla discussed the mandates and the capacity of UP RI in enhancing the resilience of the local government units (LGUs) towards climate change, emergency and disaster preparedness. Several successful and ongoing projects were also discussed in passing as well as the possibility for the LGU to tap experts who are UP RI Fellows upon finalization of the cooperation agreement. This partnership is envisioned to result in the possible updating of their preparedness plans and contingency action plans, capacity building, and possible Climate Change Adaptation training.
The meeting was concluded by the Municipality of Paete, Laguna agreeing to execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/ Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the UP RI as well as in having UP RI assist them in the crafting and updating of their 4 government mandated municipal plans. The plans that they wanted crafted are the Municipality’s Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP), Ecological Profile (EP), Public Service Continuity Plan (PSCP) and Drainage Master Plan (DMP). The municipality also inquired if UP RI can assist them with their Transportation Master Plans.
The draft MOU/MOA, proposal and proposed budget will be submitted to the Municipality of Paete for their Municipal Council’s approval and signing.
By Rojo Padilla (June 26, 2023)
