“Our plans to build resilience and develop while protecting the climate and our people are also among the most ambitious of any countries in the world.” AP/Aaron Favila
MANILA, Philippines – The country’s finance chief has moved to convince investors and foreign governments of the Duterte administration’s commitment to following the rule of law and helping beat climate change.
This came as President Rodrigo Duterte continued to shrug off critics of his anti-drug campaign and his move not to honor a global climate pact signed in Paris, France last February.
On the former, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez told an investor roundtable in Washington D.C. that the drug war is meant to “rebuild public order.”
“Over the short period this new government has been in power, it attracted the attention of the global media mainly because of its unremitting war against the drug syndicates,” Dominguez was quoted as saying in a statement on Friday.
“While undoubtedly photogenic, the war on drugs is just part of a larger effort to assert the rule of law, break the grip of organized crime on some of our institutions of governance…,” he said.
Dominguez, who is in the US for the annual meetings of World Bank and International Monetary Fund, said laws had been “widely ignored” and that there is a need to “restore” public confidence to the state.
On top of the drug war, he also pointed to efforts to put an end to decades-long insurgency in Mindanao, citing the formal resumption of peace talks with rebels.
Specifically, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the government resumed long-stalled talks in August with bilateral ceasefire in place.
“Given the initial talks, we are confident that a sustainable political settlement will be achieved soon,” Dominguez said.
In another event, the finance chief, leading counterparts on 42 other climate-vulnerable countries, said “a clear road map” for the disbursement of $100 billion in climate finance is needed.
The amount represents commitments from developed countries by 2020 under a Paris climate deal, which the Philippines decided not to ratify.
This was after Duterte said the deal would hamper the country’s industrialization drive, which would hit economic growth and development.
“Our plans to build resilience and develop while protecting the climate and our people are also among the most ambitious of any countries in the world,” Dominguez said.
He called for international cooperation to fight climate change beyond the grouping known as the Vulnerable 20 Group, which has since expanded membership.
The Philippines, he said, had done its part by investing $20 million on its People’s Survival Fund, a money pool used to finance climate adaptation projects.
“Unless commitment to mobilize additional financing flows to assist the most vulnerable countries is realized, these countries will find themselves in peril,” he said.
