Environment educators back DENR chief

A group of tertiary educators has ex-pressed full support for Environment and Na-tural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun for all the reforms she has been trying to institute "in the overall environment and natural resources management in the country."

In the letter sent to President Arroyo, the Philippine Association of Tertiary Level Educational Institutions in Environment Protection and Management (PATLEPAM) paid tribute to Gozun’s "selfless dedication to service, total group of the DENR’s man-dates, and her hands-on brand of manage-ment, both inside and outside of the government."

PATLEPAM added that "at this time of great challenges, we need a leader such as Secretary Gozun" to pursue the current adminis-tration’s thrust towards a strong republic.

The group has credited Gozun not only for championing good environmental gover-nance through "transparency, greater ac-countability and streamlining of procedures and requirements" but also for rallying the various sectors of society such as business, civil society, local and national government, among others, to work together and foster sustainable developmnet. They added that Gozun resolves to institutionalize this brand of governance by continually improving the department’s transparency, accountability and public participation towards responsive service delivery.

The educators likewise gave recognition to the DENR chief’s full support in mainstreaming environmental advocacy in the formal and non-formal levels of education, and for fasttracking the implementation of Clean Air Act and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

PATLEPAM, is a network of 380 member-colleges and universities in the country that have banded together to pursue the integration of environmental protection and management in higher education and enhance the environmental awareness and skills of tertiary level students and faculty members. PATLEPAM is also committed to support the overall goal for local empowerment in environmental governance.

The letter to the President was signed by officers and members of the PATLEPAM and other environmental Protection and Management held at the Fort Ilocandia Resort in Laoag City recently, and information services of the Rizal Technological Unversity, Dr. Ruth Guzman.