Makati schools go solar

Makati Mayor Abby Binay deserves all the accolade she’s getting—the most recent of which is her inclusion in the prestigious list of the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Women in Power. On that feature of Women Who Run the World, the mayor was feted for her brand of leadership and her outstanding climate advocacies.

A visionary, Mayor Abby’s recent project involves the installation of solar panels in Makati City’s public schools. In an interview at the recent project launch, she bared plans to install solar panels in 15 Makati public schools this year, and 24 next year. As an advocate of climate action, the lawyer-mayor is showing how local governments can lead in reducing carbon footprint, how being a good example inspires.

Mayor Abby notes that the Philippines, being a tropical country, has only two seasons—hot and hotter. Already, as the punishing hot weather descends upon us, Mayor Abby shows the way by hitting two birds with one stone, so to speak.

For one, the solar panels will reduce the electricity expense of public schools which are expected to reach astronomical heights these summer months. The solar panels at San Antonio National High School, the first school to get them, will shoulder 88 percent of its power requirements with the rest coming from the Meralco grid. Imagine immediately slashing the electricity bill of schools by almost 90 percent?

A second benefit is the reduction of carbon emissions. A simple Google search shows that “a typical solar panel saves over 900 kilos of carbon dioxide per year.” That’s just one solar panel. Imagine multiplying that by the number of solar panels per school. The result would be quite substantial. The third benefit is the immeasurable exemplary factor. A leader leads. A leader shows good example. A leader takes charge. This initiative by Mayor Abby is bound to be copied by the most astute businessmen in not just the country’s premier business district, but all throughout the country.

Mayor Abby also mentions an ROI (return on investment) of three years. That’s not bad at all. As more people use solar panels, or as demand for solar panels increase, the cost is also expected to go down. So, expect perhaps, a shorter ROI because of this. Again, this drop in cost will encourage households to follow suit.

Of course, this is not the only green initiative of Mayor Abby. Even before she declared a climate emergency in August 2022 to help bring focus on the issue, she has built on the city’s well-established integrated, inclusive governance system to help create a green economy.

Under its overall Comprehensive City Development Plan, Makati’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan incentivizes environment-focused planning and action in the development process—in land use and urban planning, infrastructure, housing, and solid waste management, among others. I see that more will join the green economy if the process is more democratized. And I can see that Mayor Abby is trying to get the other stakeholders more active in greening Makati. She has reached out to the business sector, civil society, academia, national government, and city authorities.

And her reach goes far beyond Makati or the Philippines. She was elected to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) representing Southeast Asia on the Mayoral Board. The success of her initiatives in Makati City will echo in the region and the world, as GCom is a global coalition of over 10,500 cities and local governments and 100+ supporting partners.

That’s why I think that like the climate, Mayor Abby has gone from hot to hotter.

(Next topic)

Housing for 400 QC school teachers and poor residents to rise very soon.

Very soon, eight 5-story and one 12-story buildings will rise in a joint NHA and QC LGU housing project dubbed as QCitizen Homes Republic Residences in a compound in Bgy. Holy Spirit.

Three hundred units will be offered exclusively to residents who will qualify based on their socio-economic status , while 144 units will be alloted to teachers and non-teaching personnel of the Dept of Education (Deped), who will also meet the same requirement. Mayor Joy Belmonte said, “our teachers have long been waiting for this project. This is to give back all their hard work in shaping the future of our youth.

Late last year, Belmonte also committed to allocate and secure lots for the development of various housing projects under the so-called “Pambansang Pabahay Para Sa Pilipino Program” of President Bongbong Marcos within the city . Initially, Belmonte and DHSUD chief Jose Rizalino Acuzar signed a MOA for a housing project in Barangay Batasan Hills to be named “Harmony Hills Terrace” for the city’s informal settlers who cannot afford a home they can call their own.
Acuzar says this QC housing project will start to provide a “safe, decent and sustainable shelter for 6.5 million families in six years. This brainchild of PBBM intends to build one million housing units per year.

Prior to these, Mayor Belmonte has given permanent housing already to 17, 674 informal settlers under her “Land Acquisition and Socialized Housing Program”. The city government bought a 22.5 hectares in Ramawil and Kanejin properties in Payatas, Tofemi properties in Bagong Silangan and Howmart Phase one in Barangay Baesa. She also built a 5 story building with 188 units also in Baesa, followed by a 12-story residential building with 315 units in Bgy. Balingasa and another five story building with 207 units in Bgy.Payatas.

Kudos to both QC Mayor Joy Belmonte and Makati Mayor Abby Binay. They are the reasons why people are restoring their trust in their new generation politics.
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