Tacloban City (March 7) -- Region 8 had a share of local tourists as about 200 participants coming from all the Regional Offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) all throughout the country converged at the Leyte Park Resort Hotel in Tacloban City to formulate the 2008 Work and Financial Plan.

Held on February 8 to March 1, 2008, the significant activity was graciously hosted by the DENR Region 8 headed by Regional Executive Director Alfredo S. Pascual, Ms. Purificacion Daloos, officer in charge of the DENR 8 Public Affairs Office, reported.

The participants to the workshop were given the chance to visit several of the Region's popular tourist destinations such as the San Juanico Bridge, Santo Niño Shrine, Macarthur Landing Memorial National Park in Palo, Leyte and the Eagle's Peak in Santa Rita, Samar. Other participants bought some souvenir items made of tikog products from the local producers in Basey. Samar

As hosts of the significant affair, Regional Executive Director Alfredo S. Pascual of DENR-8 together with Tacloban City local government Executive Assistant Bernardita B. Valenzuela as representative of Mayor Alfred Romualdez, warmly welcomed the participant s from all over the country.

In his welcome address, RED Pascual expressed that it was the first time the DENR Region 8 hosted a national budget reprogramming workshop, and the DENR 8 takes pride in hosting such workshop, even as he expressed hope that the participants will enjoy the simple amenities Tacloban City offers.

Undersecretaries Demetrio L. Ignacio of the Policy and Planning Office; Teresita Samson Castillo of the Special Projects/Social Mobilization; and Manuel D. Gerochi of the Staff Bureaus as well as the respective Bureau Directors from the DENR Central Office provided the guidance to the participants in coming up with their respective outputs.

USEC Manuel Gerochi urged the participants to anchor their planning work on public service. Programs of the different sectors of the DENR which are so dynamic should be synchronized in order to come up with a responsive and efficient work and financial plan that can serve the mandate of the DENR.

USEC Gerochi disclosed that Secretary Jose L. Atienza's leadership currently focuses on restructuring programs and evaluation of systems to bring out reforms in administrative processes, policies and operational practices and put these in a framework necessary in coming up with a responsive long term plan.

DENR's priority thrusts for the year include among others, poverty reduction and hunger mitigation to be implemented through the Department's Community Based Forest Management Program including agro forestry development and land disposition program for agricultural, residential, school sites and industrial purposes.

Another thrust is the socio economic development through the mining industry revitalization program, industrial tree plantation, clean waterways program, coastal management program and extended continental shelf.

Also included among the thrusts is biodiversity conservation through the promotion of ecotourism and implementation of biological diversity conservation programs and monitoring of wetlands.

An important thrust is the mitigation of the effects/impact of climate change through the planting of 40 million seedlings on denuded and degraded areas, improvement of air quality through intensified law enforcement and monitoring, geohazard mapping and determination of carrying capacity of highly critical areas, vulnerability assessment on climate change impact and effective rehabilitation technology for degraded ecosystems. (PIA 8)