THE House of Representatives has approved House Bill 10722, or the proposed Loss and Damage Fund Board Act, that seeks to allow an international body to respond to mitigate economic and noneconomic losses from climate change.
The bill was passed on third and final reading during the House's plenary session on Tuesday with 208 lawmakers voting for it.
Under the bill, the board has “juridical personality with full legal capacity to… carry out” its purpose.
In mid-July, the Philippines was elected to host the meeting of the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (LDF). The country also won a seat in the board.
“Hosting the LDF Board gives us a platform to highlight the true scale of the problem and to call for proportionate action from the leading economies of the world — those who benefited from the emissions the most,” Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda had said.
Sen. Imee Marcos had sought the passage of the bill conferring juridical entity to Loss and Damage Fund Board (LDFB) to allow it to enter into contracts as the Philippines had been selected to host the board's meeting.
The LDFB, an international body, was established in November 2022 to assist developing countries that are vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
Also, the LDFB selected the Philippines as its host country during its second meeting in Songdo, South Korea, last July 9.
Marcos pushed for the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 2780 granting juridical personality and legal capacity to the board of the fund for responding to loss and damage due to climate change.
She raised the need to immediately pass SB 2780 since the Philippines has only 90 days to confer juridical entity to LDFB.
In her sponsorship speech, Marcos said it is the country's “obligation to provide the enabling law to grant the requisite juridical personality to the Board, vesting it with full legal capacity to enter into contract.”
The bill will authorize the LDFB to acquire and dispose of properties; institute legal proceedings; and negotiate, conclude and enter into a hosting arrangement with the World Bank as interim trustee and host of the Fund's secretariat.
Sen. Ronald de la Rosa co-sponsored SB 2780. “If we are lucky enough to be the host, this fortune comes with responsibility,” he said.
“Among the promised commitments of the Philippines is to ensure the granting of sufficient privilege, legal capacity and juridical personality to the LDFB. This is clearly embodied in our host country agreement,” de la Rosa said.
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