Private charity organization Pitmaster Foundation has pledged that its initiatives in addressing climate change would be more responsible and more sustainable.
In a Facebook post, Pitmaster Foundation executive director Atty. Caroline Cruz said adaptation to climate change is among the priorities of their organization.
“For the past 2 years, the Pitmaster Foundation strategically positioned its resources to lessen the harm that disasters cause through relief operation by sending foods to affected communities to mitigate hunger among the communities which could not yet rebuild their normal life,” Cruz said.
“Recently, the Pitmaster Foundation, reposition further its resources of supporting activities that lead to the root cause of all these typhoons/disaster—Climate Change,” she added.
Just last month, the foundation sponsored a Disaster and Climate Emergency Policy Forum dubbed “2023-2028 Policy Roadmap: Charting the Urgency of the PBBM Climate Agenda and the Philippine Contribution to Achieve the Global Goal of Net Zero 2030 and 2050 Targets”, wherein stakeholders from various sectors were invited to talk about climate emergency measures.
The charity organization, chaired by businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang, also continued its mangrove and tree planting activities last October 14 and 21 in Albay as part of its #PitmasterGoesGreen initiatives which aim to forward climate change mitigation efforts.
To date, the foundation has already planted about 10,000 trees in the mountain ridge of Laguna and mangroves in Albay.
According to Cruz, the task of protecting the environment is an important advocacy as she stressed that the issue of climate change is “no longer the issue of the day but the issue of our times.”
“The Philippines has seen increasing storms and typhoons cause havoc with more frequency in an incredible amount of rainfall, flooding many areas in the country for months. This was the first sign of climate change and weather disturbance that became frequent in the following years,” she said.
“Now, the Pitmaster Foundation is proactively involved on causes that would address ongoing problems left behind by limited relief packages. How long are we going to be resilient? And how long can we sustain our relief operation? The frequent disaster expanded its coverage and so the number of affected communities,” she furthered.
The Pitmaster official also mentioned that climate change is “generally describe as an environmental issue, often without the public considering its full ramifications.”
With this, Cruz pointed out that the matter needs the “assistance and understating of every citizen to mitigate and to adapt to climate change.”
“The weather is no longer distinct. During summer, it was very hot. Now, due to unpredictable weather, it would rain, or worse a strong typhoon arrives. Extreme weather may significantly impact crop yields, livestock fisheries and fish counts, a drastic shift to food unavailability,” she said.
Meanwhile, several netizens took to social media to commend Pitmaster Foundation for delivering immediate disaster response as well as its next-level measures in addressing the impact of climate change in the country.
They also praised the foundation for “always helping the less fortunate wholeheartedly in times of crisis.”
“Saludo talaga ako sa Pitsmaster Foundation at Kay Atty. Caroline Cruz sampu ng kanyang mga kasamahan. Sa nagdaan na Kalamidad dulot ng bagyong Paeng at Queenie na marami ang binawian ng buhay dulot ng sakunang Pangkalikasan,” a Facebook user said.
“Ang Pitsmaster Foundation ay masasabi kong nangunguna sa pagtulong at pagpapabot ng mga relief goods at maraming pang tulong dahil sila mismo ay umaaksyon. Tunay na may compassion sa pagtulong. Mabuhay po kayo na Pitsmaster Foundation!” he added.
Another netizen thanked the charity organization for reallocating its resources to accelerate its mission to preserve and manage the environment.
“Since climate change is the primary cause of all typhoons, including the recent one that devastated us, we are grateful to the Pitmaster Foundation for further reallocating its resources to supporting initiatives that address this issue,” he said.
“Likewise, for the quick response required for government work like disaster assistance efforts. For those of our fellow citizens who were severely impacted by the typhoon, being able to start afresh will be of huge benefit for them,” he continued.