00:00Back then, I spoke of an existential threat of how the era of global warming had given
00:06way to an era of global boiling, as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called it. Rising
00:14sea levels, intensifying typhoons, longer droughts, the specter of widespread agricultural
00:21collapse. On February 28 this year, that collapse took on a greater measure of inevitability.
00:29It introduced an element that speeds up the climate feedback loops considerably so that
00:35disasters will now only exacerbate the coming food crisis that will result from the global
00:41unavailability of fertilizers and the destruction of fossil fuel facilities. Across the Asia
00:49Pacific, from the Mekong Delta to the Pacific Islands, we are witnessing a convergence of
00:55risks, climate volatility, economic exposure, and even fiscal capacity. What differs is not
01:05the nature of the threat, but the ability to anticipate it and probably to absorb it. For
01:25to mobilize hot kitchens, community pantries, relief and rescue, and then it seems like we
01:35wait or anticipate or expect the next disaster. We rebuild, but too often we rebuild into the
01:46same risks. This is a status quo. It reflects not only a failure of policy and imagination, but a
01:57deeper structural misalignment between how risk unfolds in real time and how finance is released in
02:06the last mile disconnect. Yes, global funds exist. National policies are all in place. By the time the
02:17bureaucracy catches up to the reality on the ground, the window to prevent loss has closed. We have become
02:27experts in counting the dead, in repairing the broken, but we have not yet mastered the art of
02:38anticipating the globe. This disconnect is critical. It is a space where dreams are shattered and lives are
02:48lost. Not because the Philippines lacks resources, but because we release these resources too late. Therefore,
02:58this is my challenge to you, to all of us, and my promise to our people. We must legislate for
03:06anticipation. First, legislative innovation. We must tear down the firewall between relief and
03:15readiness. Resilience and readiness. Resilience is also financial. It is about liquidity. It is about the
03:23speed of the peso moving from the national treasury to a local far from barangay before the storm makes
03:32landfall. Central banks, regulators, development finance institutions must not treat anticipatory action as a
03:42social expenditure. It is an exercise in risk management. It protects macroeconomic
03:50stability, reduces our financial shocks, safeguards our long-term growth, and it is a step towards genuine
04:00climate justice. We are not just investing in grids and sea walls. We are investing in a generation that
04:10refuses to accept the status quo of vulnerability. And this was vividly clear during the recently
04:17concluded Philippine Resilience Awards where we honored young Filipinos who are not waiting for the first mile,
04:27last mile gap to close. They are bridging it themselves. And these are the speakers you must have in your
04:34classes in fora like this. They will yield innovative and strategic
04:40pivots to face our ecological renewal. They should have learned not to waste this opportunity.
04:49These young Filipinos I mentioned represent a different kind of energy pivot. When we rightly
04:56discuss the transition to renewable energy sources, we must also recognize the human energy value.
05:03as our most potent renewable resource. Disaster risk reduction must go beyond technical engineering.
05:11It must be a social investment. To truly move from risk to readiness, we must invest in the energies
05:19and the capacities of our youth. We have the innovation to design the early warning systems of tomorrow.
05:27the passion to lead their communities to higher ground. The moral clarity to demand that we must act now, not
05:37later.
05:37may I mention this for our main parts to respect our two units for sure, not later.
05:38so to partnership and demand that we must continue to leave the scientific evidence of the
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