MANILA, Philippines After a campaign that lasted more than a month, #NowPHs

efforts to raise awareness on the need for climate action culminated in the National Day
for Youth in Climate Action on Wednesday, November 25.

Greeneration Philippines, a campaign by the Climate Change Commission, the National

Youth Commission, and the USAID-B-LEADERS Project organized activities that would
encourage the youth to initiate climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in
their respective schools and communities.
For the first half of the day, students of Rizal High School in Pasig City made a human
banner reading, Act for Our Future, "#NowPH," and "Below 1.5C." A thousand
students took part in the formation that showed their support for the Philippine
delegation to the Paris climate talks.
In the summit that followed the morning program, partner institutions delivered their
messages of support for the initiative, while members of several youth organizations
discussed their groups #NowPH activities.
Response
After gathering pledges through the online campaign and the partnerships with schools
and youth organizations, NYC Commissioner Dingdong Dantes announced that
#NowPH had reached more than a million signatures of support, which was turned over
to the Philippine delegation.
The pledges, according to the organizers, symbolize the countrys unified desire for a
successful climate change negotiation.
Aside from the signatures, #NowPH hoped to promote simple acts to mitigate the threat
of climate change. Called "15 Ways to Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS),"
the actions provide the youth with a general idea of how to live a more climate resilient
and climate-smart lifestyle.
Because the LEDS were promoted by personalities and industry leaders with a
significant following like Alden Richards, Jiggy Manicad, and Kim Atienza, many
members of the youth community responded by making their own pledges.

#NowPH pledges

MANILA, Philippines The Philippines on Thursday, November 26, said it

warned a United Nations-backed tribunal that Chinas island building activities
have destroyed the seabed in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China
Sea).
The Philippines also slammed China for its flagrant and persistent violations
of international law as Manila proceeded on Wednesday, November 25, with
the second day of hearings on the merits of its case against Beijing.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said that during the hearings,
lawyer Andrew Loewenstein showed the tribunal satellite images of various
installations constructed by China on Mischief Reef, found in the West
Philippine Sea, among others.
A video simulation was also shown to the tribunal to demonstrate how a cutter
suction dredger destroys the seabed and transfers sand to a pre-selected
area, Valte said in a bulletin sent from The Hague, the Netherlands.
Loewenstein argued that by engaging in these activities, China has violated
the sovereign rights of the Philippines with regard to living and non-living
resources in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.
The EEZ is the area 200 nautical miles from a coastal states baselines, or
edges, within which it has the exclusive rights to fish and exploit sea
resources.
China has been building artificial islands to assert its claim over the West
Philippine Sea. The Philippines has protested these reclamation activities.

The Philippines earlier said Chinas reclamation activities have destroyed 311
hectares of coral reefs in the West Philippine Sea. That is 5 times the size of
Manilas Rizal Park.
China claim hopeless, indefensible
On the second day of hearings in The Hague, Professor Philippe Sands,
another member of the Philippine team, said China interferes with the
Philippines rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS).
Sands cited incidents wherein private companies, contracted by the Philippine
Department of Energy, were prevented from exploration in the West
Philippine Sea.
He also discussed Chinas fishing ban covering even areas in the Philippines
EEZ.
Philippine delegation member Lawrence Martin, for his part, presented
testimonies from Filipino fishermen to prove Chinas interference in the
traditional fishing activities of Filipino fishermen around the South China Sea,
particularly Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal.
Valte said a map from 1784 was presented to prove that Bajo de Masinloc
has always been part of the Philippines.
Loewenstein added that Chinas claim over the West Philippine Sea is
hopeless and indefensible.
A day earlier, the Philippines complained to the tribunal that China has robbed
the Southeast Asian country of its right to fish in the West Philippine Sea.
Loewenstein also presented 8 maps to the tribunal, the first of which dates
back to the Ming Dynasty, according to Valte.

These maps show that Chinas territory did not include that which it claims
now under the 9-dash line, the demarcation China uses to claim the West
Philippine Sea.
This round of hearings ends on November 30. The Philippines expects a
definitive ruling by 2016. Rappler.com