Green Order Needs Greenbacks

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has fired the starting pistol.

With its new Memorandum Circular mandating coastal greenbelts, the agency has officially placed the timer on our newly elected local officials. The directive is clear: establish, protect, and restore the mangrove forests that line our shores. As the watchdog group Oceana rightly points out, this is a landmark moment of accountability. But accountability, like a mangrove sapling, needs solid ground to take root.

For too long, we have sold mangroves short, viewing them merely as a rugged storm shield—a green wall we remember only when a typhoon is on the horizon. This view is dangerously incomplete. These coastal forests are not just our defenders; they are our providers. They are the nation’s fish factories, the intricate, brackish-water nurseries where a significant portion of the fish that land on our tables begin their lives.

Research has consistently shown that healthy mangrove ecosystems are directly linked to productive fisheries. The tangled roots serve as a sanctuary for juvenile fish, crabs, and shrimp, protecting them from predators and allowing populations to flourish before they move to open water.

When we allow these ecosystems to be cleared for fishponds or coastal development – contributing to the loss of over 50 percent of our historic mangrove cover – we are not just cutting down trees. We are systematically dismantling a critical pillar of our food security and local economies.

The World Bank estimates that if the mangroves lost between 1950 and 2010 were restored, the Philippines would gain over US$450 million per year in flood protection benefits alone, not to mention the immense value to fisheries.

This brings us to the new crop of local leaders, who, as Oceana’s Atty. Rose-Liza Eisma Osorio stated, have a “fresh mandate from the people.” DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2025-066 is not just another item on a long list of national directives. It is their first, most tangible test. It is a direct challenge to integrate nature-based solutions into their core governance, to move beyond token tree-planting photo-ops and into genuine, science-based coastal management.

Their performance on this front will be the measure of their political will. We, the public and the press, must act as the accountability clock, tracking whether this mandate is woven into local development plans and annual investment programs as required. The clock is ticking, and the next super-typhoon will not wait for bureaucratic delays.

However, political will alone cannot build a forest. This is where the DILG’s directive reveals its potential, and perilous, weakness. A mandate without a clear funding mechanism is often just a suggestion, and in this case, it risks becoming an unfunded one.

The circular calls on Local Government Units (LGUs) to act, but where is the commensurate financial and technical support from the national government? Restoring and protecting kilometers of coastline is a massive undertaking. While far more cost-effective in the long run than building concrete seawalls, it still requires significant upfront investment in seedlings, labor, scientific assessments, and community organizing.

Expecting a fourth-class coastal municipality, already struggling to fund basic services, to shoulder the full cost of this national priority is unrealistic and unfair. It sets them up for failure. Without dedicated support, the LGUs with the most vulnerable coastlines and the least resources will be left behind, rendering the national policy effective only for those who can already afford it.

Therefore, the call to action must be two-pronged. First, local chief executives must rise to the occasion. They must demonstrate leadership by immediately tasking their planning and environment officers to draft initial plans and identify potential local budget sources, signaling their commitment.

Second, the national government, through the DILG and the Department of Budget and Management, must back this directive with a robust support package. It should provide technical assistance for LGUs that lack expertise and, crucially, create a dedicated fund that municipalities can access to implement their greenbelt programs.

The DILG has provided the policy framework. Local leaders now have the moral and administrative obligation to act. But to turn this piece of paper into a resilient, living coastline that protects and provides for our people, an unfunded mandate must be transformed into a fully-supported national mission. Failure to do so is simply deferring disaster.