By Vhioly Rosatazo and Roel Arizala
MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan — Malolos City has emerged as a learning site for climate resilience as delegates from ASEAN member countries gathered here for the 2026 ASEAN Cross-Learning Event.
The three-day activity, which began September 28, focuses on the theme “Beyond the Risk: Strategic Choices for Climate Resilient Countries in ASEAN,” bringing together government representatives and other stakeholders to discuss ways to help communities better withstand the effects of climate change.
Mayor Christian D. Natividad welcomed the delegates on behalf of the City Government of Malolos.
The city was selected to host the activity in part because of its experience in implementing Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to address climate-related challenges.
Malolos is the first city in the Philippines to adopt a Nature-Based Solution developed with the Netherlands. The project reflects an approach that combines environmental systems and community planning to help address risks such as flooding while supporting longer-term climate resilience.
Its implementation has also positioned Malolos as a potential local reference for other communities looking for alternatives and complementary measures to conventional disaster-management strategies.
The ASEAN event allows visiting delegates to learn from the city’s experience while sharing their own practices and approaches to climate adaptation.
Discussions throughout the three-day gathering are expected to cover disaster preparedness, risk reduction, climate adaptation and strategies that can be applied at the community level.
Malolos faces recurring challenges from flooding and extreme weather, making preparedness and long-term risk reduction important components of the city’s development planning.
Local officials said the experience reinforces the need to look beyond immediate disaster response and focus on measures that anticipate risks and strengthen community capacity before extreme events occur.
The exchange also highlights the value of regional cooperation as ASEAN countries face similar climate-related threats but operate under different geographic, environmental and socioeconomic conditions.
By hosting the cross-learning activity, Malolos is sharing its own experience while gaining access to ideas and practices from neighboring Southeast Asian countries, strengthening the exchange of knowledge needed to build more climate-resilient communities.
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