Iloilo city: The Iloilo City government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are set to formalize their partnership to work on activities towards environmental sustainability. On Wednesday, the Sangguniang Panlungsod authorized Mayor Raisa Treñas to sign an agreement with the DENR for the Project TRANSFORM (Transdisciplinary Approach for Resilience and Environmental Sustainability through Multi-Stakeholder Engagement). According to Philippines News Agency, this initiative is a five-year program designed to encourage collaboration among public, private, and people's organizations to enhance ecosystem resilience. "This is LGU (local government unit)-led, and we were chosen as one of the pilot areas," said Donna Magno, chief of the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), during an interview. The agreement will be signed in Manila, alongside other LGUs identified for the initiative, in an event that coincides with a colloquium where Mayor Treñas will partici pate as one of the panelists. Magno noted that Iloilo City had already embarked on several environmental initiatives even before the introduction of TRANSFORM. These initiatives included a multi-stakeholder dialogue conducted from June 25-27, where participants discussed the project and developed a roadmap. "Our focus when we did our road mapping was to take a look at our green, blue and gray initiatives," Magno explained. The green initiative focuses on greening open spaces, blue on mangroves and water, and gray on infrastructure. The city plans to develop an action plan detailing specific activities to be implemented over the next five years, backed by a PHP5 million fund. Magno emphasized that the activities will align with Mayor Treñas' Rise-to-Action priorities. "TRANSFORM has pooled everyone in one platform, tightened activities, and provided direction," she stated. In a separate interview, Vice Mayor Lady Julie Grace Baronda expressed that Project TRANSFORM will enhance the city's initiatives, parti cularly the CDRRMO, in mitigating climate change impacts. "Our disaster resiliency efforts do not end with just one sector; it is a multisectoral approach," she affirmed.