Lecture on Gross National Happiness

DENR-ARMM Secretary Kahal Kedtag together with the DENR stakeholders, indigenous people (IP), local government units and the academe attend the Lecture on Gross National Happiness (GNH) held in Ateneo de Davao University on Tuesday, October 18, 2016.

The activity was aimed at inspiring Filipinos to find a balance between materialistic and non-materialistic aspects of life and other factors that are vital to human happiness.

The concept implies that sustainable development should take a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing.

DENR National Secretary Regina Lopez said they envision the Philippines as the country whose citizens give more value to the environment than material possessions and physical comfort in their pursuit to happiness.

As such, the secretary wanted to have Bhutan's model of measuring GNH index, which gives equal importance to non-economic aspects of well-being in quantifying social and national progress.

Postulated by Bhutan's fourth king, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuch, GNH is based on the four pillars of Good Governance, Sustainable Socio-Economic Development, Cultural Preservation, and Environmental Protection.

Lopez noted that there is a need to convey the information on four pillars of GNH and gain some thoughts ang best practices from Dr. Saamdu Chetri, the Executive Director of the GNH in Bhutan.

Provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Tawi Tawi in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are among 29 priority areas of the concept.

DENR-ARMM Secretary Kedtag said the department will support and adapt the concept for a better development and management approach in the Bangsamoro. (BUREAU OF PUBLIC INFORMATION – MINDANAO EXPOSE’)