IT looks like the Duterte administration—probably alarmed at how ill-prepared its different agencies were in responding to the three cyclones that recently devastated the country—has taken a proactive tack in dealing with natural calamities.
I’m willing to give this government the benefit of the doubt, despite my misgivings about the lack of foresight—in full display—with the way our past and present leaders have been acting during times of catastrophes, and their usual ningas cogon mentality.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Monday talked about protecting the forest, as his agency launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal logging and illegal quarrying: “We must act quickly and in a whole-of-society fashion to protect our remaining forests across the country [because we would otherwise be] creating and causing more disasters.”
Ulysses, the latest typhoon that visited the country, has unmasked the government’s weakness in responding to natural crises, regardless of the way many politicians strut with grand show and braggadocio around the halls of Congress, while supposedly tackling a host of national problems.
Biodiversity and environment experts have for years advocated for forest renewal and conservation, believing that our existing forests are central to the country surviving natural and man-made calamities.
In the wake of Ulysses’ onslaught, Año ordered all local government units and the Philippine National Police, not only to plant trees to restore the country’s forest cover but also to halt all illegal logging and illegal quarrying activities in their areas by coordinating with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to reactivate their anti-illegal logging task forces, which would set up checkpoints and arrest illegal loggers for violating the Forestry Code of the Philippines and Republic Act 9175, or the Chainsaw Act of 2002.
On social media, countless netizens have propounded that, had quarrying operations been well-regulated in Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Rizal, the floods there would not have been as intense as they were. Seeing the shocking aerial photographs of the gaping holes and barren areas left by the quarrying companies is certainly a very visceral—not just visual—argument to seal the point. A number of community groups have been protesting these quarry sites for years. Sadly, it took yet another calamity to revisit their cries for help.
To kick-start his drive, Año should look closely into the activities of Majestic Earth Core Ventures Inc., the largest operator of quarry sites in Rizal. According to BusinessWise readers residing in the area, former DENR Secretary Mike Defensor is the company’s chair, president, and chief executive officer (as confirmed by the company’s updated web site). He is also the chief executive officer of Pax Libera Mining, Inc. BusinessWise tried but failed to get Defensor’s side.
If Defensor is really behind Majestic Earth Core, I hope he consulted with environmental experts before undertaking the company’s quarrying projects and is taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the land will be able to revert to the lush forest it had once been. While there is no doubt his company brings considerable socioeconomic value and raw materials to industries, Defensor should staunchly defend both human life and the environment by making sure that his quarrying operations in Rizal do not place thousands of families at risk during heavy rains.
Meanwhile, current Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro has threatened to file an administrative complaint against BF Corp., owned by former City Mayor Bayani Fernando, for undertaking a reclamation project that involved the installation of an artificial embankment which is suspected of contributing to the massive flooding in Marikina. The DENR on Monday confirmed that the project has no environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
Also on Monday, at least 15 quarry operators extracting aggregates around Mayon Volcano, which were discovered to have abused their permits, had been recommended to face sanctions, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. Guillermo Molina Jr., MGB director for Bicol, was quoted in the news as saying that investigators from the Task Force Quarry sent by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu “reviewed the documents of 106 operators but found only 15 that had not complied with the provisions of permits issued by the Albay provincial government.”
The whole country is anticipating the next moves of the men President Duterte had assigned to hold accountable those who had destroyed and continue to destroy the country’s bio-system. Will they conduct their duties without fear or favor?
The Philippines used to be covered in lowland rainforests, mangrove swamps, and verdant forests. Today, our forest cover stands at around 18 percent of our total wooded areas, with a small portion of this being old-growth or virgin forests. Only 5 percent of Philippine forests remain intact, according to environmental watchdog Conservation International. Some of our virgin rainforests are in the Sierra Madre, the very region that is supposed to shield Luzon from typhoons.
We are now one of the most heavily deforested countries in the world. The World Wildlife Fund has designated the Philippines as a crisis deforestation site because the ecosystems in our forests are small, unique, and rapidly vanishing. There seems to be no signs of the slowdown of Philippine deforestation, further aggravating flooding and landslides in many parts of the country. Although logging had been banned since 2011, large companies in cahoots with those in power continue to denude our forests. We have lost more than half a million hectares of forest to illegal loggers since 2001, and this is keenly felt by people who have to bear the brunt of Mother Nature’s power when she strikes.
In the meantime, I can only hope that all Filipinos will give importance to an otherwise abstract idea like “environmental preservation.” Let’s be vigilant in calling out the government to act with dispatch against all business endeavors that sully our forests, trees, and mountains. I’m withholding my judgment on the success of this mission. To see is to believe.
For comments and suggestions, e-mail me at mvala.v@gmail.com