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Banaue rice terraces preservation urged as ‘8th wonder of the world’

BANAUE, Ifugao -- Senate President Manny Villar has called on colleagues and concerned government agencies to look into the deteriorating condition of the Banaue Rice Terraces in order to determine all possible interventions needed to preserve the area as the "Eighth Wonder of the World."

Villar sounded his call in a resolution he filed recently, asking the appropriate Senate committee to conduct a comprehensive report, in aid of legislation, on the reported degradation of the Banaue Rice Terraces, a world heritage site, due to pestilence and rampant commercialization."

He said the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources can also work hand in hand in identifying the proper measures that can be adapted to bring the Banaue Rice Terraces back to its original condition.

Haring Ibon, a publication of Haribon Foundation, recently reported that the famous tourist spot has been threatened by °giant earthworms aside from other pests which are dissipating and destroying the terrace walls."

Villar noted in Senate Resolution No. 140 "The Banaue Rice Terraces is a testament of our ancestors’ craftsmanship, architectural and agricultural genius, and priceless Philippine heritage."

"The unprecedented pestilence and heavy commercialization of the terraces have resulted in the extinction of the traditionally present biodiversity and ecological equilibrium, Villar said. He also said the propagation of the golden kuhol (snails) in the paddies of the Banaue Rice Terraces which was introduced by the DA to augment food supply of the residents in the area is also a major problem threatening the area.

At present, no successful interventions to control biological pests has been introduced by relevant government agencies including the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, he said. A comprehensive study on Banaue Rice Terraces must be undertaken to prevent its fast deterioration, Villar said.