Mayor warns intruders in Mt. Data watershed

By Dexter A. See 

BAUKO, Mountain Province  – Mayor Abraham B. Akilit warned unscrupulous owners of commercial vegetable farms in nearby Benguet from invading the undisturbed 80-hectare Mount Data National Park  saying irate individuals who are passionate in efforts to preserve and protect the remaining forest cover of area might take the law in their own hands.

           

“We will not be the one to do harm to the owners of commercial vegetable farms wanting to earn more income but no one could prevent advocates for the preservation and protection of the remaining forest cover in taking the law into their own hands and resort to violent means just to send the message to them that destroying the environment is a taboo in the area,” Akilit said.

He added many owners of commercial vegetable farms in nearby Buguias and Mankayan towns are now making a headway in ruining the undisturbed forest which people of Bauko are trying to preserve and protect for the benefit of the present and future generations.

            

Akilit noted that commercial vegetable farm owners are now using heavy equipment to cut century-old trees and  increase land area of their plantations thus, the municipal government is doing its best to drive the intruders away.

            

Worst, he disclosed the units of heavy equipment of the owners of commercial vegetable farms work at night until the wee hours of the morning in order to evade the presence of law enforcers and forest guards.

            

Akilit said local residents and advocates of environmental preservation and protection have aired their grievances in relation to the unscrupulous activities of commercial vegetable owners, thus, if nothing lawful will be done to stop their illegal activities, they might be forced to take the law in their hands and might harm them during the course of their illegal activities.

            

Instead of destroying the remaining forest cover and the last remaining pine stand within the Mount Data watershed, Akilit appealed to local officials of neighboring towns to remind their constituents, who are owners of commercial vegetable farms, to stop their illegal logging activities and cooperate in the uphill climb to preserve and protect the forest because they will benefit from the existence of abundant water from the watershed that they could use in their own farms.

            

Bauko, located at the uppermost portion of the Mount Data |National Park, is considered headwaters of the Chico, Agno, Abra and Magat rivers.

            

The local chief executive is also pushing for the imposition of water use fees from communities that directly benefit from the water flowing to the four major river systems so that there will be available funds to be used to sustain environmental preservation and protection efforts.