ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Jack Dulnuan on how to get rich

LAMUT, Ifugao – Successful businessman Jack Dulnuan, an Ifugao native recent shared his secret formula on getting rich saying planting fruit bearing trees could be a good source of livelihood of constituents in mountainous areas of this province.

During the recent Ifugao Provincial Agricultural and Fishery Council Congress held at the Ifugao State College of Arts and Forestry, Dulnuan told participants Ifugao can never compete in rice farming against the lowlands like in Isabela, Vizcaya, La Union, and Pangasinan where they have plain and wide agricultural lands to plant rice.

“Ifugao has mountainous land good for agriculture. Ifugao can not compete in rice farming but farmers can compete with fruits from fruit bearing trees. We have enough mountains to farm oranges, pomelo, guyabano, and other more fruits wherein lowlands have less production,” Dulnuan said.

Dulnuan who owns several farmlands including strawberry farms in La Trinidad, Benguet revealed his secret of getting rich: “Dakayu gamin nga kakailian dituy Ifugao, nu adda kuarta yu, apan yu ibiruk iti pangigastusan yu. Nu ibiruk yu kuma iti pangi-invesan yu, di madoble kuma dayta kuwarta yu.”

This meant, he said, saving their money and investing them the proper way.

The humble Dulnuan also gave potshots at the way of living of people in government who are always longing for wage increase. “Dakayu nga agtrab-trabaho iti gobyerno, dakayu kuma ti kababaknangan tatta. Reklamo kayu nga reklamo iti sweldo yu ngem nu kitaen tayu ti ikista yu nga aggastu, subra met ngamin ta mangan kayu iti mamin-lima iti maysa nga aldaw. Mangan kayu ti agsapa, agmeryenda kayu iti alas diyes, mangan kayu iti alas dose, agmeryenda kayu manen iti alas tres, tapos mangan kayu pay iti pang rabii. Agasem ngay dayta”

He inspired his fellow Ifugaos by telling his own story when he was still working without a business. He said when he got hungry, he went to a store and bought bread good enough to sustain his hunger. After eating, he asked the store owner for water. “Dakayu gamin, kailangan ti softdrinks. Madi yu ti danum. Isu a nga haan kayu nga bumaknang.”

Before he ended his speech, he advised Gov. Baguilat to instruct the Ifugao people to start planting fruit bearing trees to be productive and help in boosting the economy of the province. Dulnuan was born at Barangay Asipulo of Kiangan and grew up in La Trinidad, Benguet where he started his business career. – Jun Kindipan Dumar


Contract signed to explore Kalinga geothermal energy

TINGLAYAN, Kalinga -- The Department of Energy signed recently the Kalinga Geothermal Service Contract with Aragorn Power and Energy Corp. and Guidance Management Corp. for the exploration of geothermal power source in the municipalities of Lubuagan, Pasil, and Tinglayan.

The GSC was signed in Manila by Secretary Angelo Reyes for DOE, Willy Ocier and Joaquin Rodriguez for APEC and GMC respectively. A separate memorandum of agreement was signed between the communities who have given their “free and prior informed consent” (FPIC) for the project and the two geothermal companies.

According to the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples provincial office here, the contract allows APEC and GMC to explore an area of 26,250 hectares for the duration of 50 years: five-year exploration period with 2 years extension; 25 years production and 18 years extension.

As of this writing, of the 11 ancestral domains covered by the application for exploration, only the IPs of Colayo, Balatoc, Guinaang, Dangtalan, and Dalupa-Ableg, all of Pasil have given their FPIC for the project.

Earlier, IPs in the ancestral domains of Tulgao, Dananao, Sumadel, Tonglayan, Bangad all of Tinglayan; and Uma in Lubuagan, complained to DoE why they were included in the coverage of the exploration when in fact no FPIC came from them.

According to NCIP-Kalinga Field Office, the GSC stipulates that only the areas with the FPIC of the indigenous peoples (IP) affected are to be explored. While conducting consultations with the remaining IPs to get their FPIC, the NCIP assured the communities that the provision of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act are strictly followed by the power and energy companies.

DOE also assured complaining IPs that although their barangays were included in the application for exploration, APEC and GMC are not permitted to explore in their areas unless their FPIC on the project is obtained.

Under the separate MOA between APEC-GMC and the four communities who gave their FPIC on the project, terms and conditions were clearly stipulated for compliance by both parties. If geothermal power is found positive, another MOA will be forged to govern the production stage, this time under the terms of the Philippine geothermal law. -- PIA-Kalinga

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Robert L. Domoguen
Watershed care in the Cordillera

BONTOC, Mountain Province---In the bid to gain full community support to watershed care and protection, development agencies might as well consider prioritizing development assistance in areas where watersheds are valued, protected and cared for by the local residents.

The proposition comes from engineer Delfin Aglit, officer-in-charge of the National Irrigation Administration provincial office here. He said that given the opportunity, his office will prioritize development assistance to those communities that promote or have established measures on reforestation and protection of the watersheds over those that have yet to demonstrate their care for this most precious natural resource which is emerging today as a major component of any viable irrigation system.

Aglit, said the development of productive agricultural lands and the sustainability of old and newly established irrigation systems largely depends on the year-round availability of water. This is also true to all other livelihoods and industries that depend on this precious resource for their viability and sustainability.

In Mountain Province, people know the critical role of watersheds in making water available for domestic and other uses, Aglit said. Such awareness was seen in the people’s readiness to volunteer their time, effort and resources in support to the implementation of the province-wide planting of 1 million forest and fruit trees in less than two-years initiated by the provincial local government.

This initiative mobilized support from a multi-sectoral group to include religious and civic groups, national government agencies and non-government organizations and employees of the provincial and municipal local government units for its successful implementation.

However, there is a need today for all communities in the province to sustain the effort and consistently match their awareness of the importance of trees and watersheds to quality survival in the area with greater commitment through participatory planning, monitoring and reforestation, and enforcement measures, Aglit said.

He added without the communities’ full support to environmental conservation, protection and rehabilitation, the long term benefits and impact of investments to agricultural and rural development, to include rural infrastructures, irrigation and domestic water supply, among others, will not be maximized and enjoyed by the people themselves over the long term.

Mountain Province has a total of 10,288.19 hectares of farmlands considered developed or fully irrigated, as of December 31, 2007. Of this total, 8,845.69 hectares is devoted to rice production. The remaining 1,442.50 hectares is utilized for vegetable production. With a potential irrigable area in the province of 30,060 hectares, around 19,771.81 remain to be developed or fully irrigated.

In the face of increasing demand for food, the challenge according to Engineer Aglit, is to increase production in irrigated farm lands. The easiest way to do this is to increase the frequency of planting in irrigated lands but this will necessarily require a year-round availability of sufficient irrigation water.

Meeting the increasing demand for food also requires the rehabilitation of old systems and opening up of new ones. Rehabilitation of irrigation system is viable only if sufficient water is available and sustained during the targeted production season in the irrigation systems of NIA and others that were constructed by other government institutions and private individuals. Unless a good source of irrigation water is identified that is close to production areas, its development would be hampered by cost and other considerations involving design, maintenance, availability of materials, among others.

As in all provinces of the Cordillera, the NIA provincial office of Mountain Province has been promoting watershed rehabilitation, protection and care among the local residents.

Aside from tree planting, engineer Abraham Akilit, NIA regional director said before projects implemented through the NIA are fully paid, the final payment called “retention money” is withheld and released to beneficiaries only upon compliance to the planting of an agreed number of forest trees in the watersheds or fruit trees in the community.

NIA has been highlighting the same message in its participation in the extension of technical and mobilization assistance for the promotion and development of the province’ heirloom rice as an export crop.

In pursuit of this development endeavor, the agency is currently pushing for the approval of an inter-agency Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), encouraging participating development agencies to prioritize and extend development assistance to the rice farming communities who have set-up participatory protection, rehabilitation and enforcement measures for the care of their watersheds.

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Dexter A. See
Group sets example in forest protection

ITOGON, Benguet – Various groups and organizations in this mineral-rich town have come to realize the importance of preserving the remaining forest cover as well as reforesting the denuded mountains.

This developed as the Tapaya elders Association, which is primarily composed of the Aritao clan, sourced out funds to impalement a three-year reforestation program that would help in the snowballing effort to preserve and protect the forests so that the Cordillera will stand on its title as the Watershed Cradle of the North.

Former board member Fernando Aritao, adviser of the Tapaya Elders Association, said their group is luck to avail of a P2 million fund assistance from the Philex Mining Corporation for the implementation of a three-year reforestation project in a 60-hectare property owned by their clan to serve as an example on what should be the model for future reforestation projects in the province.

According to him, at least 115,000 species of seedlings in different kinds will be planted in the area. The tree species include gemelina, pine, mahogany, caleandra among others.

The Aritao clan is obliged to maintain a 70 percent survival rate of the seedlings in the next three years before it will turnover to the mining company for continuous maintenance.

Aritao explained they want to set an example on what should be a sustainable watershed and forest management to ensure that the future generation will benefit from the fruits of their hard labor.

Furthermore, he added the reforestation project would also serve as a training ground for the present generation to value the preservation and protection of our forests because water, which is the lifeblood of the power plants and agricultural lands in the lowlands, originates from the Cordillera watersheds.

For his part, lawyer Eduardo Aratas, chief of Philex’s legal division based in Padcal, Tuba, Benguet, disclosed the fund given out to the Aritao clan is part of the company’s commitment to the requirement of concerned government agencies for the implementation of the environmental protection and enhancement program.

Philex has been previously recognized by international groups for their commitment to protect and preserve the environment, a major component of the social development aspect of their operation.

Aratas emphasized the company is duty-bound to adhere to existing government regulations on the protection of the environment especially in areas within or outside their areas of operation as a payback to the minerals they are extracting from underground.

He revealed there is a need to invest in environmental protection and preservation since the future generations must be given a chance to live in a beautiful environment like what we are currently experiencing.

The company’s endeavor to reforest barren areas within and outside its operation is in accordance to the clamor of various government and private groups in the region for a drastic action to preserve and protect the various denuded watersheds since it is not still too late to do so.

AGRI WATCH

Dexter See
P60 M for Cordi Farm roads

BAGUIO CITY — The Department of Agriculture has released P60 million for farm-to-market road projects proposed by the six provincial governors in the Cordillera.

The amount was released after some of the governors complained that the DA is playing favorites in the allocation of funds for farm-to-market road projects in the region. DA officials said farm-to-market roads connected to provincial and national roads are among the infrastructure facilities that have received substantial funding support from the national government in the last five years.

This is in support of the quest of the farmers for improved livelihood that results in increased income, reduction of post-harvest losses, improved access to the market, and cut in travel time.
In Abra, Gov. Eustaquio Bersamin identified the farm-to-market road projects to be funded with the newly funds as those in Barangay Velasco, Tayum town; in Callao, Villaviciosa town; in Baug, San Juan town; and in Abualan, San Juan town.

In Ifugao, Gov. Teddy Baguilat Jr. submitted a list of priority road projects. These include the improvement and opening of Kiangan-Tinoc provincial road; Lingay farm-to-market road in Kiangan; Antipolo-Liwon farm-to-market road in Asipulo; Proper Pugot farm-to-market road in Lamut; Lucban-Panupdupan farm-to-market road in Lamut; Potagon farm-to-market road in Aguinaldo; Amiyong farm-to-market road in Hungduan; Battad farm-to-market road in Banaue; Julongan-Maggok farm-to-market road in Kiangan; Mungayang-Bokiawan farm-to-market road in Kiangan; Mabatobato farm-to-market road in Lamut; and Chalalo-Mongayang farm-to-market road in Aguinaldo.

Mountain Province, Benguet, Kalinga, and Apayao have yet to submit the lists of farm-to-market roads that would be funded with the P60-million fund from the DA.

Last July 14, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap assured provincial governors in the region that DA will extend fund support for farm-to-market road projects during a meeting held at the Banaue Hotel in Banaue, Ifugao.

Yap made the assurance after he visited the North Luzon Agri-Business Quadrangle and agricultural projects in Ifugao in pursuance of a commitment he had given to the governors in previous meetings.

The agriculture stakeholders in the region welcomed the release of the initial funding for the farm-to-market road projects in the different provinces, saying that the immediate completion of the projects would help the farmers as it would lessen their transportation expenses for their crops. This could also result in cheaper prices of vegetables and other farm produce in the Cordillera.

One of the factors contributing to the high production cost of vegetables is the poor condition of the farm-to-market roads that jacks up transportation cost. Cordillera is one of the country’s primary sources of semi-temperate vegetables, with Benguet supplying some 70 percent of the demand.

Veggie prices rising due to low supply LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The low supply of highland vegetables, which has come as a result of the reduced production areas in this province, is temporarily benefiting the agriculture sector here, but it has caused an increase in the prices of the produce in the market.

While many farmers have reduced their farm areas, other farmers, who could still foot the expenses for the high cost of production, have expanded hectares in anticipation of an increase in vegetable prices.

In the past, the prices of highland vegetables tended to slide down in the months of from July to November because the period was considered as the harvest season of locally grown crops. However, the situation this year is a total reversal of those of the previous years. Ironically, farmers and traders are divided on the reason behind the problem of low supply and high prices.
Representatives of Manila-based truckers said that production has been stable and the traders can hardly cope with the supply.

Earlier, farmers in the different towns here said they have reduced their farm areas by as much as 50 percent because they can no longer afford the sharp increase in the prices of farm inputs such as fertilizers and chemicals.

Many of the farmers have ventured into other sources of livelihood, while others leased their farms to their fellow farmers with substantial capital. Leaders of peasant groups said the current situation of low supply and high vegetable prices is an indication of the plight of the farmers who are encountering difficulty in raising the crops due to the spiraling prices of farm inputs.

The leaders asked the national government to launch programs aimed at assisting them.

Meanwhile, traders complained of the high vegetable prices. As of Friday, one kilo of potatoes is priced P28-P30; carrots P40-P45; cabbage at P28-P30; Scorpio cabbage P32-P37; Chinese pechay P18-P20; broccoli, P35-P40; cauliflower, P60-P90; lettuce, P50; beans, P40; sweet peas, P140-P180; and chayote, P7-P8. Local farmers associations said the prevailing high vegetable prices are to their advantage, adding they could at least recover their losses in the past several years.

They realized, however, that the abnormal situation is temporary or at least it may extend up to the end of this year. Several farmers who used to cultivate farms with average sizes of five hectares have reduced the areas to only two hectares. This reduces correspondingly their production output.

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Recycling keeps Santiago farms fertile

SANTIAGO CITY – Tons and tons of biodegradable garbage collected daily from 23 of the city’s 37 villages are converted into organic fertilizer for use in Santiago’s 7,700-hectare rice farms.

"Only biodegradable wastes can be converted into organic fertilizers. The non-biodegradable ones are either recycled or thrown at the city’s dump in Barangay San Jose," said engineer Orlando Tesoro, Santiago City’s environment and natural resources officer.

The organic fertilizers produced from waste recycling are distributed by the city agriculture office to the schools and farmers, Tesoro said. Since the launching of the "Quick Turnaround" rice-planting program in the city, the participating farmers have been receiving subsidized organic fertilizers from the city government.

Equipped with a set of four composting cylinders, one screener, and one hammer mill, the material recovery facility located in the compound of the city environment and natural resources office in Barangay Victory Norte, converts the biodegradable garbage into organic fertilizers.

Of the 11 trucks collecting garbage in the city, three are tasked to collect the biodegradable wastes. The others gather the non-biodegradable garbage.

Tesoro said the composting system consumes some 100 kilowatts of electricity during a five-day composting period. Every batch of garbage yields an average of 60 (40-kilo) bags of fertilizers in five days.

Some 50 tons of mixed garbage are collected daily in the city, and 23 tons are placed in biodegradable cylinders. These are mostly coconut husks that weigh an average of 12 tons. The rest consists of spoiled fruits and vegetables collected from the city’s public market. "With the recycling process, we keep our city clean and we also enrich our farms where we grow organic vegetables," Mayor Amelita Sison-Navarro said.

Tesoro said, however, that the major problem in the garbage collection is the failure of the residents to follow the waste-disposal guidelines. He noted that the city’s environmental ordinances are violated by city residents, especially those at the city public market.

"The common violation is the non-segregation of the biodegradable from the degradable wastes, and this adds difficulty in the classification of the wastes by our garbage collectors. Worst, those who do not have trash bags simply throw their garbage into the sewerage canals," Tesoro lamented.

To address these problems, Mayor Navarro launched a city-wide information drive in all schools and barangays. The objective is to educate everyone on proper garbage disposal. "If violators continue to disobey the law, their garbage will not be collected to penalize them," the lady mayor warned. -- CP

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Robie Halip
Ifugao, Isabela execs cite role of watersheds in Norwegian confab

LAGAWE, Ifugao --- The governors of the host provinces of the Magat dam complex (Ifugao and Isabela) recently attended an environmental conference at Stavanger, Norway after they were invited by Statkraft, main investor of the SN Aboitiz company, to talk on impact of the company’s hydropower investments on local societies and indigenous populations in the Philippines in the Offshore Northern Seas conference and to witness the energy expo presenting clean energy booths.

The ONS conference is among the world’s largest energy conferences, organized bi-annually.
This year’s conference went with the title “Energy for One World” reflecting the combination of challenges in securing access to energy for development while protecting the environment.

SN Aboitiz, since its takeover on the management of the dam last April 2007, had been actively supporting health, education, environment, social infrastructure, livelihood and eco-tourism and governance programs in Isabela and Ifugao.

Gov. Teddy Baguilat, Jr. of Ifugao and Vice Gov. Ramon Reyes of Isabela, in place of Gov. Padaca, who attended the said conference shared to the Norwegian political youth organizations, leaders from the energy industry and the Norwegian Parliament Standing Committee on Energy and Environment the programs supported by SN Aboitiz that benefited numerous municipalities and schools of both provinces and the general state of watersheds supplying water to the dam.
Baguilat, in his presentation, cited the important role that Ifugao watersheds are playing in the sustenance of water supply for the dam.

Upland municipalities of the province had been consistently supplying water to the Magat dam since its construction in 1983 with the Hapao river in the municipality of Hungduan as the main feeder.

“Our watersheds though are currently in a critical condition as many of the dipterocarp and mossy forests are being converted to swidden farms and vegetable gardens or gradually destroyed due to unregulated quarrying, illegal logging and the increasing population” Baguilat said.

He said the provincial government in partnership with the Catholic Church and civil society organizations is currently embarking on a program to preserve the vanishing forests through the Critical Watersheds Development program.

This newly established program will get its start up funds from the share of the province in the dam’s transfer tax accrued from the sale of the Magat complex to SN Aboitiz from Napocor for information dissemination on the importance of maintaining the watershed areas not only to sustain the water supply but more importantly the preservation of traditions and culture embedded in those forests.

The taxes from the dam are of great help in the implementation of projects in the communities but their commitment to protect the watersheds will only be achieved if an alternative source of livelihood is provided to them to prevent them from converting the forests into vegetable farms and from engaging into unregulated quarrying and illegal logging.

“Giving back what is due to the watershed keepers would ensure the continuity of the operations of the dam and the continuity of our rich heritage” Baguilat said.

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

LPG-fuelled vehicles environment-friendly

BAGUIO CITY – The use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or auto gas as alternative fuel for a growing number of motorists is helping this mountain resort city in its campaign to clean the air from the bad smoke emitted by motor vehicles plying the city’s streets every hour.

This was bared by Joseph Wi, president of the local auto gas dealers, who added the shift from gasoline-fed to auto gas fed vehicles would render the smoke emission test being required by the Land Transportation Office before a motor vehicle is registered as irrelevant since the efficient combustion of the fuel would not result in the emission of bad smoke.

According to him, roadside smoke emission testing being done by the LTO would no longer conduct the test on auto gas-fed vehicles due to earlier findings that such vehicles are emitting smoke that are not harmful to the environment.

Aside from being environmentally-friendly, auto gas-fed vehicles also give drivers substantial economic benefits as well as efficiency in the transport services despite earlier doubts on the performance of vehicles using LPG.

Wi said a lot of private and public utility vehicle owners are now realizing the cost-benefit of shifting to auto gas especially in the huge savings it gives to the driver and operator as well as its efficiency and less maintenance work.

One liter of auto gas costs P34.25 per liter while gasoline is a little less than P60 per liter.

Jun Flores, a taxi operator and driver who has used auto gas in his vehicle over the past eight months, testified on the huge benefits he derived from using LPG compared to the time when he was using gasoline.

According to him, he could now bring home at least P500 in less than eight hours of operation compared to almost none at all when he was using gasoline because the money he earns would be spent for re-fuelling his vehicle.

Moreover, Flores revealed he changes oil only after three months unlike the once a month change oil done when he was still using gasoline.

The operator-driver claimed the spark plug of the engine is almost clean and does not require frequent servicing since the auto gas is well burned by the engine unlike gasoline where there are still some particles left thereby clogging the vehicle’s air filter and cleaner.

Wi said motor vehicle owners in the city and Benguet are now being educated to have their vehicles converted into auto gas-fed primarily because of cheaper cost and the economic benefit it brings to the families of the drivers and operators especially during this hard times where everyone must work hard to earn a descent income.

In addition to the environment and economic benefits of auto gas-fed vehicles, the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has granted an addition of two years to the franchises of public utility vehicles which had opted to convert to LPG use, thus, it is an added bonus to earn additional income for the families of the vehicle owners in the future. -- Dexter A. See

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Hot logs unearthed on Mt. Sierra Madre

ILAGAN, Isabela – Over a million board feet of illegally-cut trees have been discovered in the heart of the Sierra Madre Mountain here, bolstering reports of rampant illegal logging taking place in one of the country’s remaining but heavily-threatened forest covers.

Gov. Grace Padaca said last week the number of illegally-felled trees in the mountain areas could be 10 times or maybe even a hundred times bigger and were ready to be hauled and transported out from the area by big-time financiers of illegal logging in the province, exploiting the natives there as bugadores or lumber haulers.

“That’s a conservative estimate. It could be 10 times bigger. It’s what I can manage to think. This is way beyond my powers as governor even if I am deputized as environment officer by Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza to arrest and file cases against illegal loggers,” Padaca said.

Padaca, who recently reactivated the provincial government’s anti-illegal logging task force, led a team over the week for an aerial assessment on the extent of damages of the province’s forestlands, especially over San Mariano town, one of the reported illegal logging hot spots here, which also include Jones and San Agustin towns.

The aerial survey was conducted following reports of rampant illegal cutting of trees in the area, part of the vast Sierra Madre biodiversity corridor or the Sierra Madre National Park, a government-protected area, it also being home to some of the world’s most endangered flora and fauna. 

The provincial government task force, also composed of police and Army, in partnership with the Catholic Church’s Ecology Desk, which is being run by the Diocese of Ilagan’s social action apostolate, had already confiscated at least 95,000 board feet of various species of illegally-sourced out forest trees.     

This province still accounts for at least 600,000 of Cagayan Valley’s more than 900,000 hectares of forest lands, which is one of the country’s biggest remaining forest reserves, which also includes the heavily threatened Northern Sierra Madre biodiversity corridor.

With the seized lumber just littered in the provincial capitol and gymnasium, Padaca hopes that Atienza would grant their request for them to auction the said forest products, and that the amount generated from it would be used to provide alternative income sources for poor families, whom illegal loggers have been employing as tree cutters and lumber haulers.

“I know that he (Atienza) will act soon as he has always done on my previous requests. What I asked him to do is (to) order the immediate auction of the 95,000 board feet that the task force has confiscated so we can have something to immediately give as alternative livelihood to displaced barangay folks who are now agitated because they claim they have no more food to eat,” she said.

Earlier, Padaca and Fr. John Couvreur, head of the Church’s ecology desk here, said that “a plan has been hatched to liquidate me (Couvreur) and Gov. Grace Padaca by hired killers because we put in danger the lucrative business of prominent people who are behind the illegal logging activities within the province.”

Couvreur and his group led a one-day hunger strike at the Church compound in San Mariano over the weekend “to show our moral support to the governor and to call national attention of the seriousness of the problem and invite national agencies to assist us in the struggle for the protection of the environment.” -- CL 

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Expansion of Quirino fish sanctuary sought
Luis Jose

CABARROGUIS, Quirino -- The municipal government here is poised to push for an expansion of its five-hectare fish sanctuary, following the re-emergence of an endangered soft-shelled turtle there, the Philippine Environmental Governance, a USAID-funded project, said. EcoGov’s Bing Jaleco said the freshwater turtle, which was last seen in the area seven years ago, was discovered to have resurfaced two weeks ago, boosting biodiversity conservation efforts in Cabarroguis town.

“More than anything else, it shows how sound environmental management and good governance can impact positively on biodiversity, in this case on habitat,” Jaleco said.

He cited the improved governance of Quirino’s forest and forestland resources through the town’s Forest Land Use Plan, which was prepared with technical assistance from EcoGov.

Leo Valdez, municipal environment officer of Cabarroguis, said the freshwater juvenile Cantor’s Giant Soft-Shelled Turtle (Pelochelys cantorii), locally known as cagot, was discovered after it got trapped in the fishnet of a fisherman along Addalam River in Barangay Eden two weeks ago.

The turtle was immediately brought to the municipal agriculturist’s office for proper documentation.

Valdez said the Addalam River watershed irrigates rice lands in Cabarroguis, Aglipay and Saguday in Quirino, and nearby towns in Isabela.

He said the site where the cagot was found is part of the fish sanctuary established in the mid-1990s.

Intensive quarrying and illegal fishing along the river prompted local leaders to protect the area to enable it to renew and increase fish stocks, Valdez said.

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Women encourage use of bayong

SAN MATEO, Isabela – A women-based group here is leading an effort for the return to biodegradable alternatives, among them the ever-reliable bayong as a market or shopping bag in place of the ubiquitous plastic bags. Dubbed Walang Plastikan, this southwestern town’s chapter of the Isabela Green Ladies Organization is now spearheading a “No to Plastic” campaign in a determined effort to get rid of plastic bags and other related environmentally-destructive items.

According to Dr. Crispina Agcaoili, IGLO president, the move for this rice and corn-producing municipality to return to the use of bayong and other bags made of indigenous materials instead of depending on plastic sand bags is part of a concerted effort to lessen, if not to eradicate the use of non-biodegradable items here.

“Our campaign is to discourage the indiscriminate use of plastic bags, not only in malls but also in ordinary public markets and sari-sari stores,” said Agcaoili, wife of Mayor Roberto Agcaoili.

This recently-launched campaign has now been complemented with a town ordinance seeking to discourage the use of plastic bags in public markets as well as other establishments.

The return to the use of the bayong or woven rattan or bamboo baskets or bags, which rural folk had been commonly using before, would greatly complement the town’s environmental protection efforts by lessening the amount of garbage being disposed.

“By promoting the use of bayong, we will not only help lessen the expense on plastic bags which cost from P1 to P10, this will also result in less eyesores in the town,” said Agcaoili.

Coupled with a strict garbage disposal system, he said, the ban on the use of plastics would also reduce the town’s waste disposal problem.

Besides plastic bags, Mrs. Agcaoili said the campaign also aims to discourage the use of cellophane bags, styropores and plastic straws, which are hazardous to one’s health since a chemical reaction may happen when they are mixed with foodstuffs items and soft drink products. -- CL


Baguio garbage problem in a fix

BAGUIO CITY -- The call is back to the basic Rs –reduce, reuse, recycle – as the city government last week took emergency measures – including having trucks haul tons of trash to a dumpsite in Capas, Tarlac – to ease the garbage crisis and move on to a more permanent solution to the problem.

The city’s barangay chiefs Tuesday morning told city administrator Peter Fianza they have rallied anew households to segregate their waste, hold on to non-biodegradable such as plastics and establish and share temporary backyard compost pits for those that decay. Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. earlier reiterated his appeal for residents to do their share by employing waste reduction techniques in their homes.

Fianza, who was designated by the mayor to oversee management the solid waste problem, explained the moves within the barangay level will give the city time to normalize collection and proper disposal, including locating a landfill site.
Collection in the barangays fully resumed late Thursday afternoon with the arrival of more trucks from Metro Waste, a firm accredited to haul garbage, to beef up the city’s own.

Earlier that day, Fianza convinced a picket of residents affected by the closed dumpsite at Irisan to allow trucks to enter and haul garbage earlier dumped there as a temporary staging area, to add to their loads collected from the barangays and for transport to Capas. The protesters initially stood their ground but eventually relented when Fianza explained that no additional garbage shall be added to the heap and that sorting by scavengers will not be allowed.

Pending the pin-pointing of an alternative staging area, however, Fianza said he will ask the affected residents to allow secondary sorting of waste in the dumpsite as the one in Capas would not accept glass and other sharp materials.

Fianza has also asked the city environment and parks management office to see whether a city-owned lot can be used as a staging or composting area. He was initially considering another area along Marcos Highway which the city earlier planned for a bus terminal, only to find out it has been converted for housing purposes, with some of the lots already titled.

The situation, however, brightened up same day as the Philippine Military Academy offered its dumpsite for compost garbage, mostly vegetable trimmings from the market and animal manure from the city slaughterhouse, the major contributors of this type of waste.

Fianza has also appealed to vegetable farmers and traders to do their trimmings at the farms or at the trading centers to help reduce waste coming into the city. Crucial to the steps being taken will be the city council’s meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss more permanent measures and funding, including the purchase of a lot among several being offered as dumpsite.

Mayor Bautista has also asked the council to pass a P42-million outlay for the set up of 15 material recovery facilities in the barangay clusters and P35 million for 10 dump trucks. The city’s 128 barangays were divided into clusters last year when the waste segregation campaign was stepped up.

At the weekly “Ulat sa Bayan” media forum last Thursday, vice-mayor Daniel Farinas said the mayor personally went to Capas, Tarlac last Thursday to inspect the landfill facility the city will temporarily use.

Farinas has filed a resolution to declare the city under a state of calamity to enable the local government and the barangays to utilize calamity funds in tackling the garbage issue.

He has also proposed an outlay for the purchase of 16 pulverizing machines to support the waste reduction campaign within the 16 barangay clusters. – Ramon Dacawi and Aileen Refuerzo.

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

‘Walang plastikan’ for Isabela ladies group
SAN MATEO, Isabela — To minimize, if not eradicate, the widespread use of plastic bags in town, the San Mateo chapter of the Isabela Green Ladies Organization launched Tuesday a campaign it called "Walang Plastikan."

This was intended to discourage indiscriminate use of the non-biodegradable containers commonly used in modern shopping places, public markets and high-end malls.

"The message which figuratively means be true to one’s self literally means no to plastics," said Dr. Crispina Agcaoili, IGLO president and wife of San Mateo Mayor Roberto Agcaoili. A municipal ordinance discourages the use of plastic bags as containers especially in the San Mateo public market.

"While we have a strict garbage disposal system being implemented in our public market and in all the 33 barangays, discouraging the use of plastics will substantially reduce the mounting problem of waste management, not only in our municipality but in the entire country as well," Mayor Agcaoili said.

Because non-biodegrable, plastic bags and similar containers cause problems at garbage dump sites. "Because plastic does not decompose, you can just imagine millions of tons of it covering the earth every minute, every second. What will happen to us?" Doctor Agcaoili said.

The mayor’s wife said that food stalls, variety stores and mobile juice carts using cellophane pouches and sachets in the sale of bottled soft drinks and juices or even hot food and soup were advised to stop the practice.

"Cellophane pouches may look clean, but these could be dangerous to our health because there are unknown chemical elements in them that may react with cold soda drinks or to extremely high temperature of food," Doctor Agcaoili said.

The use of the traditional "bayong" (nipa basket) or rattan baskets, commonly used by rural folk decades ago, is being revived to save the ailing environment. "In our modern times, bayong or basket may initially look awkward, but as the renewed practice goes in full swing, we will get use to it as our official shopping kit.

Besides, we can save money because we will no longer buy every now and then plastic bags which cost from R2 to R5 depending on the size. And as a result, we can clean our dump sites and get rid of eyesores," Mayor Agcaoili said.

Led by the municipal government, civic groups and schools, "Walang Plastikan" is now a byword in the town in both its literal and figurative meaning. – CP


Expansion of Quirino fish sanctuary sought
CABARROGUIS, Quirino -- The municipal government here is poised to push for an expansion of its five-hectare fish sanctuary, following the re-emergence of an endangered soft-shelled turtle there, the Philippine Environmental Governance, a USAID-funded project, said.

EcoGov’s Bing Jaleco said the freshwater turtle, which was last seen in the area seven years ago, was discovered to have resurfaced two weeks ago, boosting biodiversity conservation efforts in Cabarroguis town.

“More than anything else, it shows how sound environmental management and good governance can impact positively on biodiversity, in this case on habitat,” Jaleco said.

He cited the improved governance of Quirino’s forest and forestland resources through the town’s Forest Land Use Plan, which was prepared with technical assistance from EcoGov.

Leo Valdez, municipal environment officer of Cabarroguis, said the freshwater juvenile Cantor’s Giant Soft-Shelled Turtle (Pelochelys cantorii), locally known as cagot, was discovered after it got trapped in the fishnet of a fisherman along Addalam River in Barangay Eden two weeks ago.

The turtle was immediately brought to the municipal agriculturist’s office for proper documentation. Valdez said the Addalam River watershed irrigates rice lands in Cabarroguis, Aglipay and Saguday in Quirino, and nearby towns in Isabela.

He said the site where the cagot was found is part of the fish sanctuary established in the mid-1990s. Intensive quarrying and illegal fishing along the river prompted local leaders to protect the area to enable it to renew and increase fish stocks, Valdez said.

Sectors join to preserveLagawe’s watershed
LAGAWE, Ifugao – The ongoing deforestation of Mount Binahagan, Lagawe’s highest mountain and the source of drinking water for the five barangays surrounding it, has prompted some concerned sectors to join in a tree planting activity and community consultation here initiated by the municipal local government unit last July 12.

Some 1,000 mahogany seedlings and 400 arabica coffee seedlings were planted at the peak of the said mountain by at least 60 participants mostly young people from Don Bosco High School, the Ifugao State College of Agriculture and Forestry, Kiphodan, and Kataguwan. Employees from the provincial government and LGU-Lagawe participated also in the event.

Sharon Sarol of the Lagawe municipal government said the tree planting activity was an advocacy in itself since it heightened awareness on the importance of biodiversity conservation among the youth and the community in line with the concerns on global warming. Sarol said involvement of the young people in the said activity was in commemoration of World Population Day.

“The youth comprises the majority of the world population and involving them in this activity could help change the notion that they could hardly make a difference nowadays,” she said.

“I was worried of any unwanted incident to the participants as we climbed the peak of the mountain but we made it,” she added.

Sarol told the young people that by planting a tree, the person develops his or her nurturing capacity or the ability to care and grow emotionally. She stressed to them that activities such as this help them stay away from destructive activities.

As a response, a Don Bosco student testified that with the activity, she developed a sense of responsibility. She said she was able to prove to herself that she could do something worthwhile.

“Being a student of Don Bosco who stays at Poblacion, I was unaware of the actual situation of the far-flung barangays of Lagawe so I find this activity truly educational,” she said. “At the peak of Mt. Binahagan, I saw how human activities cause the deterioration of the rich natural resources of Lagawe.”

The activity resulted to consultation among elders and residents initiated by Dionisio Umlano Jr., barangay captain of Pullaan, who promised to monitor the planted trees. Encouraged by the positive feedbacks from the participants and the community, Lagawe Mayor Caesario Cabbigat said Mt. Binahagan could be developed as eco-tourism site.

Ifugao Gov. Teddy Baguilat Jr. also said he hoped the activity would be replicated in other municipalities. -- Jeremy M. Gawongna

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Mini-hydro to save Ifugao terraces

LAGAWE, Ifugao – Gov. Teddy Baguilat, Jr., Energy Sec. Angelo Reyes and Mitsuru Shimizu, project manager of e8, signed a memorandum of agreement for the construction of a mini-hydro in Ambangal, Kiangan town July 2 at the Dept. of Energy main office in Taguig.

The project was conceptualized in 2003 to preserve the rice terraces of Ifugao and provide cheaper source of electricity for the province. The project which features the development of a run-of-river hydropower plant (200 kW) is being funded and implemented by e8 through the Tokyo Electric Power Co. with the support of the DOE and the provincial government.

Community consultations and feasibility studies were conducted last year. The construction of the project is estimated to start third quarter of 2008 after the acquisition of the “free, prior and informed consent” from involved communities and will begin operation in 2009.

The e8 is a non profit organization composed of nine leading electricity companies from the G8 countries that promotes sustainable development through electricity sector projects and human capacity building activities in developing countries worldwide.

“The Ambangal mini-hydro is the lucky number 7 project of e8 and upon completion will create sustainable revenue to the terraces conservation.” said Toyoto Matsuoka of e8. Part of the revenues of the project’s power sales will finance a rice terraces conservation fund to be used in the rehabilitation of damaged rice terraces and communal irrigations, implementation of a reforestation project, and enhancement and promotion of traditional culture programs.

According to Sec. Reyes, “The terraces are in a rapidly deteriorating state of repair.

This project is well designed as it incorporates environmental, social, cultural, economic, and historical aspects. It provides livelihood and income to the community thus improving the way of life of the people and enhances one of the wonders of the world currently in danger of being enlisted from the heritage sites of UNESCO.”

“This project is a miracle not only for me but for the people of Ifugao. It will provide IFELCO (Ifugao Electric Coop.e) with cheaper source of energy.” said Baguilat. “The project once completed will serve as a stepping stone for other investors to invest on social enterprise projects in Ifugao. We will devote our time, effort, and logistics for the success of this project.” – Robie Halip


Baguio waste bins now a requirement

BAGUIO CITY – Owners of big establishments like shopping malls, hotels and restaurants here are now required to provide their own large garbage bins that would effect the segregation of wastes.

The city council has approved on final reading Ordinance No. 52 series of 2008 and authored by Vice Mayor Daniel Fariñas.

This was meant to compliment the city’s waste segregation policy since these establishments are also considered as major waste generators.

“It has been observed that although there are business establishments that are now complying with the solid waste segregation process some have their solid wastes accumulated at their vicinities while awaiting the garbage trucks to pick them up.

This kind of situation is not only an eyesore but there arises a tendency that these segregated garbage may be scattered by stray animals,” the ordinance noted.

“If there were big garbage bins sufficient to accommodate the accumulated garbage of each of these establishments, this kind of situation can be prevented, including the infestation by insects such as flies, cockroaches, and other vermins aside from the diseases that may arise from such.”

As per the ordinance, “proprietors, owners, and/or managers of large business establishments such as, but not limited to, hotels, restaurants, malls and the like, are hereby mandated to provide big garbage bins sufficient to accommodate the volume of their segregated garbage collections.

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Pushing Forbes Park as forest reservation

BAGUIO CITY – The city council last Monday called for the retention of the Forbes Park area along South Drive here as a forest reservation following confirmation by the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources regional office here that some portions of the reservation has been declared as alienable.

The body also requested the regional DENR to cancel all townsite sales applications made by private entities over said lot and to immediately resolve the ancestral land issued in the area to retain the area as a pine stand and safeguard its forest cover.

Victor Carantes, officer-in-charge of the office of the regional technical director for lands of the DENR confirmed before the body that some portions of the 29-hectare Forbes Park I have been reclassified as alienable or disposable as per Proclamation No. 773 and Republic Act No. 8963. The body was deliberating on a proposal by Vice Mayor Daniel Farinas to turn over Forbes Park I to the city government for development into a regular campsite.

Carantes said the DENR-CAR would interpose no objection to the proposal but this would have to pass through the Office of the President and the Congress. He added there were areas approved for disposition but there were also TSA sales applications over Forbes Park lots that were disapproved by the DENR like the applications of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines and the ancestral claimants.

The council nevertheless was concerned that there were portions declared open for disposition thus it moved to declare it a policy of the city government to retain the areas as a forest reservation. The body also requested the DENR to provide the city with an updated map delineating and pinpointing areas that remain as forest reservation vis-à-vis the areas declared as alienable.

In 2005, then mayor Braulio Yaranon made the same move asking the DENR-CAR to cancel all the miscellaneous and townsite sales applications over lots within the Forbes Park and asked the recall of the fencing, building and such other permits issued to any person or entity applying for said lots located along South Drive from the Military Circle towards the Girl Scout area.

The mayor’s move was prompted by reports that TSA and MSA lot applications over said lots have been approved by the AO 504 committee with the applicants claiming that the lots are part of their ancestral domain. That same year, city officials opposed House Bill No. 3172 which seeks to exclude a portion of land at Parcel 2 of the Forbes Forest Reservation in Gibraltar here from the Baguio Townsite Reservation and from Proclamations No. 10 and 63 declaring the area as forest reservation and instead declare the subject area open for disposition to qualified applicants.

The late Mt. Province Rep. Victor Dominguez, who then authored by measure eventually withdrew the bill in deference to the city officials’ wishes. -- Aileen P. Refuerzo


Baguio ‘hikes the talk’: ‘July walk’ gains steam

“Walk, Baguio, Walk”, Baguio’s push to promote walking as an entry point in rallying its residents to actively support environmental thrusts for a more wholesome urban landscape, will be renewed with the next “Walk Day” set on July 14.

The medical sector, through the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center headed by director Manuel Factora, will take the lead this time, as announced during the launching program last June 2 at the city’s athletic oval. For July, the “Walk 2” multi-agency organizing committee led by BGH-MC, the City Government, Baguio Regreening Movement, the National Economic Development Authority, Department of Transportation and Communication, and the Cordillera Association of Regional Executives are likewise firming up consolidation of plans for the implementation of Fil-Am Friendship Day, the Cordillera Month; the Anniversary of the 1990 Earthquake; and Disaster Consciousness Month to ensure full participation of all government agencies in stationed in Baguio.

Since the kick-off that drew some 2,000 participants, officials at city hall have initiated measures to sustain the drive, topped by a decision by mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. against lifting the “number coding scheme” designed to ease traffic within the central business district.

The mayor has also ordered a “no parking policy” this month within the city’s university belt, thereby clearing roads leading to and from schools with the opening of the academic year. The mayor renewed his push for converting Session Rd., the city’s main street, into a walking promenade and ordered a study for a six-day-a-week ban on vehicles within the central business district instead of the one-day-per-week provided in the “number coding” ordinance. Vice-mayor Daniel Farinas has also proposed every Friday as car-less day so private vehicle owners would walk, take the cab or jeepney in going to and from their work.

The car-less day concept was successfully implemented about eight years ago in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, under the leadership of then mayor Enrique Penalosa. “A city is made for people, not for cars,” Penalosa said when he presented the Bogota Model during the World Urban Forum in Sweden in 2005. City administrator Peter Fianza, action officer of “Walk, Baguio, Walk” has proposed that vehicles of city employees covered by the number coding scheme should not be parked within the city hall premises to allow space for the public.

The next “Walk Day” will rally workers and officials to again walk to the city athletic bowl for a flag-ceremony and to their offices and to their residences. Those who can’t are encouraged to leave their cars at home and ride the taxi or the jeep, thereby helping reduce pollution and loosen up traffic congestion. Participants will again be asked to submit practical and do-able suggestions, including what they are doing and will undertake to improve the urban environment.

“Phase out old vehicles emitting smoke,” one participant wrote last June 2. Another called for a more aggressive crackdown on smoke-belching vehicles. Another sought the removal of obstacles along sidewalks “for ‘Walk, Baguio, Walk’ to really work.”

The district office of the Department of Public Works and Highways vowed to use coconut made from coconut fiber in its slope protection and erosion control projects. In the eyes of a child, sustaining the walk rally would also strengthen family bonding while helping clear the urban air. “If you do care for us, I hope that you adults could start showing us you really do by leaving your cars at home,” said 11-year old Iszkra Samara Liporada in her message at the program launching. “Walk with us, walk with your children so we could get to know you, our parents, better,” she pleaded. – Ramon Dacawi

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Of trees and a gas station
ISAGANI S. LIPORADA

BAGUIO CITY – The Regional Trial Court made Independence Day extra special for Leonard Wood Road residents, denying reconsideration of its April 2 decision favoring the Baguio government against the Baguio Total SS Management Corp. (Baguio Total) drive for issuance of “green light” in putting up a gas station here. Residents and business owners in the area earlier trooped to the city council to protest the putting up of the gasoline station because several trees were to be cut.

In an 8-page Order dated June 12 (received by the legal office June 16), RTC Branch V Judge Antonio Esteves dismissed Baguio Total’s petition for the court to mandate the city government to issue exemption from the city’s zoning ordinance and issuance of required permits.

The court cited Baguio Total’s defective verification and certification against non-forum shopping; lack of personality to prosecute; and lack of cause of action as reasons for the dismissal. Esteves in his order said Baguio Total vice president Edgardo Francisco signed the petition without authority from the corporation.

“Absent with such authority,” he wrote, “the petition cannot be considered as having been verified and certified, which is a ground for dismissal under the Section 5, Rule 7 of the Rules of Court.” He said the oversight was a fatal defect which cannot be cured by subsequent amendments. “On this ground alone,” he added, “the case should be dismissed outright.”

Baguio Total has a retail agreement with Total Philippines Corp. for the distribution of petrol products in Baguio. To realize the business, Baguio Total rented a lot along Leonard Wood Road covered by Certificate of Title No. T-87561. One Ariel De Dios, original lessee, leased the same lot from co-owners Susan Dato-on, Helen Estigoy, and Kenneth See. Total Philippines applied for exemption from the zoning board, which was subsequently denied.

The city’s Local Zoning Board disapproved Total Philippines application for exemption from the city’s zoning ordinance, resulting to botched bids to secure operation and construction permits from the city. Baguio Total claimed the previous owner, one Juvencio Dizon, was issued an exemption for the use of the lot for commercial purposes, which in turn, should likewise be honored by the zoning board in Baguio Total’s behest.

But Esteves ruled, “It was admitted that Total Philippines and Baguio Total are separate and distinct entities. Now, Baguio Total, is instituting a case against the city without authorization from Total Philippines.”

“Obviously, [Baguio Total] has no personality to question said decision since it was not a party to the said case nor was it authorized to represent Total Philippines to institute this case,” he added.

As to “lack of cause of action,” the court ruled Baguio Total never applied for necessary location clearance leaving nothing for concerned city authorities to approve or deny which could be bases for an action for injunction.

“What was denied is the location clearance application of Total Philippines, which could not be questioned by Baguio Total since it was not a party the said case.Clearly, Baguio Total has no cause of action against the City Government of Baguio.”

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Developing Aurora’s wind, solar project
MANNY GALVEZ

BALER, Aurora – A Filipino-American energy expert has been tapped to lead the way in the launch of renewable energy projects in the province, including solar and wind farms. Sen. Edgardo Angara told said that engineer Larry Asera will help the provincial government in setting up wind, solar and hydro power projects in the province. Angara said Asera, a graduate of the University of California in Berkeley and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has already done some preliminary studies on the potentials of renewable energy projects in the province.

Asera, accompanied by Benjamin Mina, the provincial environment and natural resources officer, flew by helicopter to Casiguran town in northern Aurora for an aerial inspection of possible sites for solar and wind farms. Following the inspection, Asera told Mina that an initial three hectares of solar farm can be developed in Barangay Esteves, Casiguran with a capacity of three megawatts.

The Fil-Am energy expert also discussed the prospects of renewable energy with Agripino Teh San, general manager of the Aurora Electric Cooperative (Aurelco) and technical director Noel Vidat. Asera’s visit came after Angara toured his sprawling house in California to see his wind farm and one-hectare solar farm which supplies the energy requirements of the City of Vallejo. He used to work in Cotabato and in parts of Mindanao.

His grandparents migrated to Hawaii. He later married a Filipina from Abra. Asera owns 22,000 acres of lands in Napa Valley, considered a wine country and in Vallejo. He also built and now operates 25 wind turbines in the area with a power-generating capacity of 1.8 megawatts each. Each turbine costs $1.5 million. With 25 turbines, these cost a whopping P1.5 billion.

Following the visit, the senator invited the Fil-Am to visit the province where they toured the Dicasalarin Cove in Baler town which, Angara said, would be turned into laboratory for renewable energy so that the entire energy source in the province is not fuel and gas but renewable energy. Angara principally sponsored the Renewable Energy Bill in the Senate, considered a ground-breaking piece of legislation aimed to make the country less dependent on fossil fuel but more on biomass which is abundant in the country.

The Baler senator said that Asera who is also helping Puerto Princesa City in setting up its own solar systems, will enable the province of Aurora to be the first provincial local government unit in the country to develop clean and sustainable energy technology.

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

In defense of environment
Luis Jose

QUEZON CITY -- Environment activists recently formed a human chain in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources here to protest what they called the continuous destruction and degradation of the country’s environment.

Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment, said environmental ruin continues, as global warming, urban pollution, drought, flashfloods and landslides directly affect the lives, health and livelihood of the people.

“Earth Day is a day for our environment, patrimony, and most especially for the brave people of our land, who struggle to protect it from narrow, senseless and profit-making objectives. Indigenous people, fisherfolk, peasants, workers and professionals are becoming more aware of the root causes of the environmental crisis that we have,” he said.

The administration failed to implement proper mitigation and adaptation to address global warming and natural disasters, he added. Bautista said seven major environmental disasters happened in the country during the eight years of the Arroyo administration.

These are the 2001 Camiguin flashflood, 2003 Southern Leyte landslide, 2004 Aurora-Quezon landslide, 2005 Semirara oil spill, 2006 St. Bernard landslide, Guimaras oil spill, and Bicol mudslide, he added.

Bautista said these tragedies alone have claimed almost 5,000 lives and caused damage to property and livelihood amounting to more than P15 billion.

“These made the Arroyo administration one of the most disaster prone administrations,” he said. The 2006 Guimaras oil spill was the worst in Philippine history, while the Aurora-Quezon flashflood was one of the most devastating environmental tragedies, Bautista said.

Trixie Concepcion of anti-mining group Defend Patrimony said these disasters are brought about by the failure of the government to properly manage our environment and natural resources. “Its economic policies in mining and logging is oriented towards the extraction and commodification of our natural resources to serve as raw materials for export,” she said.

Concepcion said as of last year, the administration approved 359 mineral agreements covering 514,949 hectares of land that are mostly located in forests and mountains. The unbridled extraction of the country’s mineral resources by private and foreign mining corporations has sped up deforestation and soil erosion, she added.

Frances Quimpo, Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines (CEC-Phils) executive director, said deforestation is one of the major causes of landslide and flashflood in the Philippines.

“The Arroyo administration even tried to hide the sorry state of our forest to cover up its failure to arrest deforestation and rehabilitate our forest,” she said.

Quoting records from the DENR’s Forest Management Bureau (FMB), Bautista said in 2002, the country’s forests have dwindled to 4.7 million hectares or around 16 percent of the total land area.

“The environmental crisis and disasters are brought about by the present economic and political situation in the country which is further worsened by the globalization policy of the government,” he said.

Based on data from CEC-Phils, out of the 154 priority watershed areas designated by DENR, 124 are deemed in critical state. However, in 2003 the FMB said the country’s forest cover increased to seven million hectares.

ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Holcim response to global warming /Wind engineering
NONNETTE C. BENNETT

BAGUIO CITY – Cement and cement manufacturing are responding to the call for control of global warming, said a Holcim executive last week. Senior Vice President Francis Felizardo, 43, said in an interview that Holcim Philippines, Inc. was responding to the world call to reduce global warming by using mineral additives to the production of cement. He explained that these mineral additives help in the processing of cement and reduce the fuel needs. At the same time, it also helps bring about better quality concrete, he said.

Speaking during the 8th Region 1/CAR West Regional Conference of Civil Engineers here, he added that the use of alternative raw materials, like rice husks and other agricultural waste products, for fuel help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In this manner, using the materials in the kilns remove the gas producers of the atmosphere and help in the production of quality cement when the residue is added to the cement materials.

Allan Valencia, 42, Manager – Ready Mix Concrete, explained that as part of the social responsibility of the company, Holcim was co-processing waste with industrial partners. “Trucks haul rice husks from rice mills and back load with cement,” he said. Valencia said that among some of the industrial partners were Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Shell. These companies deliver expired products and other wastes like oil sludge to their plants as alternative fuels.

The materials are burned to 1500 degrees centigrade then the ash by-product is integrated in the ready mix concrete leaving no toxic waste. He said that the company had “zero waste” using “controlled emissions”, when asked about compliance with air pollution laws.

“It is our social responsibility,” Valencia said when he added that it was safer to burn the old tires than see dengue causing mosquitoes breed in them or prevent the marketing of expired products to consumers. Valencia said that the sand with oil that was gathered from the Guimaras oil spill was brought to the Holcim plant in Iligan for disposal. He noted that also the hair used as oil collector was co-processed in the plant because if these were not incinerated, the oil would seep into the soil or return to the sea.

Felizardo noted that Holcim holds biennial awards for sustainable construction in the professional and student level. He said that the company recognizes breakthroughs done by scientists in construction technology and also students who have made successful studies that improve environmental sustainability using better constructi