MORE NEWS, BAGUIO CITY

DENR to open 16,700 ‘emergency jobs’ in Cagayan, Cordillera

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is tapping students, out-of-school youths and poor upland farmers in its land distribution and forest protection efforts, as it opens more than 16,700 “emergency” jobs in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza said the hiring of youths and farmers in the two regions “is in response to a directive of President Arroyo, tasking her Cabinet to carry out emergency employment projects for the remainder of the year.”

“We thought it best that our workforce in the reforestation and forest protection effort and land distribution is augmented with the additional manpower given the pivotal role of these activities in the overall thrust of President Arroyo’s program on poverty alleviation,” he said.

Atienza said P116.7 million has been set aside for the emergency work program, which will be implemented up to January next year.

He said some P100 million would be used to mobilize 15,644 residents of upland communities to reforest their respective areas with fruit trees while growing cash crops.

The project would cover a total of 9,876 hectares – 7,650 hectares in CAR and the rest in Region 2.

On the other hand, Atienza said P16.7 million would be used to pay 1,041 out-of-school youths who would be hired as forest guards (843) and land survey workers (198).

At present, the DENR said Region 2 and Cordillera have only 361 and 292 regular forest guards, respectively, watching over some 995,000 hectares of forestlands in 76 towns.

The emergency forest guards are expected to be deployed in three illegal logging hot spots in Region 2 – San Mariano in Isabela, Sta. Ana in Cagayan, and Nagtipunan in Quirino – and in three “priority” areas in CAR, particularly along the boundary of the three provinces linked by Mt. Pulag and Mt. Data, in the mountainous towns of Kabayan and Baguias in Benguet, Tinoc in Ifugao, and Buako in Mt. Province. -- KA


Baguio folks seek probe on defective dev’t works
By Dexter A See

BAGUIO CITY – Concerned residents of Irisan, the biggest barangay in this mountain resort city, are seeking the conduct of an in-depth investigation by the city government and national government agencies on the alleged questionable subdivision project of a manila-based contractor which might result in an environmental disaster in the future if the defects of the project are not corrected.

The people living at sitio Bases claimed the on-going subdivision project of Bi- Centennial Development Corporation, a Manila-based developer, seems not to conform with sound subdivision project standards primarily because of the alleged loose soil within the premises of the more or less 7-hectare project.

According to them, the developer had allegedly flattened a mountain in the project site but the soil was hastily dumped just above the Buat River without sufficient slope protection which would prevent it from being washed down the river during the rainy season.

Because of the very dangerous situation in the area, the villagers fear that there will come a time that the unprotected piles of lose soil above their residences might be washed out by rampaging waters in the coming years which might lead to loss of lives and damage to properties in the area and other low-lying communities down the river.

They also questioned whether or not the subdivision project was issued the required Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC), a major requirement for the issuance of a subdivision development permit, when the lot is covered by a Certificate of Ancestral Land title (CALT) and not a regular title.

If the project has an ECC, the residents challenged the city government and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) to conduct a regular inspection on the project so that they will be able to require the developer to comply with the conditions which would prevent the occurrence of a perceived environmental disaster in the future.

While the people in the area are not opposed to the put up of subdivision projects within their community, they asserted housing projects must be covered by the appropriate permits by regulating agencies to ensure the observance of sound construction activities plus the conduct of frequent monitoring to prevent the developers from abusing the provisions of the permits granted to them.

The vigilance of the people in the community is vital in policing the abuses of individuals and groups who want to take advantage of their influence so that they could promote their own interests especially in sensitive projects such as subdivision and condominiums in the city where there is limited space for such purposes.