LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March Fianza
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- .It’s
final for now until a new hitch related to the rehabilitation of the road on
the eastern side of the sacred Mt. Pulag rears its head.
Upon the invitation of Benguet Rep. Ronald M. Cosalan, heads of offices from
the DENR represented by RED Clarence Baguilat, DPWH represented by RD
Edilberto Carabbacan, mayors Faustino Aquisan and Mauricio Macay of Kabayan and
Bokod, respectively; the police that was represented by Senior/Supt.
Peter Tagtag Jr., Lusod barangay chair Tito Basilan and Tawangan barangay chair
Orlando Molitas and residents from the affected barangsy below Mt. Pulag ended
a ticklish issue regarding the repair of an existing road with a funding worth
P124 million.
The
Ballay-Tawangan-Lusodroadline rehabilitation was funded as a farm-to-market
road and tourism-related project to be bided this December. It appears that
Kabayan has been getting more infrastructure funding as another P150M has been
listed in the General Appropriations Act for 2014 for the improvement of the
Timbac-Anchokey-Adaoay road, another artery leading to tourism spots in the
North of Benguet.
To
diminish fears that the repair of the 18-kilometer road stretch might cause
damage to the environment in Pulag or that trees within the mossy forest might
be cut, RD Carabbacan made it clear that no road widening and massive
earth-moving will be undertaken during the repair of the road on Pulag as
clearing and concreting will strictly be implemented on the same four-meter
wide existing road.
Cosalan
said we do not want a regular national highway (60 meters wide) like the
highways going to Metro Manila. If this is the case, for sure trees will be
endangered as road widening will surely be implemented. “We do not want that to
happen. We should protect the national park,” he said.
When asked
by RED Baguilat if the DPWH has acquired the necessary permits such as the
issuance of an environmental compliance certificate, RD Carabbacan said they
were issued a Certificate of Non-Coverage by the DENR since there will be no
earthmoving as only the existing road width will be cleaned and cemented. He
further informed those present during the conference that DPWH central office gave
them a special permit to construct the road that is only four meters wide,
considering that it is not a national highway.
Cosalan
informed the body that he invited the meeting to be held right in the DENR
office to remove any doubts that the road project was being pushed without the
participation of others, especially the DENR, the agency in charge of
protecting the flora and fauna, and the wildlife on Mt. Pulag.
At this
point, RED Baguilat said everyone concerned should sign an agreement that will
list down conditions, responsibilities and tasks to be undertaken so that “we
will avoid finger-pointing when problems arise.”
Cosalan
agreed, saying, “any opposition from the DENR regarding the construction and
repair of the road must be taken into consideration because we all have to
participate in protecting Mt. Pulag.”
On another
issue, Cosalan asked about a news clipping mentioning about backhoes and other
heavy equipment that were being used to widen vegetable gardens that have
encroached the mossy forest but that these are not taken into custody.
That was a
question some of the participants did not want to hear, and no one from the
office of the Mt. Pulag park superintendent’s office represented by Ms. Emerita
Basco was ready to give an answer, so that Senior/Supt. Tagtag took the “slight
beating” and said that their counterpart from the Philippine Army were asked to
put up a station on sight.
“We wanted
to destroy the backhoe or immobilize it but we were also afraid that the owners
might retaliate and file cases in court against us,” Tagtag clarified. RED
Baguilat followed this up saying that “barangay officials should help apprehend
the intruders into the park, the reason why that has become your ancestral
domain, and so you must protect it.”
“Even during
forest fires, the barangay and its officials should move first because DENR
officials are not always in the area,” Baguilat said, as he informed those in
attendance that the areas of Lakes Tabeyo and Bulalakaw on Mt. Pulag has been
decreasing gradually due to the widening of vegetable farms.
To cap the
meeting, Cosalan asked that more checkpoints should be established around and
on all entry-exit points of the Mt. Pulag National Park which was welcomed by
the body, and that he will call another meeting to include the DENR legal
department, the Prosecutors Office under Atty. William Bacoling, the barangays
and municipalities concerned and the police.
“Even
public officials are partly responsible and are violating laws by
non-participation in the protection of the environment. They should also be
sued in court,” Cosalan said.
In their agreement that would soon be crafted, I wish to suggest that no one
should be allowed to build houses on the side of the road that would soon be
cemented. That is because in Benguet, residential houses are built far from
each other. But later, the number of houses and soon becomes a sitio of a
barangay. It has been on record that the number of houses of a family
multiplies not according to the family’s needs but according to what the family
wants, even if there is no need to build another house. On top of Mt. Pulag,
for as long as there is space, a newly concreted road, there is lumber to use
and there are no forest guards in sight, I am very certain that people will
flock to the road sides and start erecting houses. – ozram.666@gmail.com
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