BAGUIO CITY-- Members of
the Santo Tomas Forest Reserve Management Council (STFRMC) agreed Tuesday to
improve enforcement of the court-issued permanent environment protection order
(PEPO) preventing human activity like entry of tourists inside the reservation
within this city and Tuba, Benguet.
“We
have now a strengthened checkpoint with the PNP (Philippine National Police)
and the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources). More than 1,700
vehicles were prevented entry to Mt. Santo Tomas from January to March as
reported by the Tuba police,” Carlos Arida Sr., Provincial Environment and
Natural Resources Office chief, said during a meeting of the task force.
"That’s
how serious. Kung hindi natin siya mamu-monitor at mare-regulate,
there will come a time na lalong lalaki ang environmental
problems natin (if we cannot monitor and will not regulate [entry of
tourists and vehicles], there will come a time when the environmental problem
will be massive),” Arida said.
Arida said
the task force has ordered the police to look at the different entry points to
Mt. Santo Tomas to prevent the entry of unauthorized persons.
The Court of
Appeals (CA) issued a PEPO on May 2015 to the Mt. Santo Tomas Forest Reserve in
Tuba, Benguet following the case filed by former Catholic Church Bishop Carlito
Cenzon and Archbishop Socrates Villegas, claiming the reservation's
degradation.
The court
ordered a halt in all activities inside the reservation -- including a stop in
the expansion of existing farms and habitation, as well as the stoppage of all
business activities in the area covering barangays Tabaan Norte, Tabaan Sur,
Twin Peaks and Poblacion.
The court
also ordered the prevention of entry of non-residents to the area.
During the
meeting, Arida said the police also sought to be furnished with a copy of the base-map,
which will allow them to identify the actual boundaries of the reservation.
Arida said
the DENR has completed the survey and installation of monuments of the
reservation, which will make it easy to provide the request of the police.
He said there
is a need to boost the information drive, explaining to the people the “writ of
kalikasan” and the PEPO issued by the Court of Appeals.
Included as
members of the council are peoples’ organizations, which would teach people
farming skills to shift to organic farming.
“We want to
intensify the IEC (information education campaign). Some residents are being
used so that some can enter. It is unfortunate that entry of tourists continue
to happen despite the prohibition which some enterprising people use in making
gains,” Arida said.
“This is a
challenging task but we are bent on complying with the court’s order,” he
added.
He said the
municipality has been tasked to act to stop any business establishment in Santo
Tomas from operating, which would cease the influx of tourists in the area.
Arida said
the council submitted its long-term protection and management plan for the Mt.
Santo Tomas reservation to the DENR central office for funding of the programs.
He said the
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Cordillera is also preparing
the conduct of a Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) for the implementation
of the long term plan for Mount Sto. Tomas.
“The DENR,
PNP showed a detailed order of what they are doing as dictated by the court.
Tuba had not also issued any permit to operate any business, allowed
registration of a tax declaration and we are complying with the quarterly
reportorial requirement of the court,” Arida said. -- PNA
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