Editorial

Dying forests
Philippine Daily Inquirer 02/08/2011

Thousands of years ago, when the first humans arrived in the Philippines from Asia, they found an archipelago that was rich in natural resources, researcher Lawrence R. Heany of the Field Museum of Chicago said. The land was covered almost entirely by rain forest that provided the people with meat from wildlife, building materials and clear water. Over the years, the people squandered the natural resources by overuse, mismanagement and greed. After more than 300 years of Spanish colonial rule, rain forest still covered about 70 percent of the country. After some time, Cebu, Bohol, Panay and other Visayan islands became badly deforested. Vast areas of Luzon and Mindanao also lost a lot of the ir forests. In 1992, old-growth rain forest had declined to 8.6 percent and was estimated to have further dropped to 7 percent in 1997. Heany said the Philippines forest decline from 70 percent to 7 percent in less than a century is probably the most rap id and severe in the world. Now we are literally reaping the whirlwind of that overuse, mismanagement, corruption and greed. The nation is experiencing worse floods and droughts, massive erosion, loss of topsoil, landslides, silted streams, coral reef and mangrove destruction, groundwater depletion and the near extinction of endangered flora and fauna. All because of severe deforestation. Alarmed by the death and destruction caused by floods and landslides in Eastern Visayas and Southern Luzon, President B enigno Aquino III has ordered a ban on the cutting and harvesting of timber. But it is not enough to have a moratorium on logging. A massive, nationwide reforestation program has to be undertaken to reverse the alarming slide of the country to severe deforestation. The President has ordered the creation of an Anti -Logging Task Force to enforce the moratorium. But the government forces are terribly undermanned; the few forest rangers we have cannot adequately police large areas of forests that are the target of loggers out to make a fast buck at the expense of the environment. The people will have to pitch in and help enforce the ban on logging. They can do what some groups in Bukidnon province did many years ago: stop the loggers who cut down trees and even lie down in the path of trucks carrying the logs down to the plains. Or do what some grassroots organizations are doing: tree spiking, which is simply driving nails into the trunks of trees, destroying the hated chainsaws and making it extremely dangerous for loggers to cut down trees. A concerted effort by government and the people should effectively stop deforestation.

Reference:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20110208 -319067/Dying-forests

COMMENTARY

Guardians or opportunists?
By Gina Lopez Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 02:13:00 02/07/2011 MANILA, PhilippinesOn the launch of a 10-million signature campaign for No To Mining in Palawan, I could feel the cleanliness of the air, the splendor of the environment. But I hear storiesand documented factsabout the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) and I literally turn nauseous. My head feels hot, but I have to stay cool. This campaign has to be done on a high level not in anger. That is hard, but I want this to be successful, so I am going to give this my best shot. The PCSD was created in 1992 through the Strategic Environmental Pl an to ensure the sustainability of Palawan. This obviously means social acceptability, preservation of nonrenewable resources. Sustainability is holistic by its very definition. Lets look at the track record of the PCSD. Under the PCSD, Palawan has actu ally lost 16 percent of its forest cover compared to other provinces. I actually thought that it was supposed to protect Palawan because of its biodiversity. And yet, among the provinces in the country, Palawan appears to be the most ravaged. What is worse is that the 16-percent decline was recorded before the Mining Act was passed. I cringe in apprehension about what the real figure is. The PCSD has consistently altered zones to accommodate mining applications. Instead of protecting Palawan, it is just a nother bureaucratic level, which acts like a political tool. Mining applicants go through the PCSD to get an environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). In fact, Environment Secretary Mon Paje told me that in the law, the PCSD has precedence over the DENR. It seems to me that the setup was to protect Palawan from corruption at the top, but this has dismayingly worked the other way.
Disappearing forests

Proof? Core zones are areas that should not be touched! Its a primary-growth forest and it has endangered species. Primary-growth forest means the trees are not planted by man, they grow naturally because of the demands of the ecosystem. So what did the PCSD do? A core zone which was 1,022 hectares in 2006 was reduced to 510. Thats half! To accommodate a mining application? Thats disgusting, and actually sickening. But thats only the beginning. In Brookes Point, another core zone of 2,411 ha became 287! Thats a 90-percent reduction! In this age of climate change and global warming, we have an institution sacrificing our trees and biodiversity by manipulating laws and ordinances.

I cant even begin to say how much angst this causes, in a place as lush and beautiful as Palawan. This is not just a crime; its a sin! Its a sin to wreck havoc on Gods creation. Its a sin to rape and abuse divine blessings on this country and its people. I am not a lawyer, but I know right and wrong. And this is wrong. And its just the tip of the iceberg. One wonders why there is flooding in Palawan? Now I can really feel the pain of the natives who said they made our children lawyers, but they took away our mountains. One native says: I am poor. I have not even reached Grade 1, but at least I fish in the sea. I have trees, water and these are free! Mining takes away all of these from me. So the PCSD, please explain to the readers how this is sustainable and view the pictures of these children in a mining area and tell your countrymen with a straight face that you care.
Cyanide fishing

PCSD activities extend to fishing, to tourism. Mangroves are being cut to accommodate resorts, permits are given for catching live fish without adequate monitoring if it is done with the use of cyanide. The list goes on. And the documents are all with the council. Are you testing if fish are caught with cyanide or not? Who submits the fish for testing? The shipper? If that is so, something is wrong with that system. The PCSD is actually a beautiful concept. It is participatory governance in terms of procedure and structure with sectoral representation. Its the clear example that laws are laws, and concepts are concepts. But in the hands of the unscrupulous, what could be beautiful turns things to sludge. Social acceptability? In Brookes Po int, a consultation was held in two barangays where one of the mining companies was going to operate. And No To Mining won the vote. But the PCSD proceeded with the project.
Act now

I wonder what happened to will of the people. So sad. I feel a wound in my heart, but the fire in my belly tells me that this must stop. The church, the NGOs, the communities say this must be stopped. How much longer do we have to wait? The time is now. There is no better time than now. So many have resigned in frustration. Pe rhaps, its time their voices are heard. Enough is enough. Our country deserves a better future. I know I have been quite emotional. But, hey, this is our future. And transgressions like these cannot and should not be taken lightly. If you want more inform ation, get in touch with the Environmental Legal Assistance Center in Palawan (elacpalawan@gmail.com) or contact the Palawan NGO Network Inc. (pnnipal@gmail.com). There are documents and technical evaluation papers that you can get from the PCSD: Gov. Baham Mitra (chair); vice chair Dave Ponce de Leon, who is a civilian so has no right to be there; Joel Reyes, a former governor who I am told is very much pro -mining. Whatever you do, please join the 10 million signature campaign to keep Palawan free from mining forever and help move the Philippines to a brighter future. Website is

www.no2miningpalawan.com. If you have questions, my e -mail is regina_lopez@abscbn.com

Reference: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110207 -318887/Guardians-or-opportunists