News

Sarihay in Focus: “Talamak na Illegal Logging Activities sa Ipo Watershed” by Jun del Rosario (Serbisyo All Access)

Posted on May 13, 2015

(Sixth in an eleven-part series.)

On August 14, 2014, 9TV (now CNN Philippines) program “Serbisyo All Access” aired a special investigative report on the state of illegal logging within the Ipo dam watershed, a key water source and natural protective buffer for the La Mesa Dam, which in turn provides for the water needs of over 11 million Greater Manila Area residents.

“Talamak na illegal logging activities sa Ipo watershed”, researched and reported by Cesario “Jun” del Rosario, Jr., earned the nod of the Sarihay Media Awards Board of Judges for Best TV News Reportage for its thorough exposition of the varying perspectives of all stakeholders involved. The report effectively echoes and highlights the Foundation’s watershed-oriented approach to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, which emphasizes holistic protection and preservation strategies and actions that cover land areas where water drains from the source (mountain peaks) all the way to a common draining point (e.g. river, lake, or sea).

A screengrab from the report segment.

Drawing from an on-site visit to the Mount Maranat (Norzagaray, Bulacan) mountainside section of the Sierra Madre mountain range, del Rosario’s report sheds light on the living conditions and needs of the local communities that have made the place their home, the position of the government through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the logging and replanting activities, the advocacies of the environmental groups that fight for the proper utilization and protection of the watershed resources, and even the stake of the general Metro Manila public who benefits, often unknowingly, from the Ipo watershed’s ecological resources and services.

In the segment, del Rosario reports on the dwindling state of forest cover in Mount Maranat due to unsound extraction practices such as kaingin, logging, and unsustainable charcoal-making by local residents, including indigenous Dumagat communities. Mostly dictated by a basic need for livelihood, such an exploitative and ecologically-insensitive culture is being passed on to the younger generation.

For its part, the government under the Aquino administration has addressed the alarming deforestation problem nationwide with its National Greening Program (NGP), an action that has met its fair share of challenges as well as outright errors in implementation. For example, during early phases of the program, fruit-bearing trees were used for the massive replanting initiative in the concerned Bulacan area. This proved problematic when it attracted more people – over 700 families to date – to settle along the mountainside for the trees’ promise of bounty. The local DENR office clarified that endemic and non-fruit-bearing trees (e.g. narra and cupang) have been used for replanting since 2012.

Another important prevalent issue is corrupt practices that work around the very efforts that aim to conserve the Ipo watershed’s resoures. The report, quoting the environmental group, Sagip Sierra Madre Environmental Society, Inc., also revealed that there are cases when even DENR’s contracted partners for the NGP have been partaking in the illegal logging activities for the sake of profit. By clearing hectares of forest cover, they earn another opportunity to seek government funding for supposed NGP purposes. Norzagaray’s City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) has acknowledged that it has acted on at least one such offender, withdrawing the latter’s contract.

Del Rosario’s segment includes an important detail on what happens to kaingin-cleared land areas, pointing out that resulting soil erosion from empty land areas will adversely affect the water supply that finds its way to dams and reservoirs.

The protection of Ipo watershed’s resources is pursued through multi-agency cooperations and measures, such as the collaborative efforts of DENR and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).

Particularly for the Ipo watershed, MWSS has committed PhP 400-700 million for the protection of forests throughout 2013 to 2017. The agency is also implementing strict protection zones (where no human settlements, save for indigenous residents who serve as forest rangers are allowed); buffer or agriforestry zones; and community or multi-pollu zones (where human settlements are allowed). The MWSS also mandates an “environmental charge” in its regular water billing. From a monthly amount of PhP 17.63 collected from approximately 11 million consumers across greater Manila, about PhP 194 million is projected to be collected for Ipo watershed management.

DENR meanwhile has allocated PhP 99,000 for forest monitoring efforts across 19 municipalities in Bulacan.

However, environmental groups maintain that the best approach would be to disallow human presence in the mountains altogether, except for duly assigned permanent forest rangers. These advocates argue that natural regeneration will take place without human intervention, and especially without officially sanctioned “incentives” for people to settle in the forest areas – such as what the experience with the NGP implementation in Mount Maranat has proven.

For this matter to be effectively resolved, del Rosario concluded that there needs to be strong political will so that the Ipo watershed will be spared from harmful extraction and exploitation.

“Bago pa man [nagkaroon ng] tao, may buhay na ang kalikasan,”del Rosario pointed out.

“Sakaling nasugatan ang kalikasan, ito ay may kakayahang mabuhay at yumabong.”

Watch the full report here.

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The Sarihay Media Awards was launched last February 2014 in recognition of the important role of the media in promoting awareness and better understanding of environmental and sustainable development issues among policymakers, decision makers, and the public. The campaign served as both acknowledgement and reward to those who deliver outstanding and responsible reportage of environmental news. The term "Sarihay" comes from the Filipino phrase, "Samu't Saring Buhay", which aptly describes biodiversity.