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Senators raise eyebrows on DENR official's remarks detrimental to environment protection
Senators raise eyebrows on DENR official's remarks detrimental to environment protection
Senators lectured on Thursday the Department of Enviroment and Natural Resources (DENR) and its officials for their statements and issuances that appear to be condoning activities that are destroying the Marikina Watershed.
Senator Cynthia Villar raised an eyebrow over a remark made by a DENR official during his presentation in the Senate hearing on the state of the country's forest lands and watersheds in relation to the massive flooding during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses last month.
Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna was discussing the probable causes of the flooding in Cagayan province, Bicol and Marikina City when he noted that even "if all urban development and quarrying are stopped and the Marikina Watershed (is) fully planted with 10-year-old mature trees, it will require nine times the area of Marikina Watershed to absorb all the water during Typhoon Ulysses."
"You mean that even we protect the Marikina watershed, it will not absorb the water, no matter how much effort we do in the Marikina Watershed? I cannot understand that," Villar said.
"That would make all our efforts in the protected area useless, 'di ba (wouldn't it)? With that statement, which should not come from the DENR," the chairperson of the Senate environment committee commented.
Senator Risa Hontiveros said she was also "very surprised" by the DENR executive's statement.
"Kasi kung sasabihin natin na kahit tigilin lahat ng urban development, kahit tigilin ang quarrying, if we want to add, mining, which are both banned anyway in protected areas...ay hindi maagapan, I agree, Madam Chair, I do not, cannot believe also."
"It would seem to be an argument setting up to fail doon sa pagprotekta ng watershed (the efforts to protect the watershed)," she said, adding that other experts in the DENR and stakeholders could have a different view.
Villar also recalled another DENR official who was supposedly quoted in a news article that suspending quarrying and similar activities could affect construction projects in Metro Manila. She did not identify the official.
"We should hear that from the Department of Public Works and Highways, not from you. My God, I am always telling them not to make those kind of statement because you are supposed to protect the environment," she said.
"You are justifying all the destruction of our environment," Villar pointed out.
Sen. Imee Marcos said the remarks made it appear that the DENR is "giving up" on its mandate to protect the environment.
DENR Sec. Roy Cimatu explained that the report only meant to highlight the huge volume of water released during Typhoon Ulysses. He agreed that watersheds should be protected from destructive activities.
Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Wilfredo Montano said the soil was already too saturated from the previous typhoons to absorb Ulysses' downpour, which reached 531 million cubic meters.
Still, Villar said: "It's the same as saying that we should not protect the Marikina Watershed because it cannot stop flooding in Marikina. It's an indirect way of justifying all those they are doing in the watershed."
"You don't make statements like that, because if our DENR not bent on protecting our watershed, who will be protecting our watershed?"
In the same hearing, Hontiveros questioned the DENR's issuance of permits to at least two mining firms who were caught encroaching the protected area.
“How were companies able to secure large-scale mining permits over some 1,000 hectares of watershed and wildlife sanctuary despite Masungi Georeserve being a watershed reservation since 1904 in the first place? That is 116 years the area should have been protected, and yet these permits show otherwise. If there are under-the-table dealings within the DENR, the agency must uncover these right away, if not the recent floodings will only get more severe and frequent,” she said.
“Is the DENR mediocre in its implementation, or is the agency condoning such massive illegal activity? Billions have been invested in our greening and conservation programs, but we continuously fail to meet our goals."
"It is of the greatest concern kung yung departmento ng kalikasan mismo ay subpar lang sa pamumuhunan nila sa kalikasan. If there is corruption, the cost is the millions of lives affected by worsening natural disasters,” she added.