Rizal 4th District Rep. Fidel Nograles introduced a bill to Congress to establish the Sierra Madre Development Authority (SMDA) that would protect and conserve the 500-kilometer-long mountain range that protects Luzon from typhoons.
The lawmaker said that House Bill No. 1972, which was also proposed during the 18th Congress, will create a government body tasked with the conservation and management of the Sierra Madre.
“I hope that with President Bongbong Marcos vowing to prioritize climate change, the House leadership will follow and place this issue at the top of our legislative agenda. The effects of climate change sweep far and wide and affect all sectors of society and governance, so we cannot simply turn a blind eye,” Nograles said in a statement accompanied with the copy of the bill.
The bill’s explanatory note states that, “Through the Sierra Madre Development Authority, we can further strengthen not only the protection that the Sierra Madre deserves, but a wholistic approach to enhance development of indigenous resources in the Sierra Madre region to its fullest potentials for economic development in order to raise the standard of living of our people.”
The Sierra Madre is a long and huge mountain range in the eastern seaboard of Luzon, from Quirino and Aurora in the north, down to Quezon, Laguna, and Rizal.
Nograles emphasized the need to protect the Sierra Madre region, which includes the majority of the country’s 68 Protected Areas, consisting of national parks, watershed forest reserves, natural monuments, marine reserves, and protected landscapes and seascapes.
Despite several protected areas, some in the mountain range have not been declared “protected” and continue to face abuse because of economic activities.
“While these areas may be explored and developed, they also need some regulation and safeguards in place,” the explanatory note said.
“It is important that the government strengthen its campaigns to stop illegal logging and promote forestation, avoid construction of unwarranted infrastructures, enhance and develop indigenous resources in the areas that can be utilized for development and providing information/ information dissemination about the importance of the Sierra Madre in our daily living,” it added.
The lawmaker emphasized that climate change is not an issue that would go away and the onset of the rainy season should “serve as a stark warning for us in Congress.”
“We need to confront it head-on and seek to craft legislation that would comprehensively address the myriad issues surrounding it,” Nograles said.
The Sierra Madre Mountain Range is the richest in terms of habitat diversity, genetics, and species.
With its large surface area with slopes and curves, the Sierra Madre had been largely credited for helping break the eye of the cyclone that will result in slower wind speed and less intense impact.
However, experts said that the mountain range, which represents 40 percent of the Philippines’ forest cover, faces threats from human activities, such as mining, deforestation, sprawling, and industrialization.
“It is considered and known as the 'backbone of Luzon’ as the mountain range with its forest cover is a natural shield and barrier protecting the island of Luzon by attenuating the entry of typhoons coming from the Pacific Ocean even before reaching the mainland and protecting the island from storm surges as well,” the bill’s explanatory note said.
Under the proposed legislation, the SMDA will “conduct a comprehensive survey of the Sierra Madre region's physical and natural resources and draft a comprehensive plan to conserve and utilize them to promote the region’s social and economic development.”
It will also recommend the financial and technical support needed by the mountain range, assess and approve all plans, programs, and projects proposed by local government offices/agencies within the region related to the development of the mountain range, and plan, program, finance and undertake infrastructure projects such as river, flood, and tidal control work, wastewater and sewerage work, dams and water supply, roads, irrigation, housing, and related work.
The agency will also “undertake studies on the conservation, improvement, exploration, development, and maintenance of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range.”