Philippines President Orders Log Ban
Saturday, 19 February 2011 11:11
By Madonna T. Virola
Philippine President Benigno Aquino has imposed a nationwide moratorium on logging, following floods that have affected much of the country and left 70 people dead.
He said excessive logging was making these areas more prone to landslides and flooding.
Nonie Tamayo, an official from the Department of Environment, explains the decision.
“He went to several provinces in the south and Mindanao and he saw the devastating effects. So the executive order he mentioned is an investment for our environment and our future, to give some time for our forest to recover. We know that our country is more or less 30 million hectares and only 24 percent is under forest cover.”
But as Madonna Virola reports while welcoming the move, environmentalists warn this new ban will be extremely hard to implement.
Local environmental groups are gathered at meet Miriam the College in Quezon City.
They are writing the President a letter congratulating him on his executive order or EO to ban logging.
Dr. Nina Galang is a leading local environmentalist.
“We’re commending him for this bold step and we’re thanking him for including reforestation, for the plan to include other stakeholders. We had been advocating for a total log ban throughout the country since the 1980s. Then we’re already saying deforestation will lead to catastrophes. Now, we have global warming and climate change as an added force. We’ve been at the point of hopelessness already because of that situation but this EO gives us new hope .”
Experts have long warned that cutting down too many trees leads to soil erosion, heightening the risk of flooding and landslides.
Franciscan Priest Pete Montallana is President of Save Sierra Madre network.
“I’m happy he realized that we can’t sacrifice anymore the forests for economics. You prioritize the lives of the people over what you earn from the mountain like from cutting trees or even from mining.”
But he warns that this new ban will be extremely hard to implement.
He says big timber corporations are extremely powerful, and in some parts of the country illegal logging is allowed to go unpunished by corrupt officials from the Environmental department or DENR.
“That’s because of the corruption of the local government officials in connivance with the department of environment and natural resources personnel. We have DENR officials who inform loggers that somebody is coming, so all logs are already kept inside, we have local DENR officer who is protecting sawmills and we know for a fact that many illegal logs are being legalized through the connivance of DENR officials. That’s been going on for years and years. Logging means millions of money.”
Father Pete believes it won’t be an easy job even if the President is perceived by the many to be honest.
“Because the corruption goes all the way to the top.”
Under the new moratorium no new timber contracts will be granted for cutting natural forests anywhere in the Philippines.
Existing contracts will be reviewed, and a task force will be created to enforce the policy.
Senior official from the Environment department Nonie Tamayo says they are getting serious.
“In fact, for the past several months, a lot of cases have been filed in court, against our people who’ve been involved in these illegal activities, but you know DENR is more than 17,000 people all over the country.”
This is not the first time a Philippine leader has tried to rein in the loggers. Almost every recent president has tried some sort of ban, with little success.
The last attempt at a ban was in 2004, under the presidency of Gloria Arroyo. The policy had few noticeable results and was lifted after a year.
Environmental Professor Nina Galang says.
“It’s all up to us! Unfortunately in our country, civil society just has to work. That’s the price of democracy and good society-vigilance!”
Last Updated ( Monday, 21 February 2011 11:12 )
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