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Philippines |
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1999 not too kind onenvironment in Mindanao -1 |
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Source: Inquirer |
Author: None |
Date: 2000-01-08 |
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FIRST, the good news: two Philippine
eagles conceived through natural
means (though in captivity), were
hatched last year at the Philippine
Eagle Center in Malagos, Calinan, Davao City.
Pangarap was hatched on Feb. 23 and a still unnamed
newly-hatched eagle, on Dec. 23.
Two more eggs of these endangered species and national
symbol are expected to hatch this month and next month--the
first in the wild, the second, at the Eagle Center.
Now for the bad news: The eagles born last year, like eagles
Pag-asa and Pagkakaisa (both hatched in 1992 through artificial
insemination), are doomed to live in cages forever, because their
natural habitat--the forests--are gone.
Mindanao's disappearing forests took center stage among
environmental concerns last year--with 1999 starting and ending
with floods.
The year also saw the return of ''people power'' against logging,
through human barricades, in Bukidnon after an 11-year hiatus.
The barricades spread to Cagayan de Oro City and Lanuza,
Surigao del Sur.
The barricades, after a week, got the Ventura Timber Corp. to
sign an agreement to stop operations and abandon its
220-hectare concession area in three barangays there.
Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado sided with the barricaders
across the island, urging them to continue in the hope a total
log ban which he, as senator, had fought for, would this time
pass.
Mercado also publicly urged the military and police to ''side with
the people.''
But Environment Secretary Antonio Cerilles, the lone
Mindanaoan in the Estrada Cabinet, ruled out a total log ban,
opting for selective logging instead even as his President has
repeatedly said he favored the ban.
Cerilles, for a time the most controversial of Estrada's Cabinet
members, was reappointed in January after he was bypassed by
the Commission on Appointments. A three-term Zamboanga del
Sur representative to Congress and campaign manager for
Western Mindanao of then presidential candidate Joseph
Estrada, Cerilles was later confirmed by the CA.
Pleas for him to stop the transport of logs from Lanao del Sur
into Misamis Oriental (passing through Bukidnon where a log
ban has been imposed since 1988 and Cagayan de Oro City) fell
on deaf ears.
Not even the pleas of Bukidnon Bishop Honesto Pacana for him
to look into the undersized and freshly cut logs loaded in trucks
from Lanao del Sur's forests were heeded by him.
Here are glimpses of what happened last year:
Zamboanga del Sur
In Cerilles' province, the entry of illegally cut logs, especially in
Pagadian City has even become more rampant. Many sawmill
operators have sprouted in the city, mostly owned, reportedly,
by Cerilles' political supporters.
Agusan del Sur
In Agusan del Sur, flash floods swept the province from Jan. 10
to Feb. 10. At least 15 were killed, 40,000 rendered homeless.
In the entire Caraga region, the death toll from the floods
reached 39.
A month later, hundreds of flood victims in neighboring
Esperanza and La Paz towns suffered from hunger. They lost
everything they planted in their farms.
In Barangay Dacutan in Esperanza, residents survived on
kangkong leaves. In Barangay Sabang Adgawan, a riverside
village in La Paz town, residents survived on the fruits of takay,
a wild plant floating on lakes and marshlands, as substitute for
corn grits. Takay fruits taste like yam when cooked but it takes a
week of preparation before these could be edible.
The floods were blamed on continued forest denudation
brought about by rampant illegal logging in the province.
But environment officials said the flash floods were not to be
blamed on logging but on a ''natural phenomenon.''
Sergio Aresta, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources
Officer, and Serafin Reyes, community environment and natural
resources officer, said the topography of the region and years
of heavy siltation in the Agusan River were ''established facts
which greatly contributed to the swelling of the river.'' (to be continued)
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