Community elders and environmental groups in the Cordillera Region branded the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded reforestation of the Agno and Chico Rivers’ watersheds as exercises in futility, since the government has also allowed mining applications that threaten destruction of these watersheds.
BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY (246 kms north of Manila) – Community elders and environmental groups in the Cordillera Region branded the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded reforestation of the Agno and Chico Rivers’ watersheds as exercises in futility, since the government has also allowed mining applications that threaten destructions of these watersheds.
The reforestation of the watersheds of the Chico and Agno Rivers would be financed by a $80-million loan from the ADB under the Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management (INREM) project, which is to be implemented by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Johnny Sawadan, an elder from the upper stream area of the Chico River in Kalinga, said that the government reforestation program is a manifestation of its inconsistent policies.
Useless reforestation with large mines
“While it talked about reforesting the critical watershed areas of the Agno and Chico Rivers, it also accepted large mining applications from both local and foreign corporations in these watershed areas,” added Sawadan, the deputy secretary-general of the Cordillera Elders Assembly or CEA.
An elder from the brave and fierce Tulgao sub-tribe of Kalinga, Sawadan said in an interview that these watershed areas were covered by mine applications due to the revitalization of the mining program by the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
He said that in areas considered part of the Chico River’s watershed along the boundaries of Ifugao-Mountain Province and Mountain Province-Kalinga, there are at least six – mostly foreign corporations – applying for financial and technical assistance agreement (AFTA), two applications for production and sharing agreements, and five exploration permit agreements (EXPA) which is almost 49.92 percent of the total mine applications that covers 1,111,995.4351 hectares listed at the records of the MGB-DENR-CAR.
The region’s land area is 1.8 million hectares.
Forest reserves, national park
Nordis learned that the watershed areas of the Chico and Agno rivers are part of the Central Cordillera Forest Reserve declared during the American colonial period.
In the case of Agno River where Ambuclao and Binga dams are located, the upper areas of the dams were also declared watershed reservations after they were built in the 1950s.
In 1987, ex-President Corazon Aquino also declared the Mt. Pulag National Park as a watershed reservation. Mt. Pulag, the second highest peak in the country, is the water source of the Ambuclao and Binga Dams in Benguet, and the Magat Dam in Ifugao. The three dams are now under the management of the Aboitz Corporation, this writer learned.
In watershed or protected areas, indigenous peoples are prohibited from engaging in any economic activity – even their traditional immemorial practices, said Sawadan. He cited various laws like the Revised Forestry Code and the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS). He wonders however how the mining companies’ applications had been accepted even as these cover critical forests and watersheds.
Community reforestation
Another Ibaloi leader from downstream of the Agno River in Benguet said the reforestation projects could be better implemented by the community.
Vergel Aniceto, spokesperson of the Benguet Mining Alert and Action Network (BMAAN), said in an interview that the reforestation projects should instead be “given” to the communities.
“There might be non-realization of these projects with the extent of anomalies, including rigging of contracts, by the present administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” added Aniceto, a former miner and now a pastor.
Sawadan added that these projects will not be beneficial to the people if there is no community involvement in monitoring and managing these.
Jaime Dugao, a member Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Council) of Sagada, which is also a water source of the Chico River, said that communities are the appropriate partners for reforestation as they have their indigenous systems of forest management like the pirahwa system among the Tulgao of Kalinga, batangan in upper Mountain Province, and muyong in Ifugao and Benguet.
“It is actually these systems that maintained the regions’ forests,” added Dugao in an interview. “But these systems are not being utilized, supported, and appreciated by the government. This would be our contribution to climate change – the adoption, institutionalization, and operationalization of these indigenous forest management systems.”
Aniceto pointed out that reforestation is useless if the government allows large-scale mining in the waters sources in the region. He said that the Abra River was polluted by mining in the upstream and the government should learn from this experience.
But the bottom-line is to repeal Republic Act No. 7942, the Mining Act of 1995, which institutionalizes large-scale mining to the detriment of the conservation of the environment. (Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat)
