“Sierra Madre logging goes on unabated, says tribe”

30 September 2010

“If the indiscriminate cutting of trees in Sierra Madre continues, flash floods will forever be the ‘demonic twin’ of every major storm that will hit Metro Manila and provinces surrounding the forest mountain,” said Agta Tribe Leader Ramcey Astoveza, quoted in PDI (Sept. 30, A7).

In the Inquirer report, Astoveza said that a total log ban is needed in the mountains. He is also urging the government to tap indigenous peoples in its war against illegal loggers for they are “more than willing to help” because to them it is a matter of life and death, whereas after Ondoy, “it’ business as usual for forest rapists.”

On the other hand, Fr. Pete Monatallana said that the illegal loggers are still there because there is “no systematic effort to weed them out.” The priest is dismayed at the inaction of government, saying that the Task Force Sierra Madre already withdrawn from the government-initiated Metro REINA (Real-Infanta-General Nakar) Multisectoral Forest Management (PDI).

Task Force Sierra Madre is “a network of NGOs working toward the protection of the largest remaining tracts of rainforests in Luzon” (PCIJ).

Agta Tribal Governor Nap Buendicho said that it welcomes the government’s move to stop the issuance of new logging permits but said that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources should seriously address the illegal logging activities. He also challenged the officials of Quezon Province “to spearhead a serious and sustained campaign against illegal logging.”

Governor David Suarez of Quezon, on the other hand, vowed to plant million tress especially on denuded portions of Sierra Madre.

Source:  Philippine Daily Inquirer (Sept. 30, page A7), Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

*Agtas are tribe people inhabiting Sierra Madre.