Philippines: Co-ops linked to poaching
Copyright 2001: Philippine Daily Inquirer
September 18, 2001
TUGUEGARAO CITY-Cagayan Rep. Manuel Mamba on Friday accused the Department of Environment and Natural Resources officials of allegedly using upland farmers' organizations as fronts for illegal logging activities.
Mamba said he would call for a House investigation of the alleged manipulation by unscrupulous environment officials of the permits of organizations that are covered by Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) agreements in the DENR.
Under the CBFM program, residents in forest areas are given occupancy rights by the DENR for the protection and rehabilitation of forests. They are also allowed to harvest forest products for small-scale livelihood.
Alfredo Pascual, DENR director for Cagayan Valley, said he would look into the reported violation of CBFM agreements but insisted on the legality of the issuance of tree-cutting permits.
He said under the agreement, farmers' organizations are allowed to trade a limited volume of their lumber production anywhere in the country.
Part of (the cooperatives') development plan is this free enterprise wherein they can sell their products here or in other areas, Pascual said.
"They can sell lumber products as long as they leave 20 percent of their allowable cut for (the consumption of) local (furniture) industries.
Maliit lang naman 'yung ibinibigay sa kanila (What is given to them is just a small volume).
Mamba, however, cited questionable CBFM agreements issued by the DENR to farmers' groups in the towns of Penablanca and Gattaran, which were reportedly being used and abused to hide timber logging and smuggling operations.
(Environment) Secretary (Heherson) Alvarez should immediately investigate the involvement of Cenros (Community Environment and Natural Resources Officers) here who are issuing these CBFM permits, Mamba said.
He said under its CBFM agreement, the Lapi Upland Farmers Cooperative Inc. (Lufci) based in Barangay Lapi in Penablanca town was given by the DENR an annual allowable cut of 24,000 board feet of narra and 120,000 board feet of common hardwood species.
Mamba said the DENR has granted Lufci a resource use permit for 10,000 hectares with felled trees in a log pond in Barangay Tawi, also in Penablanca, some 500 meters from the Callao Caves.
With this large volume (of forest products) that the DENR allows to be harvested within a year, it will just be a matter of time before the forests of Cagayan (are) gone, Mamba said.
He also said the CBFM permit was issued without following guidelines on the protection of forests and the natural environment of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
At 359,500 hectares, Sierra Madre is said to be the largest protected area in the country, representing close to 10 percent of the country's remaining primary forest and up to one-fourth of its undisturbed lowland rainforest, according to Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan in his book The Last Great Forest.
Penablanca, on the other hand, occupies rich forests in southern Cagayan, which borders the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park and the site of the famed Callao Caves, the premier tourist attraction of the province. Its forest area also serves as a watershed for the Pinacanauan River.
Reports on illegal logging operations, Mamba said, were confirmed by the interception on Sept. 10 of a truckload of narra lumber in Nueva Vizcaya that was believed to have been smuggled out of Cagayan.
This may just be the tip of the iceberg, Mamba said, while expressing doubt that the shipment was officially given clearance and shipping permits by Agerico Bueno, Cenro of the DENR office in Aparri, Cagayan.
The shipment of 6,000 board feet of narra, valued at P1.2 million, reportedly came from the forests of Gattaran town, on the eastern coast of Cagayan.
The load was registered under the Bolos Point Multi-Purpose Cooperative Inc. (BPMPCI), based in Barangay Bolos Point in Gattaran, and was to be delivered to Seagull Fine Wood Products in Antipolo City.
Bolos Point, a wildlife sanctuary in the forests of Sierra Madre, is also a CBFM area.