FROM how it looks, illegal activities embarking on environmental abuses seemed thriving even under extreme conditions – and the government is well aware about this one.
Take the most recent devastation brought about by Typhoon Ulysses in the national capital region and its adjoining provinces. It says it all. The people were made to live an agony they are not supposed to live with.
The phenomenally heavy downpour of Typhoon Ulysses should not be accepted as an alibi to the predicament that saw most of the areas in Metro Manila, Rizal and Bulacan submerged under flood, but not just an ordinary flood. What hit these places is a destructive one, and man-made at that.
Rizal Province for one, suffered heavily by a flood that could have been avoided if only the national government, particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, heeded to the call of the local folks who have repeatedly asked a halt in mining operations and illegal logging in its upland areas, particularly in San Mateo and Montalban towns.
I have watched former Rizal Governor Jun Ynares’ full length video that was uploaded in the social media. I fully agree on what he has said in that video. If he had his way, he’d shut all the mining, quarrying and logging operations in the province.
But his hands are tied. Each government structure has its own mandate and closing the environmentally-destructive activities is something that should be addressed by the DENR, where applications to operate are filed and permits come from.
According to Ynares, they have been knocking on the doors of the DENR as early as 2010. They have also sent no less than five letters appealing for a halt in mining activities but to no avail. Former DENR Secretary Ramon Paje opted to ignore the voice of the people of Rizal.
In 2016, a moratorium on mining operations was declared only to be cut short after less than a year. It seems the mining companies have allies at the DENR.
Aside from the destructive mining operations, another concern in the hard-to-reach areas in Montalban is the continuing desecration of the mountains by illegal loggers, whose operations have been unhampered for decades.
A proof of the wanton disregard of the environmental law which strictly prohibits logging is a photo of a hundred-year old Narra tree at the Mount Lubog, Barangay Puray in Montalban, Rizal. It is located adjacent to Ipo Watershed, which supplies water for Metro Manila.
Considered as an environmentally threatened area, the area has been literally rendered as bald by illegal loggers. What remains of the last forest in Montalban is a wasteland.
Since 2019, local environmentalists have been asking the government to help fight illegal logging in the area. To date, not one forest ranger tried going to the area for fear of being caught in crossfire between soldiers patrolling the area and insurgents using the area as their transit point in going to and from Rizal, Quezon, Bulacan and Metro Manila.
Interestingly, Mt. Lubog lies at the southernmost tip of the Sierra Madre mountain range. What used to be a favorite place for mountaineers has become a wasteland.
Mt. Lubog’s geographical contour also boasts of limestone-decked summits that offer spectacular views of the surrounding blue mountains and verdant forests of Mt. Daraitan, Mts. Pamitinan and Binacayan, and Mt. Irid, forming a cluster of peaks.
The place is hounded by difficulty in access, and security issues.
Mt. Lubog is geographically located at the border of Bulacan. It stands next to Mt. Balagbag and Mt. Oriod. Just like Mount Lubog, Mt. Balagbag and Mt. Oriod have also been stripped of their forest covers.
Illegal logging activities in this upland part of Montalban remain active as manifested in the daily transport of logs through the same rough road that the hikers used to traverse via habal-habal-style tricycles.
And yet not a finger lifted to stop all these destructive operations of people boasting connections at the DENR where they have official on the take.