Press Release
July 5, 2007

Pia's first bills: 16 measures to protect biodiversity 'hotspots'

Continuing her advocacy to protect the country's threatened ecosystems, Senator Pia S. Cayetano has re-filed 16 bills declaring different landscapes, watersheds and marine sanctuaries across the archipelago as protected areas.

The protected area bills make up half of the 31 measures initially filed by the lady senator at the start of the 14th Congress.

The proposed measures cover a wide range of natural treasures, from the famed El-Nido-Taytay Protected Area in Palawan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; to the Turtle Islands Sanctuary in Sulu Sea, nesting ground of rare turtle species; and to the little-known Sinarapan Lake Sanctuary in Camarines Sur, which hosts the world's smallest fish called the "sinarapan" (scientific name: Mystiches Luzonensis).

"The areas covered by these bills are invariably imperiled by destructive activities including logging, poaching, over-fishing and social factors like urbanization and land reclassification, among others," she explained.

Cayetano took the initiative of immediately re-filing these bills which failed to hurdle second reading in the Senate in the 13th Congress.

"It is unfortunate that these bills, despite their urgency, faced a stumbling block in the Senate even after these were unanimously approved in the House of Representatives. But I'm determined to push for these measures regardless of whether I'd still chair the environment committee or not," she said.

Environment-wise, Cayetano likened the Philippines to a field full of land mines, with each protected area ready to explode with just one wrong step.

She cited the case of the controversial spa resort project being built on the crater of Taal volcano, a proclaimed protected area and a declared permanent danger zone at that.

"If a project can get clearance to be built on an active and unpredictable volcano like Taal despite its obvious hazards, then what more for our other protected areas?" she asked.

"The enactment of a protected area law (in these areas) will allow the government to put up stringent mechanisms and regulate the use of natural resources through a multi-sectoral management board that will oversee all economic activities in the area."

"We have to act and we have to act decisively in order to save what's left of our threatened ecosystems, from the home of the critically endangered Philippine Eagle in the mountain ranges of Agusan del Norte, to the lake sanctuary of the world's tiniest fish in Camarines Sur, if only to name a few."

Further stressing the urgency of the 16 bills, she noted that of the 105 proclaimed protected areas in the country, only ten are currently covered by a specific law.

These include the Batanes Islands and Northern Sierra Madre in Luzon; Mt. Kanlaon and the Sagay Marine Reserve in the Visayas; and Mt. Apo, Mt. Kitanglad, Mt. Malindang and Mt. Hamuiguitan in Mindanao.

The two most recent additions are the protected area laws covering the Cebu Central Landscape in Cebu province and the Mimbilisan Watershed in Misamis Oriental. Cayetano sponsored both measures in the 13th Congress along with Senators Serge Osmena and Aquilino Pimentel Jr., respectively.

"We still have a long way to go. Even on the assumption that the 14th Congress manages to pass all these bills, there would still be more than 70 areas which are not yet governed by a specific law. Then again, more and more natural sites are being added to our list of endangered ecosystems through Presidential proclamations and local government resolutions," she concluded. #

Cayetano's 16 bills cover the following proclaimed protected areas:

LUZON

  • SBN 1073 - Bessang Pass Natural Monument (Ilocos Sur)
  • SBN 1075 - Lidlidda-Banayoyo Protected Landscape (Ilocos Sur)
  • SBN 1074 - Agoo-Damortis Protected Seascape and Landscape (La Union)
  • SBN 1065 - Mounts Banahaw and San Cristobal Protected Landscape (Laguna and Quezon)
  • SBN 1070 - Sinarapan Sanctuary (Camarines Sur)
  • SBN 1068 - Apo Reef Natural Park (Occidental Mindoro)
  • SBN 1080 - Malampaya Sound Protected Landscape and Seascape (Palawan); and
  • SBN 1079 - El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (Palawan)

VISAYAS

  • SBN 1067 - Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park (Negros Oriental); and
  • SBN 1076 - Northern Negros Natural Park (Negros Occidental)

MINDANAO

  • SBN 1069 - Aliwagwag Falls (Davao Oriental and Compostela province);
  • SBN 1072 - Islands of Siargao and Bucas Grande (Surigao del Norte);
  • SBN 1066 - Mt. Hilong-Hilong Range (Agusan del Norte);
  • SBN 1071 - Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary (Agusan del Sur);
  • SBN 1077 - Mt. Balatukan Range Natural Park (Misamis Oriental); and
  • SBN 1078 - Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary (Sulu Sea)
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