PIMENTEL SEEKS INQUIRY INTO STATUS OF MARIKINA WATERSHED

Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today filed Resolution asking the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources to conduct an inquiry into the status of the Marikina watershed as a forest reservation and source of water for Metro Manila.

He sought the inquiry in view of the urgency of protecting and preserving the Marikina watershed and the warning of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System that Metro Manila faces an acute water shortage of 500,000 liters a day by the year 2015 unless new water sources are developed.

The Marikina watershed consists of the last remaining rainforest in Metro Manila covering 26,000 hectares of land that extend to Antipolo, Tanay, San Mateo, Baras, Marikina and Montalban (now Rodriguez).

As early as July l6, 2004, the government Executive Order No. 33 banning the settlement, entry, sale or disposition of a vast tract of land in the province of Rizal, to be known as the "Mariquina Reserve)" in order to "protect the watershed of the Mariquina River, the source of water supply of the city of Manila."

Pimentel cited studies showing that the supposed reserved area covering the Marikina watershed has been occupied by residential houses, agri-businesses, tourist resorts and other industries contrary to the intent of the law to protect and preserve the area.

According to studies, he said the original land area of the watershed has been greatly reduced by virtue of various executive orders and proclamations, issuance of certificates of land titles by the Land Registration Authority, and issuance of certificates of land ownership award by the Department of Agrarian Reform.

"There is an imperative need to look deeper into the current status of the Marikina Watershed as a reservation and to inquire as to the remedial measures that may be taken to ensure long-term viability of the watershed as a source of water for Metro Manila," Pimentel said.

To ensure the protection and preservation of the Marikina Watershed, he said it must be declared a protected reservation forest under Republic Act 7658 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Law.