INIHAIN ni Senador Cynthia Villar ang isang panukalang resolusyon upang imbestigahan ang pagkalbo ng kagubatan at watershed sanhi ng illegal logging, walang patumanggang quarrying na nagdulot ng malawakang pagbaha sa nakaraang Bagyong Ulysses.

Sa Proposed Senate Resolution No. 581, sinabi ni Villar na maraming batas sa proteksiyon at pamamahala ng kagubatan at watershed ang hindi naipatutupad o nilalabag ng marami sanhi ng illegal logging, quarrying kabilang ang slash and burn agriculture.

“Science has taught us that forest and the watersheds should be kept health and protected and that deforestation should be avoided so that the abundant forest trees could help forest soil absorb and retain rainwater, thereby naturally regulating the release of rainwater from hills and mountains and serving as natural protection to the adverse impact of natural disasters, such as heavy rainfalls during typhoons and extreme flooding,” ayon kay Villar.

Sinabi ni Villar na hindi mangyayari ito kung hindi nakakalbo ang ating kagubatan sanhi ng illegal logging, quarrying, unregularted and open-pit mining at slash-and-burn agriculture na patuloy na nagbabanta sa forest cover ng bansa, kaya nababawasan ang proteksiyon sa natural na kalamidad.

“While the Filipino people continually suffers from the destructive effects of typhoons, which just keep on escalating through the years as exemplified by Ulysses, it is equally devastating that the Sierra Madre Mountain range, which stretches from Cagayan Province in the north of Luzon and Quezon Province in the south of Luzon and represents 40 percent of the country’s forest cover, continues to be threatened by illegal logging, unregulated mining activities, and unhampered quarrying,” ayon kay Villar.

Binanggit din ni Villar ang Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape ay hindi rin nakaligtas sa pagsasamantala kabilang ang Masungi Georeserve na may natagpuan sa naturang protected area na patuloy na pinapasok ng illegal quarrying kay nagsasagawa sila ng estriktong conservation interventions.

“The muddy quality of the water that flooded Cagayan and Marikina alike is an indication that the surrounding forest and watersheds are already so denuded such that they do not anymore retain soil water and prevent erosions,” ayon kay Villar.

“The apparent silted condition of the rivers and tributaries in the flooded areas did little in containing the rainwater that flowed from the mountains and so may have contributed to the rapid rise of the flood water as well,” dagdag niya.

Ayon kay Villar na sa pagkasirang ng buhay at ari-arian sanhi ng nakaraang bagyo ay mayroon nang pangangailangan nang protektahan at magkaroon ng konserbasyon sa ating kagubatan at watershed at panatilihing malinis at nasa maayos na kondisyon ang ating mga ilog na walang burak, na lumilitaw na pinaka-epektibong pamamaraan upang maiwasan ang mapanirang baha.

“Now, there, be it resolved as it is hereby resolved by the Senate to direct the appropriate Senate committee to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the alleged denuded state of forest and watersheds as well as the apparent heavy siltation on rivers and tributaries, which largely contributed to the immense flooding in some parts of the Luzon during the onslaught of the recent typhoon particularly Typhoon Ulysses, with the end in view of strengthening the conservation of the country’s forest cover and waterways in order to mitigate, if not altogether prevent, the devastating effects of natural disaster,” ayon sa resolusyon. (ERNIE REYES)