Pichay case imperils government — DENR chief

Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay could unwittingly be discrediting a government policy affirmed by President Arroyo because of his careless study and opposition that undermines a highly useful public undertaking.

This was stressed yesterday by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson Alvarez in reaction to a case filed against him by Pichay before the Ombudsman the other day for entering into a co-production agreement with Shannalyne Inc. to establish a 110,790-hectare timber corridor in the CARAGA region.

"Congressman Pichay has filed a miscalculated complaint against a misunderstood co-production agreement that government entered into which is part of government’s program for wood production, reforestation and job creation," he stressed.

Alvarez said the DENR is pursuing a program that began with former President Fidel Ramos, continued by deposed President Joseph Estrada and carried on by Mrs. Arroyo.

He said the agreement is in accordance with the 1987 Constitution banning the issuance of Timber Licensing Agreements (TLAs) and allows instead only "co-production, joint-venture or production sharing agreements."

It also forms part of the Philippine Master Plan for Forest Development (MPFD) designed with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as early as 1996 to recover and rehabilitate almost 10 million hectares of denuded forests.

The MPFD study envisions this will bring in much-needed investments and create substantial employment for the people of Mindanao and allow the country to be self-sufficient in wood.

However, Pichay, chairman of the House committee on national defense, said the accord unduly benefited Shannalyne whose paid-up capital was wholly contributed by Singaporean nationals Jean Tan and Cheou Teck Tan.

Aside from its foreign ownership, he said Shannalyne, with its paid-up capital of just P400,000 and incorporators with neither the skills nor experience in forestry management, "clearly did not have the technical or financial capability to handle such a co-production accord, making it highly questionable indeed for Secretary Alvarez to hand to them such a vast portion of our national patrimony."

The congressman said the co-production accord granted by Alvarez gave Shannalyne the right to permanently develop the CARAGA forest land despite the constitutional provision barring the alienation of forest resources.

He added that the accord also violated Executive Order No. 278, requiring a co-production accord to stipulate the government’s share of revenues and manner of payment, provisions that are absent in the Shannalyne deal.

On the other hand, Alvarez claimed that Shannalyne has an established track record recognized by the governments of New Zealand and Finland.– PNA