1 year after, logging back in Aurora

A year after flashfloods and landslides washed out communities in the provinces of Quezon and Aurora, illegal logging continues.

Residents of the provinces, who lost their loved ones in the tragedy attributed to unabated illegal logging, cannot help but feel insulted by what they perceive to be the disregard of authorities who have failed to limit logging operations.

Just three months ago, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) allowed more logging concessionaires to cut trees and transport logs.

The DENR has reportedly issued six permits allowing eight holders of industrial forest management agreements (IFMAs) and a holder of timber license agreement (TLA) to operate.

"This adds insult to the fresh injury that we, victim’s of last year’s flashfloods and landslides, endure until now," said Marieta Corpuz of the Samahan ng Katutubo sa Sierra Madre (SKSM).

"Our cry for justice has not been heeded by Mrs. Arroyo, who has been busy attending to the demands of her patrons, including logging and mining companies," she added.

Corpuz said the government’s promise of assistance to affected communities remains unfulfilled.

Instead of implementing the much-needed rehabilitation, the government has focused on lifting the ban on logging operations in the provinces, she said.

Despite the supposed moratorium on logging operations in the provinces, Corpuz claimed tree cutting in the provinces goes on unabated.

"Before, the people managed to live without logging," Corpuz said.

"(The claim that) people there do not have a livelihood without logging is only being used as a reason by logging companies and even the government to advance their interests," she added.

Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of the KALIKASAN-People’s Network, said that among the beneficiaries of the memoranda issued by the DENR is Industries Development Corp. (IDC). Its logging permit covers a total of 53,343 hectares of land in Aurora province.

Bautista said other IFMA holders in Aurora and Quezon provinces also include RCC Timber Corp. and International Hardwood and Vinyl Corp. of the Philippines.

Last August, the DENR also allowed the San Jose Timber Corp., a logging company said to be owned by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, to cut trees within a forest reserve and nature park in Samar.

Another logging firm, the Top Lite Inc. is pushing for the resumption of its operations in Aurora.

Bautista said a total of 223,254 hectares of lands in Quezon and Aurora are covered with IFMAs and TLAs of big logging companies.

"No reforestation effort in these provinces has ever been done since the tragedy in order to prevent future recurrence of the flashfloods and landslides," Bautista pointed out.

"Justice remains elusive for the victims while the big-time loggers continue to operate," he said.

To commemorate the first anniversary of the tragedy, at least 200 survivors and volunteers plan to form a human chain along Katipunan Avenue today.

Over two thousand people were killed and thousands more were left homeless in the typhoon-induced flashfloods and landslides that struck the two provinces on Nov. 29, 2004.

The survivors of the tragedy are scheduled to hold a rally at the DENR head office in Diliman, Quezon City to demand the immediate cancellation of all logging concessions and agreements nationwide.

They also called for an efficient management of the country’s denuding forests.

The victims called on the government to fulfill its promise of compensation. They also called for an audit of the P50-million rehabilitation fund.

Bautista claimed some irregularity in the disbursement of the supposed calamity fund since not all victims received compensation.

He cited reports that local officials had diverted some of the funds.

The group also demanded the revocation of the Forestry Code of 1975.

"This law is the reason for all these rampant and wanton logging operations in the country. It should be scrapped," Bautista said.