The inquiry was prompted by a resolution filed by Sen. Ma. Ana Consuelo Madrigal and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., directing the Senate committee on cultural communities to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation following the decision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to lift the logging moratorium in Samar.
Invited in today’s meeting were Bishop Angelo Hobayan, bishop emeritus of Boronggan; Bishop Charo Nabong-Cabando; Fr. Cesar Aculan, president of Samar Island Biodiversity Foundation; Blas Tabaranza, member of the board of trustees of Haribon Foundation; Lutgardo Barbo, former governor of Samar; and Ron Gutierrez, legal counsel for the Samar bishops.
The resumption of logging activities of the San Jose Timber Corp., reportedly owned by the family of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, comes after a 16-year moratorium issued by the DENR.
According to Madrigal, the order "may displace indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands and prejudice their health, safety and well-being."
"The people of Samar together with their bishops vehemently oppose this anomalous action of the DENR. We shall hold the hearing immediately. This is a matter of great moral and ethical importance," she said.
Recently, the bishops of Samar aired their opposition to DENR’s decision. They argued that the legal rights of SJTC should not be above the rights of the people of Samar.
SJTC was granted a timber license agreement on July 10, 1972 covering an area of 45,615 hectares with an annual allowable cut of 101,095 cubic meters that was supposed to expire on June 30, 1982.
In 1985, the land area of another company, Dolores Timber Corp., was consolidated with SJTC, bringing the total area of SJTC to 95,770 hectares.
On Dec. 14, 1999, the rehabilitation receiver of SJTC requested the DENR to lift the logging moratorium and similar letters were sent to the Environment Secretaries of the succeeding administrations until 2004.