‘Environmental army’ eyed to guard Bulacan forests

MALOLOS CITY — Local environmentalists have pushed for the creation of an "environmental army" to go after timber poachers in the Sierra Madre range in Bulacan amid the shortage of forest guards.

As proposed, Mendel Garcia, head of the Angat Watershed Area Team and a member of the Sagip Sierra Madre Multisectoral Council, the environmental army will be composed of 12 members of the Special CAFGU Active Auxiliary of the Army’s 56th Infantry Battalion based in Norzagaray town, while the rest will be volunteers.

Garcia said the National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) are willing to bankroll the group, which will protect Bulacan’s remaining forests, particularly the Angat watershed.

As it is today, environmentalists said protecting the Angat watershed and Bulacan’s forests from timber poachers is nearly impossible due to lack of manpower.

At present, the provincial environment and natural resources office has only 16 foresters, 10 of whom are nearing retirement.

Ely Borcena, of the Katribu Foundation, said the environmental army might be the Angat watershed’s last hope against timber poachers.

"Ang nakakalungkot sa sitwasyon na ito, maging ang mga Dumagat ay ginagamit ng mga mamumutol ng kahoy sa kanilang operasyon (What is saddening here is that these timber poachers are using the Dumagats in their operations)," Borcena said.

Martin Francisco, of the Indigenous People’s Apostolate-Biskal Foundation, confirmed this, saying though that the destruction of the forest would mean the destruction of the tribal folk’s culture.

"Ours is a losing battle but we are not giving up," Garcia said after a workshop on environmental laws at the Hiyas ng Bulacan Convention Center here recently.

Garcia said poachers who used to cut logs in the northern town of Doña Remedios Trinidad as well as in Quezon and Aurora are now eyeing the Angat watershed, once considered the best maintained watershed in Asia.

Under the law, Garcia said there should be "no human activity of whatever nature" inside declared watershed and wildlife areas, especially in the Angat watershed, the primary source of drinking water of Metro Manilans.

Meanwhile, the Angat Watershed Area Team of the Angat River hydroelectric power plant reported that it has arrested five timber poachers in the past 31 days and confiscated a total of 1,325 board feet of "hot" lumber valued at P151,055.

The five suspects were identified as Ramil Ocampo, Eduardo Gutierrez, Bryan Orañez, Manuel Abion, and Jason Escandor.