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Monday, September 06, 2004
Environment group seeks fund for Busol guardhouse
By Ernie N. Olson Jr.
* To deter further destruction, squatting
MAYOR Braulio Yaranon has endorsed to the City Council a resolution from the Baguio Regreening Movement (BRM) requesting the city government to fund the construction of a guardhouse at the Busol watershed reservation to prevent further destruction of its remaining forest.
Julie Cabato, board secretary of the BRM, said "we look forward to your favorable consideration on this resolution (and) let's work together to save the Busol watershed for our future generations."
In Resolution 5-2004, the BRM Board pointed out that the forest reservation of Busol is threatened by various activities such as squatting, timber poaching, illegal occupation and other illegal activities, which are mainly caused by the continuous influx of people into its watershed.
"If nothing is done to address the matter, the quality and quantity of water drawn from the watershed will be adversely affected and will endanger the lives of the people of Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet. At present, only the Busol Task Force, composed of seven employees from various agencies on part-time basis, take charge of the protection of the watershed, but are not equipped with complete facilities and resources like a guardhouse that could serve as an office and a repository of documents, tools and other implements, and at the same time, serve as a rest area for the Busol Task Force members," they explained.
The resolution said the eco-tower that should have served as a lookout tower, which was built there by the BRM and the Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation, was torn down and stolen earlier by still undisclosed culprits.
A perimeter fence, which had also started construction earlier, was stopped due to a temporary restraining order issued by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples in favor of alleged ancestral claimants of the area.
"In the meantime that the TRO for the fencing (activity) has not been resolved, so as to prevent further destruction of the watershed, there is an urgent need to construct a guardhouse in a strategic location (within) the watershed area (which could) be manned by members of the Busol Task Force," the environmentalists said.
They reported the design, cost estimate and source of funding was already discussed in a BRM meeting held on July 8 this year, but since this would entail an amount of approximately P200,000 to build, the BRM has no available fund for the construction of this proposed guardhouse yet.
As such, the BRM sought the assistance of the city government, through Yaranon and the City Council Committee on Health & Sanitation, Ecology and Environmental Protection in sourcing out available funds to implement this proposal.
Busol forest area was established as a watershed reservation by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 15, dated April 27, 1992, "for the purpose of conserving and protecting water and timber, the protection of the water supply being of primary importance and that all other uses of the forest are to be subordinated to that purpose."
Busol, which is considered to be the largest and most prolific watershed, has a total land area of 360 hectares and regularly supplies the water needs of about 30 percent of Baguio's populace and 20 percent of La Trinidad residents' water requirements.
(September 6, 2004 issue)
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