Monday, June 18, 2007
GMA signs law on watersheds
PRESIDENT Arroyo has signed into law a measure that seeks to safeguard Cebu’s water supply by consolidating the management of the province’s forest reserves and watersheds.
Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) said the new law, Republic Act 9486, will address in a big way the province’s “creeping water shortage.”
“Cebu has been one of the country’s most forceful engines of economic and employment growth. Congress no less has deemed it imperative to protect and preserve what is left of the province’s vital water resources,” he said in a press statement.
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Under the new law, a single agency will oversee the Sudlon National Park, Cebu Central National Park, Mananga River Watershed Forest Reserve, Kotkot-Lusaran Watershed Forest Reserve and the Buhisan Watershed Forest Reserve.
While Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña had wanted to exclude Kotkot-Lusaran from the law, consolidation of the five watersheds has the Provincial Government’s support.
In 2005, Osmeña declared he wanted Gullas to leave out Lusaran from his bill (now RA 9486), as he wants this to become “the future Baguio of Cebu.”
The protected area spans 29,062 hectares of adjoining forestlands and watersheds located in the middle of the province.
Vast area
It stretches across the cities of Cebu, Talisay, Danao and Toledo and the towns of Minglanilla, Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Balamban.
“Rapid urbanization has stripped Cebu of its natural forest cover. Luckily, the province still has these natural patches that provide drinking water to outlying cities and municipalities,” Gullas said.
The protected zone is home to 74 endemic fauna species, 11 of which have been classified as “highly threatened.” The area is also the habitat of endemic plants, including the Cebu cinnamon (Cinnamomum cebuense), a tree with aromatic and therapeutic bark and leaves, and Flinkingeria, a rare new orchid.
Under the new law, the Central Cebu Protected Landscape-Protected Area Management Board will be established to look after the secured zone, using a special fund.
In drafting the law, Gullas assured those who have been living in the area for generations, specifically those who rely on the land for livelihood, will be protected.
They are still allowed to till the land as long as they do not “do anything to destroy or cause the non-protection, non-preservation... of resources.”
Tenure
They will be considered tenured migrants, at least those living in the area at least five years before June 1, 1992, which the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) identified as the cut-off period.
Among those who likely will rejoice over the law is Fr. Margarito Alingasa, SVD, of the Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water (CUSW), which had recommended the creation of the authority to address the need for an effective water supply for both domestic and commercial use.
CUSW also opposed the 2002 proposal to devolve authority over protected watersheds.
Alingasa had argued that the proposal would defeat efforts to implement an integrated system of managing the protected watersheds in central Cebu.
The Mananga watershed forest reserve, for instance, is inside the political boundaries of the cities of Cebu and Talisay. And portions of the Kotkot-Lusaran watershed forest reserve are in Cebu City, Balamban and Compostela.
One voice
Alingasa had said that without integration, the protection and management of watersheds will become fragmented, with local government units fighting over jurisdiction, boundaries and resources.
Local governments will not only have differing approaches to managing and protecting portions of the watershed inside their jurisdiction, they will also be competing over the use of water and other resources.
The Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) had warned that the local water shortage is bound to worsen, unless new supply sources are developed right away.
Metro Cebu covers the cities of Cebu, Talisay, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu and the municipalities of Naga, Minglanilla, Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Cordova.
Owing to rapid economic and population expansion, MCWD sees daily water demand increasing from the current 265,000 cubic meters to 306,000 cubic meters by 2012—a rise of more than 15 percent or 41,000 cubic meters.
Yet, it produces daily only 153,000 cubic meters, which is 112,000 cubic meters or more than 40 percent short of demand.
In the rush to develop new water sources, Cebu has turned to the private sector for help.
‘Import’
At one point, local officials even contemplated importing fresh water from neighboring Bohol Province.
There are plans to put up seawater desalination plants to produce at least enough industrial water for the Mactan Economic Zone, which generates US$1.81 billion worth of exports every year.
In June last year, Osmeña criticized those who said Cebu has scarce water because of developments in the watershed.
The mayor said then that if he had his way, he would privatize all lands in the watershed, even those considered inalienable or protected areas, because “private people take better care of their lands than the government does.”
No matter how progressive Cebu City is, Fr. Alingasa had warned, if no attention is given to the supply of potable water, a crisis will happen. (RHM/With PR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 18, 2007 issue)
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