By Manny Piñol
An angry President Rody Duterte tonight directed Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to immediately issue a closure order on the logging operations of the SODACO Agricultural Corp. in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
SODACO holds a 60,000-hectare concession under the Integrated Social Forestry (ISF) of the Dept. Of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and is blamed for the flash floods and mudslides which killed dozens of people and damaged agricultural lands in four towns of Zamboanga del Norte Dec. 22 at the height of Typhoon Vinta.
Pres. Duterte issued the order to Sec. Cimatu following a report I made during the Cabinet meeting today which stretched from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.
After watching a 5-minute video of the deforested portion of the Zamboanga mountain range, President Duterte immediately directed Sec. Cimatu to implement the Closure Order.
“Roy, ipasara mo yan. Hindi naman maghihirap yan si Consunji kasi Oligarch na yan,” the President told the DENR Secretary.
Pres. Duterte directed Sec. Cimatu to proceed to the area to enforce his directive.
The President also promised assistance for fisher folk families in Barangay Anubgan, Sibuco town whose homes were swept to the sea when flash floods brought down logs rampaged through the isolated coastal community.
Forty people were swept to the sea but only 10 bodies were recovered by relatives.
A young woman from the village was swept to the sea and rescued by a fishing boat in the Sulu Sea.
She was brought to Antique where she is now recuperating from injuries.
On Friday Jan. 4, I led the team from the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources which reached the village by helicopters and boats to deliver assistance.
During the forum, local leaders and residents sought my help in asking Pres. Duterte to order a stoppage to the cutting of trees in the mountains which resulted in flashfloods and mudslides.
More Stories
Practical Farming: Turn Used Plastic Containers Into Life-Time Laying Nests!
Super Bulb Onion Grown In Alamada, North Cotabato
Kapehan With Pareng Gob