By Manny Piñol
Agriculture Secretary
Landslides and flash floods caused by the cutting of trees in the mountains and the planting of cash crops in steep and sloping areas of many agricultural areas of the country are the tragic price this generation is paying for the sins of yesteryears.
Indiscriminate logging operations and flawed agricultural planning which allowed the planting of corn and tolerated the establishment of commercial pineapple and banana plantations even in graded and upland areas have resulted in the loosening of the soil in recent years resulting in landslides and flash floods.
The tragedies which hit Ormoc, Southern Leyte, Agusan River Basin, Biliran and, recently in the wake of Typhoon Vinta, Lanao del Norte’s Kapatagan Valley and the Zamboanga del Norte coastal towns of Sibuco, Sirawai, Siocon and Baliguian will occur more frequently in the future if nothing is done to correct the anomaly today.
Unless something is done to re-plan Philippine agriculture so that crops which could not hold water and soil are not allowed to be planted in sloping and mountainous areas and really focus on the planting of trees in the denuded mountains, the next generation will suffer from worse calamities and tragedies.
The next generation, of course, includes our children and grandchildren.
This is going to be a major policy overhaul and only President Rody Duterte could implement it.
During the Cabinet Meeting scheduled today, I will present to President Duterte and the Cabinet urgent policy changes which could serve as the foundations of an effort to protect agriculture, fisheries and the lives of the next generation.
Among the recommendations that I would submit will be the strengthening of the National Convergence Initiatives between the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Interior and Local Governments and the Leagues of Provinces, Cities and Municipalities so that a comprehensive agricultural plan could be laid out for each local government unit.
Critical areas would be identified, especially mountainous areas with flourishing agriculture and fisheries in the coastal towns, so that they would be assisted first in the crafting of a comprehensive plan that would take into consideration the slopes and gradations in determining what crops should be planted.
For example, the planting of corn, especially the Round Up-ready variety, should not be allowed in sloping areas, along with commercial pineapple and banana plantations.
Inter-cropping of coffee or cacao in upland coconut or abaca farms should be encouraged and supported by government.
I know I will ruffle a lot of feathers here but I will also recommend to President Duterte the reimplementation of the Tree Planting Program of former President Marcos with a new twist – this time it will be initiated by the local government units which would require its residents to plant a certain number of trees.
Lastly, I will ask President Duterte to request the top corporations of the country, as part of their corporate social responsibility, to adopt a specific deforested mountain in the country where they could establish a Tree Plantation which they would manage and whose products they could even use judiciously.
Actually, this is not a new idea. This is basically the concept of the Integrated Social Forestry Program of DENR where private groups could enter logged over areas to plant trees, fruit trees and even coconut trees.
The problem is the ISF, as in the case of the SODECO concession in the Zamboanga Mountain Range, was used as an excuse to enter a forested area and cut down trees rather than plant seedlings.
This is an urgent matter that must be and could only be addressed by this administration given the fact that President Duterte possesses the track record of deep concern for the environment.
The move we make today will ensure that the next generation will have enough food to eat and will not live in fear that in the middle of the night, flash floods and landslides will sweep them away to the sea.
(The first three photos showing the Ormoc floods, Southern Leyte landslides and Biliran landslides were downloaded from public websites. Last photo was taken in Anungan, Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte last Jan. 5 by Larry Nuestro, DA-AFID)
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