The photos which I am sharing in this post were taken as early as 2017 until 2018 when, as Secretary of Agriculture, I travelled repeatedly to Cagayan Valley to assess the damage caused by floodwaters from the overflowing Cagayan River.
These photos which I took from a helicopter flown by the owner himself, Archibald Po, show the deforested areas in the Sierra Madre and Carballo Mountain Ranges and the siltation of the Cagayan River.
Ito ang sagot ko sa mga kritiko na nagsasabing ngayon ko lang daw ito ginagawa dahil tumatakbo akong Senador.
Matagal ko na pong adbokasiya ito pero wala masyadong nakikinig.
Kung binabaha tayo, saka lang pinag-uusapan at may kasama pang sisihan.
In the aftermath of Typhoon Lawin in October 2016, I recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte the dredging of Cagayan River as an immediate relief.
The President issued the order during his visit to Tuguegarao after Typhoon Lawin and some dredging works are done now in the longest river of the country.
The root cause of the problem, however, must be addressed and that is the need to bring back the trees and vegetation in those mountains.
Four years after these shots were taken, there is hardly any improvement in the tragic conditions of the mountains.
A legislation which would declare as a national campaign the regreening of the bald mountains of the country is what we need to do this fast.
This should follow President Duterte’s whole of nation approach which would require all agencies of government, every private corporation and every Filipino citizen to participate.
The problem is so huge and the threat to food security is so scary that we cannot leave this task to the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources alone.
This must be done now.
Tomorrow will be too late.
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