The Philippines fisheries advocacy group Tambuyog Development Center has exposed a case of illegal cutting of mangroves which occurred recently in the town of Agdangan, Quezon Province.
In a statement, Arsenio Tanchuling, executive director of Tambuyog, said that about 100 mangrove trees, which were 60-100 years old, had been cut near the fishpond operated by ex-Mayor Legaspi of Agdangan.
The cutting of mangroves is illegal under both the Revised Forestry Code and the Fisheries Code.
Tanchuling bewailed the fact that this cutting of mangroves occurred at this time when the country and the whole world are already celebrating Earth Day on April 22 every year to foster environmental awareness and prevent harmful acts against the environment.
He further noted that this case contradict the recently launched national greening program of the government, which hopes to plant some 1.5 billion trees covering about 1.5 million hectares from 2011 to 2016 in lands in the public domain.
Tanchuling also revealed that the ex-Mayor of Agdangan illegally operates at least 5 hectares of fishpond without a Fishpond Lease Agreement (FLA), since the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) had already recommended the cancellation of the FLA to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
He said that the FLA cancellation was recommended because the fishpond, which was about 25 hectares in size, was already abandoned by its original holder, a certain Abraham Felipe who now resides abroad; but recently, about 5 hectares were again developed and operated illegally by the Agdangan ex-Mayor.
Tanchuling further noted that the local fisherfolk organization whose leaders are active members of the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council (MFARMC), had previously requested BFAR to be given preferential access to the same abandoned FLA area so that they can reforest it with mangroves which would later provide the local fishers additional sources of livelihood.
He said that Agdangan is a 5th class municipality and is among 609 municipalities in the country with the highest poverty levels and therefore the request of the local fisherfolk organization is urgent given this situation.
But until now BFAR has not acted on the request of the fisherfolk organization. Moreover, BFAR is responsible for preventing the illegal occupation of the fishpond by the ex-Mayor, and they not only failed in this task, but they also failed to stop the illegal mangrove cuttings. Now the least they can do is to conduct a speedy investigation and to punish the culprit, Tanchuling noted.
He explained that besides socio-economic benefits, mangroves also provide several ecological benefits, among them protecting coastal communities from typhoons and high waves, and also sequesters carbon dioxide which causes climate change.
Tanchuling said that the local fisherfolk organization alerted Tambuyog and the local barangay officials of the cutting of mangroves; they also asked Tambuyog representatives to go to the area to see the incident with their own eyes, which they had just done.