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Logs deposited on the roadside by swift currents of a swollen river. Photo: Manila Times
n the Philippines illegal Logging has finally reached the point where extreme and drastic measures need to be taken...and taken immediately. By some estimates, only two-percent of the forest cover of the Sierra Madre Range is still left standing! This is an absolute disaster. It is also the kind of preventable disaster that seems to occur quite frequently in the Philippines, where lackadaisical and haphazard implementation of environmental laws are commonplace.
Illegal logging syndicates such as those in the town of Mauban, Quezon have flaunted their disregard for the country's logging laws for decades. And many of these illegal loggers have become millionaires many times over using the villagers and tribesmen in the area to do the "dirty work" for them.
The recent typhoons that raved the country and the resulting flooding and loss of life as a result of denuded forests brought home the point that the country has reached the point of where only the most drastic measures must be taken. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was correct in forming a task force and giving them "one month to identify, investigate and prosecute the big-time illegal loggers. Philippine NewsLink hopes that actual prosecutions will result from this endeavor and not the "whitewash zarzuela" that often occurs in the Philippines.
In fact we even go a step further and support Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, call for a total log ban of 30-50 years. This seems to be the only way to halt the destruction of the forests and mountain ranges. As members of this generation, we cannot escape blame or the anger of our children should we hand over to them a country denuded of its forests and aquifers, and prone to flooding and landslides with every typhoon.
Filipino-Americans as well as other Filipino communities overseas need to take a vigilant stand and see to it that the country's precious natural resources are cared for and well protected. Published 2004
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