BAGUIO CITY, June 9 (PNA) — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Cordillera Regional Office (DENR-CAR) is now working on the protection, rehabilitation and preservation of the Forest Reservation at Mount Santo Tomas – Mount Cabuyao in Tuba, Benguet.
This, after the Court of Appeals (CA) issued a “Writ of Kalikasan” on May 6, 2015 over the forest reservation.
DENR-CAR Regional Director Ralph Pablo on June 9 said a preparatory dialogue was conducted last week with Baguio-Benguet Vivariate Bishop Carlito Cenzon, Tuba Mayor Florencio Bentrez, Baguio Water District Director GM Salvador Royeca and Tuba Police Chief Inspector William Willie, where the plan of actions in the implementation of the environmental protection order were discussed.
Last year, Bishop Cenzon and Archbishop Socrates Villegas led civil society organizations in filing for a “Writ of Kalikasan” petition to the Supreme Court for a moratorium on development works which involved massive earth-moving and tree cutting and the regulation of tourists and economic activities in the area.
The SC issued a Temporary Environment Protection Order (TEPO) and referred the petition to the CA.
Pablo said the municipality agreed to implement preventive actions gradually as it introduce changes in the area.
In a separate interview, Bentrez said an agreement was reached to regulate the number of tourists visiting Sitio Pungayan which was popularized by a television series as “Sitio La Presa”.
The municipality is currently in the process of dismantling the stalls erected in Sitio Pungayan and that the tourists are no longer allowed to go to the location where the TV show was shot.
The DENR and the municipality of Tuba will conduct a survey at Mount Santo Tomas including the current occupants inside the forest reservation.
Pablo said small scale mining operation in the area has been stopped by the PNP through the order of the DENR Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MBG).
The Mount Santo Tomas – Mount Cabuyao Forest Reservation is also a watershed that supplies water to Baguio City and parts of Benguet. (PNA)