House OKs 2 envi protection Bills

“IN THE 8th Congress, I am hopeful that with five Mindanaoans in the Senate and with Senators Ralph Recto, Nancy Binay, Cynthia Villar, and returning Senator Pia Cayetano as authors of forest bills, we have strong support in the Senate for the passage of the Forestland Limits bill and Sustainable Forest Management bill,” said Bukidnon 1st District Rep. Ma. Lourdes Acosta-Alba

The proposed Forestland Limits Act (HB 7496) and the Sustainable Forest Management Act (HB 9088) were approved on third and final reading at the House of Representatives before the 17th Congress ended.

“Two historic and pivotal forest protection bills were approved at the House of Representatives 32 years after Sections 3 and 4 of Article XII of 1987 Constitution gave Congress the crucial mission,” said Acosta-Alba, a principal sponsor of the Forest Limits bill.

“We want future generations of Filipinos and tourists to experience and gain from the beauty, life, and products of our forests. We appeal to the Senate prioritize these bills because the ball is now in their court. It is now up to them to complete the play and score on behalf of current and future generations of Filipinos,” she added.

“Bukidnon badly needs these two forest protection bills to become law. The province has two watershed forest reserves and 202 thousand hectares of forest cover,” Acosta-Alba said.

“Kailangan natin itong Forest Limits Law para malaman kung saan ang simula at hangganan ng bawat gubat sa Pilipinas upang kagyat silang maproteksyunan,” AcostaAlba said.

The Bukidnon lady solon noted that the Muleta-Manupali Watershed Forest Reserve and the Pulangi Watershed Reservation are two of only three similar forests in Northern Mindanao.

“These watershed forest reserves are our natural sources of freshwater for potable household use and for irrigation. They also protect our province from floods. We cannot lose them to degradation. That is not an option,” Acosta-Alba said.