Eviction of 2K households in UMRBPL pushed

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is eyeing to relocate more than 2,000 illegal household-occupants of the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL) as part of its plan to rehabilitate the degraded watershed.

This was disclosed by Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu in his pre-taped video message during the online launch of the Upper Marikina Watershed Coalition on Wednesday.

Cimatu said the restoration of the Marikina Watershed, including the close to 27,000-hectare UMRBPL, is one of the priority programs of his leadership in targeting the implementation of integrated watershed management program.

He said a recent survey conducted by the DENR revealed that around 3,400 households within the UMRBPL. Of these, 80 percent are within the political boundaries of Antipolo and Rodriguez, Rizal.

He said that of the 3,400 households occupying the UMRBPL, about 60 percent are non-tenured migrants “who may need to be relocated.”

Aside from the illegal squatting problems besetting the UMRBPL, he said the DENR is confronted with the issue of overlapping proclamations and other tenurial instruments dating back to 1915.

Cimatu said to address the problem, an Executive Order or Act of Congress will be needed to harmonize the various tenurial instruments within the protected area.

“This calls for rationalization by the President, and if necessary by Congress,” he said.

Cimatu said the DENR has been trying to restore Marikina Watershed for a decade now.

Over the course of 10 years, he said the DENR was able to initiate reforestation activities in a total of 17,935 hectares of UMRBPL. The area, he said, represents more than 68 percent of the entire UMRBPL.