Bill to save Romblon’s ‘crown jewel’
IT WAS declared a protected area more than 18 years ago, but Mt. Guiting-Guiting in Romblon province needs a much heavier legal mantle to protect it from degradation, according to concerned local officials.
“Mt. Guiting-Guiting is Romblon’s crown jewel,” Gov. Eduardo Firmalo said.
Rep. Eleandro Madrona of the lone congressional district of Romblon has proposed a bill seeking to declare—again— Mt. Guiting-Guiting on Sibuyan Island a natural park to ensure the sustainable protection of the country’s densest forest.
Its name derived from its unique sawtoothed or jagged ridges, Mt. Guiting-Guiting is home to 700 plant species, 54 of which are endemic to Sibuyan, and 149 species of birds, nonflying terrestrial mammals and reptiles, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan).
The entire natural park covers 15,475.21 hectares of land, spanning through 15 villages in three third-class municipalities— Cajidiocan and San Fernando. The towns have an annual income of P35 million to P45 million.
A buffer zone of 10,747.55 ha provides “an extra layer of protection,” Madrona said.
Onits website, the DENR-Mimaropa said the “fingers of the entire mountain range ... have been observed to be highly degraded” after being converted into settlements and kaingin (slash-and-burn farming) areas over the years.
Moreover, gold mining and illegal logging have continued in these areas, according to local officials.
On Feb. 20, 1996, then President Fidel V. Ramos issued Proclamation No. 746, declaring Mt. Guiting-Guiting a natural park. “But that was just a proclamation, a title,” said provincial environment officer Ben Jovinal on Thursday.
A law, on the other hand, “would encourage more support from the national government and a more defined structure of management programs,” he explained.
Local government and environment officials in Romblon rallied behind Madrona’s bill.
San Fernando Mayor Salem Tansingco said the 1996 declaration “seemed to be just a name” given to Mt. Guiting-Guiting, and nothing more.
“Our municipality has been alloting P150,000 annually (for the preservation of Mt. Guiting-Guiting). But even if all three towns do so, too, I don’t think that’s enough to sustain the preservation,” he said.
If the bill is enacted, the government will have to provide a yearly budget of P5,831,871 for the maintenance of the natural park and stricter imposition of penalties in accordance with the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992.
Tansingco believed a legislation would draw national attention to and support for the island and would provide tourism opportunities to their communities.
“Thankfully, Mt. Guiting-Guiting remains very pristine as it is, but we need a law to ensure that its preservation becomes sustainable,” Madrona said by phone last week.