Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez vowed to look into the rehabilitation of the Angat Dam which, reports says, could lead to the “massacre” of some 26,000 trees within the watershed area.
An environmental advocate, Lopez expressed concern that the repair would take the toll on trees sitting on the watershed.
“Oh dear. Let me look into [it],” Lopez said in a text message.
She was reacting to news reports that the plan to rehabilitate Luzon’s biggest dam within the Angat watershed would entail the cutting of trees.
The report said 26,000 trees within the Angat watershed would have to be cut down to strengthen the dam, where water for Metro Manila’s residents and farms in Pampanga and Bulacan provinces come from.
The report, quoting Russel Rigor, the dam operations engineer of the Angat Hydropower Corp. (AHC), said the trees stand on the proposed quarry site, from which 1 million cubic meters of rock would be mined to provide stabilizing materials for the downstream slopes of the dam and its dikes.
The P1-billion Angat Dam stabilization project would be implemented by Hanjin Heavy Industries.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), has issued a tree-cutting permit on October 30 for the project, the report added.
The National Power Corp., which manages the Angat watershed, said the cutting of trees would be necessary to strengthen the structural integrity of the 49-year-old dam.
The Angat watershed is home to native species of trees and home to a wide variety of floral and faunal species.
DENR-Norzagaray Community Environment and Natural Resource Officer (Cenro) Roger Encarnacion, meanwhile, belied the report.
He said the DENR had issued two permits for tree-cutting and earth-balling of trees in August and October this year.
Records at the DENR Region 3 Office revealed that the first permit for cutting of 966 trees was issued issued on August 15. The permit was issued by the DENR-Region 3 Office after securing clearance from the DENR Central Office issued by Environment Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio.
The second permit, a special tree-cutting and earth-balling permit was issued by the DENR-Central Office on October 3, covering 2,164 trees to be cut and a total of 2,822 to be transferred to another location.
Encarnacio added that the trees for the first permit were already cut down while the cutting and earth-balling of trees covered in the second permit is still ongoing.
“The trees that were cut down are secured. The Dumagats have requested the DENR to give them the trees for the repair of their damaged houses. Their request is subject to final approval by the DENR Regional and Central Office,” Encarnacion said, adding that the DENR also received 93,000 tree saplings from the project proponents.
“Some of the tree saplings were already distributed for planting,” he said. Encarnacion maintained that there is no way the DENR would allow the cutting of 26,000 trees.