EDC, Province, DENR: ‘Wake Up, Floods Coming’

Green Alert Negros is alarmed to know that the recent flooding in Cagayan De Oro City and its neighboring towns were caused by illegal logging and quarrying. Cagayan De Oro welcomed the 2009 with the worst flood on January 2.

Almost 20 percent of Cagayan De Oro City was inundated by water when the world-famous site of white water rafting, the Kagay-an River, swelled within minutes. More than 30,000 people were displaced and almost 300 houses destroyed.

“We had little rain, it was only in the upland areas where it was raining heavily. So that means the flooding was really because there were no more trees to hold the water,” said Erwin Culanag, city information officer.

Green Alert Negros warns the Energy Development Corporation, the Provincial Government and the DENR about the possibility of flooding in Negros with such magnitude or worst because of the continuous cutting of trees inside Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park and other unregulated logging activities in the Northern Negros Natural Park.

“In 2004 Infante and Real, Quezon was hit with flashflood. In June of 2008, 80% of Panay went underwater when Typhoon Frank hit the Visayas area. Now, Cagayan De Oro City is suffering the same natural disaster with the same primary cause, and that is the continuous logging of our remaining forests,” stressed Mark Cervantes of Green Alert Negros.

Green Alert Negros is condemning the cutting of 3000 trees of the geothermal project of the Energy Development Corporation inside the buffer zone of Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park. It also condemns the role of the Provincial Government and the Provincial Board, DENR and DOE on its decision allowing the entry of EDC which GAN called illegal, immoral and a bastardization of laws.

“We warned EDC, the Province, DENR and DOE of the impacts of the cutting of trees inside Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park.
They never listened. A month after the Provincial Board endorsed the entry of the EDC project, Panay went underwater and now, Cagayan De Oro. This shows that our country’s forest is fragile and anytime, Negros will experience the same events,” added Cervantes of Green Alert.*