Angela Louise E. Suñga Dr.

Arlene Cecilia Alfaro

NSTP 1 December 29, 2020

Advocacy Paper
A Call to Protect Sierra Madre

When the last tree has fallen and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money.

Sierra Madre, the mountainous backbone of Luzon, is currently experiencing a

massive deterioration. Abusive human activities such as mining, illegal logging and
industrialization has caused deforestation in the large part of the said mountain range.
These caused the loss of flora and fauna from the largest remaining rain forest of the
country as well as the displacement of indigenous peoples and the worsening of natural
disasters, accompanied by climate change.

The Sierra Madre mountain range covers approximately 1.4 million hectares of
land along the 540-kilometer length of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino,
Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Quezon. It borders the northeastern
part of Luzon and served as a buffer which weakens strong typhoons that originate from
the Pacific Ocean before they reach the mainland.

Besides the advantages served by its geographical location, the mountain range
is also the largest remaining tract of rainforest in the Philippines – covering about 40%
of the forests in the country. Its vastness boasts its high biodiversity that shelters 201
species of mammals, 556 species of birds, 85 species of amphibians, 252 species of
reptiles. The fauna, however, is considered either endemic or highly-threatened to
extinction. The same situation applies with fauna in the southern end of Sierra Madre
wherein among the 237 tree species, 58 are endemic, 67 are threatened, while 143 are
indigenous to the Philippines.

As their ancestral domain, the Agta-Dumagat—Remontado indigenous groups

have been passionate in protecting the Sierra Madre and the species that lives in it for
more than 35,000 years. However, the continuous attempts of the government to
industrialize parts of the mountain range by constructing roads and dams as well as the
illegal loggings and the mining activities of private sectors in the area has caused a
massive tear on the natural biosphere that deemed the aforementioned stewards
powerless in defending their ancestral land.

In law, Sierra Madre is a protected land. The Upper Marikina Watershed River
Basin Protected Landscape on the southern part of the it has been declared a protected
area under Proclamation 296 in 2001 and was granted protection under Republic Act
no. 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992. This
renders the area “protected against destructive human exploitation” but paradoxically,
the 2010 report of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
states that the said portion of the land mass was already extremely denuded.

According to the report, illegal logging activities alone have claimed 161, 240
hectares of forest cover. The damage was further expanded with the conversion of
mountains into roads and mining sites which destroyed the natural parks, the virgin
forests and the protected areas of Sierra Madre. This also led to the displacement of
indigenous people and flooding in the lowland areas that were once protected by the
mountain ranges.

In addition to and despite the aforementioned issues, the Environment

Department seems to further aggravate the wound instead of treating it. Last October
2019, the DENR issued an Environmental Compliance Certificate to the Kaliwa Dam
project which serves as an approval to the construction of the said infrastructure at the
foot of Sierra Madre. This China-funded, 12.2 billion peso project is expected to be the
long-term solution for the water shortage problem in Metro Manila which was caused by
the increase of demand in water supply from the overpopulated mega city.

The dam is planned to be 60 meters tall which means that it will be able to pipe
an additional 600 million liters of water to Metro Manila daily. This could definitely solve
the shortage problem in the city but this also means drowning 93 hectares of forestland
and wildlife, as well as submerging 12 sites that are sacred to 11 indigenous
communities. In fact, the government-conducted environmental impact assessment had
shown that constructing the reservoir, alone, could endanger endemic flora and fauna,
force these species into migration, and even endanger agricultural and fishing
communities in the lowlands. If the construction of roads and facilities around it would
also be considered, the damage to the environment will be much broader and worse.
The authorities have seen all of these yet they chose to turn a blind-eye instead of
looking for better alternatives.

According to the World Wide Fund Nature – Philippines, there are two risk-
factors that affect the water supply in Metro Manila. First is the risk of The Big One in
the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa system which renders these reservoirs prone to damage and will
later be unable to provide water to the region. Second is the great density of population
in Metro Manila. This makes water scarce in terms of the balance in supply and demand
of the resource. If the mentioned factors are examined, the easiest solution that could
be thought of is to build another dam that could tend to the growing needs of the
population, and in the present situation, the Kaliwa Dam. However, given the
environmental and social risks of the project, the repair and renovation of the Angat-Ipo-
La Mesa system and the desaturation or decongestion of the population in the mega
city would be more favorable. This method is more indirect and time-consuming but
then, it will be like hitting a whole bird’s nest with a couple of stones. The overpopulation
problem could be mended, the provinces surrounding Metro Manila could be more
industrialized, the supply-and-demand issue would subside and the Sierra Madre
mountain rage, as well as its inhabitants, would not need to suffer from the damages
anymore.

Why choose to spend billions of loans and funds, displace almost 14,000
indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands, put an end to a healthy and breathing
wildlife, and risk more flooding to already flood-prone areas for the water supply of a
certain population when there could be a better option that would not need a heavy
sacrifice? There are more underlying political and economic factors that scores this
issue but if there could be safer and less invasive tactics to solve an issue, it would not
hurt to consider them.

The impact of damage in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range has already been
significantly felt by Filipino communities. Last November 2020, Typhoon Ulysses has
caused an onslaught in some communities of Luzon. Cagayan, in particular, was
submerged in floodwater. Residents stayed on their rooftops for days, drenched and
famished in the middle of an intense storm, in hope of being rescued. Lives and
livelihood are part of the casualties of the typhoon but also among these is the
magnitude of fear, restlessness and despair that veiled upon the victims during the
torturous event.

The deforestation of the Sierra Madre and the deterioration of watersheds

caused by illegal mining and logging are seen as probable causes of the deluge. These
man-made activities made the natural shield of Luzon uncapable of protecting its people
anymore. For millennia, the mountains stood erect and lush for our needs but what did
we give in return? We took it for granted and we did not take care of nature as much as
it provided for us.

We are part of nature and it is our original abode yet, we choose to separate
ourselves from it by building infrastructures from concrete and calling them “home”. Why
do we tend to think that development is marked only by having skyscrapers,
international achievements and a high Gross Domestic Product? When the time comes
that our primary resources have been depleted because our mountains and valleys are
barren and the we cannot find anymore refuge from storms for the same reason, can we
eat money?

The Sierra Madre had protected our race for generations. It is not yet too late to
not turn our backs from it. Let it be our duty to plant indigenous trees, avoid pollution,
conserve water and fight injustices that are felt by our environment and our fellow
Filipinos.

Protect Sierra Madre! No to Kaliwa Dam! Together, let us save the Philippine
Islands!

Refereces:

Garcia, M. A. (2019, October 29). What is the Kaliwa Dam project?. GMA News Online.
Retrieved from https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/713465/what-is-
the-kaliwa-dam-project/story/
Forest Foundation Philippines (n.d). Sierra Madre. Retrieved from
https://www.forestfoundation.ph/sierra-madre/

Dakilanglaagan (2020). SIERRA MADRE: WHAT MOST FILIPINOS DON’T KNOW

ABOUT THIS MOUNTAIN RANGE. Retrieved from
https://dakilanglaagan.com/2020/11/14/sierra-madre-what-most-filipinos-dont-
know-about-this-mountain-range/

La Viña, T. and Reyes, J. (2020. November 19). Last stand in the Sierra Madre.
Rappler. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/opinion-
last-stand-sierra-madre

Chavez, L. (2019, October 30). Controversial dam gets green light to flood a Philippine
protected area. Mongabay. Retrieved from
https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/controversial-dam-gets-green-light-to-flood-
a-philippine-protected-area/

Enano, J. O. (2020, November 30). Watershed degradation abetted flooding, says

scientists’ group. Inquirer. Retrieved from
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1366251/watershed-degradation-abetted-flooding-
says-scientists-group

CNN Philippines Staff (2020, November 16, 2020). DENR ordered to probe illegal
mining, logging in Cagayan Valley. Retrieved from
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/11/16/Cagayan-Valley-illegal-mining-
logging-Cagayan-River-dredging.html

Reyes, L. (2012, December 11). At the crossroads of change: the Agta of the Sierra
Madres.Fauna & Flora International. Retrieved from https://www.fauna-
flora.org/news/crossroads-of-change

World Wild Life Nature (2019). Day Zero: The Metro Manila Water Problem. Retrieved
from https://wwf.org.ph/resource-center/story-archives-2019/day-zero-metro-
manila-water-problem/