Case Analysis Paper

Teacher Name: Hon. Divina Lea Perdiguerra

Student Name: Jamaica Ramos Zara

BURNT FOREST AREAS IN KABAYAN, BENGUET

Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), which includes provinces of Benguet,

Abra, Apayao, Baguio City, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province. It boasts a
mountainous landscape with peaks, ridges, and canyons; generally pleasant climate.
The abundant natural resources of Benguet such as water, mineral deposits, lands,
mountains, and forests are considered useful for fuel economic growth.

Meanwhile, according to a representative of the Benguet Provincial

Environmental and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), fires in this province from
January 6 to February 18, 2020 damaged 899.53 hectares (ha) of natural forest and
enlarged National Greening Program (E-NGP) areas. In a matter of days, there were six
fires. The towns affected included Baguio City with a fire on South Drive trees, as well
as Tublay, Kabayan, Bokod, Itogon, and La Trinidad. The Kabayan fire lasted more than
eight days, damaging 165,620 trees and seedlings with an estimated value of P1.6
million. The fact that established tree plantings under the Expanded National Greening
Program and natural pine forests were destroyed by the flames is particularly alarming.
In the Cordillera Autonomous Region, the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reported that acute natural hills
prevented fire trucks or even pedestrian access to deliver water to put out the fires
made it difficult to do so. Meanwhile the wind conditions at the time(southwest) made it
easier for the fires to spread through the dry forest bottoms. Additionally, the fire in
Kabayan extended to a remote mountainside, leaving firemen helpless to do anything

about it until a miraculous shower put it out.

The damage to the ecology is almost impossible to quantify, even though

the damage in statistics expressed in pesos appear to be lower than they should be.
Animals and plants which are valuable assets are being destroyed. It also covers the
ecosystems that produce oxygen, where trees serve as the catalysts for air purification,
poisons in the air, pollutants, shade, and cooler temperatures that lessen the summer
heat, as well as other harmful impacts of our contemporary environment, such as
climate change and the burning of fossil fuels for short-term economic gain.
Undoubtedly, the 900 hectares

of forest fire damage are expensive loss. This is the total area that has been affected by
the forest fires. Forest fires are typically brought on by either natural or manmade
factors. In dry conditions, lightning can start forest fires. In a dry forest, a lit cigarette
dropped carelessly can cause disaster. Kaingin, the slash-and-burn planting technique
used by indigenous people, can get out of control and turn into a destructive fire that
ravages anything in its path. Aside from kaingin, another deliberate fire initiation occurs
when cattle need new grass to feed on because after a fire new grass springs up,
nature’s first answer to keep alive. Although no accusations have been leveled as of yet
regarding this recent spate of forest fires, their causes are being looked into. They may
propose human-made or natural explanations, such as lightning, carelessly thrown
cigarettes, or purposefully lit fires started for economic gain. Vegetable gardens have
been included as suspects, as farmers want more land to till. In these man-made
circumstances, the short-term livelihood focus might be at fault. Another concern raised
to by locals is that the DENR continues to fund the planting of tree seedlings as part of
its National Regreening projects, but leaves it at that, neglecting to mention feeding
them for more payment, opening the seedlings to intentional fire so that they might be
replanted for a charge. Never considered this perspective until a local who is a good
citizen made the claim that it was true.
200306_MNLTIMES_Ongpin_Alarming Benguet forest fires.pdf (denr.gov.ph)