LA TRINIDAD, Benguet--Ifugao Gov. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. has thrust a dagger into the government's supposed policy bias for business over environment which, he said, had undermined efforts to preserve the Ifugao rice terraces and the Cordillera's watersheds.

Baguilat assailed the Department of Agriculture for focusing the region's economy heavily on the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle (NLAQ), which had reduced other provinces to mere bystanders of the super region development approach.

He also criticized the Department of Tourism for treating the rice terraces as mere tourism sites and the department's penchant for promoting beaches instead of paying attention to tourism issues that impact on the environment.

"The environment must not be sacrificed because of agriculture. There must be a balance of priorities between agriculture, tourism and environment," Baguilat told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) in a phone interview on Friday.

Baguilat last week joined Mt. Province Gov. Maximo Dalog and Kalinga Gov. Floydelia Diasen in assailing the DA's alleged favoritism for Benguet in the disbursement of infrastructure funds.

But Cesar Rodriguez, DA Cordillera director, said there was no inequitable distribution of road funds among the region's provinces.

He said Benguet received some additional funds because of its vegetable industry's production area.

Informed of Baguilat's complaints, Rodriguez said: "The DA gave Ifugao P2 million for the rice terraces. We could not give more since the fund is still unused. We support a province based on its local needs and programs."

But Baguilat refused to be appeased.

He said the DA's position reflected the government's anemic understanding of the role of the rice terraces and the region's watersheds in cushioning the impact of climate change.

"The region is one ecosystem," he said. "Its development must go beyond farm-to-market roads and high value cash crops."

The Cordillera is composed of Abra, Benguet, Mt. Province, Kalinga, Apayao, Ifugao and Baguio City.

The region hosts Luzon's four biggest river systems--Agno, Abra, Chico and Bued--which, however, the National Irrigation Administration said were in critical condition.

"The rice terraces and the region's watersheds are critical to climate change. What has the DA done to preserve them? None. It's a model of sustainable agriculture but it is being treated as a mere tourism area," he said.