MANILA, Philippines — Environmental activists are cool to the idea of arming forest rangers of government, saying it would only do more harm than good.
Leon Dulce of the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) said Tuesday that what should be focused on is getting to the root cause of attacks against government forest rangers and not creating another one by giving them arms.
“Arming environment defenders is not the solution. Rather, it would only complicate the complex situation they are facing. Communities are already subjected to attacks and then you would add even more weapons?” Dulce pointed out during the launch of a report on the state of environmental activists.
“The solution is to address the root causes of the land and environment conflicts,” he added.
The suggestion to arm forest rangers of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was raised by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu in 2017, after environmental activist and forest ranger Ruben Arzaga was killed.
This proposal was recently revived with the death of another forest ranger, Bienvenido Veguilla Jr., who was killed in Palawan. Veguilla was hacked to death by alleged illegal loggers last September 5.
READ: DENR mulls arming forest rangers
READ: DENR enforcement unit pushed amid ranger slay
READ: Loggers kill ranger in Palawan forest
According to Dulce, Veguilla was armed when he was attacked – something that was mentioned in reports. The victim also opened fire and shot one of the illegal loggers, identified as a certain Fernan Flores, he said.
“He was not killed unarmed, he was actually holding a .45 caliber (pistol). He even killed one of the illegal loggers,” Dulce noted.
“So it’s not a solution,” he added.
Previously, Kalikasan PNE and international organization Global Witness revealed a study concluding that the Philippines, with 113 environmental activists killed since President Rodrigo Duterte took office, is now the most dangerous country for such advocacies.
The two groups said the administration’s war on drugs and the growing militarization could be blamed for the attacks. They also slammed Duterte’s alleged inaction on his campaign promise to protect the country’s natural resources.
READ: 113 environmental activists killed since Duterte assumed office — Int’l group
READ: Study: Drug war, military action target environmental activists
/kga