Planters score forestry graft

BUTUAN CITY—Tree farmers in the Caraga Region have belittled the government’s National Greening Program saying it was doomed to fail because of corruption in the agencies that are implementing it.

Julius Mabandos, acting president of the Caraga Federation of Community-based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA) holders, said the renewed effort to reforest denuded areas in the country remains a “paper tiger,” unless the government stops corruption.

Corruption grips the disbursement of reforestation funds and, other sources said, also the disposition of uncultivated lands under the Philippine Forest Corp (PFC), which was once headed by Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr., the star witness in the NBN-ZTE scandal.

At a hearing on the graft case against Romulo Neri, Lozada had admitted corruption in PFC and told Sandiganbayan justices that he has a “permissible zone of morality.”

Lozada currently faces charges at the Ombudsman for irregularities at PFC, including transactions that allegedly benefited his wife through commissions from a private insurance firm, a 50-hectare reforestation project in Antipolo that PFC gave to his brother and other relatives, and a P15-million contract that PFC awarded to a firm owned by his brother and family without bidding.

In his testimony at Neri’s trial, Lozada admitted he agreed to set aside P14 million in PFC funds for the use of “a friend of Secretary (Romulo) Neri.” The money was part of a P19-million fund drawn by PFC for a project on which only P5 million was spent.

It was a state of corruption at PFC that Lozada, in his testimony, admitted was a way of life in the government agency, and which Neri’s defense lawyers said could discredit Lozada as an anti-graft crusader.

According to Mabandos, holders of certificates of CBFMA in the past were made covers for ghost reforestation projects estimated to be worth P2 billion in Caraga alone.

“President Aquino’s concern for the environment was noble and laudable but given past mismanagement and missing reforestation project funding, it’s doomed to fail,” Mabandos told the Inquirer.

According to Mabandos, CBFMA holders were made to sign documents “to make it appear there was reforestation and that the funds were released, but in reality there was none.” “We were used,” he said.

Mabandos urged Mr. Aquino to form a special team to audit reforestation projects of the past administration for officials “to see for themselves if indeed there were reforested and rehabilitated areas in Caraga.”

CBFMA is given to cooperatives or tribal communities for 25 years in exchange for planting trees and reforesting logged over areas with government funding.

Leonardo Siballuca, Caraga environment chief, said he was willing to investigate Mabando’s report. “Whoever gets hurt, I will apply the full force of the law,” said Siballuca.