Typhoon ‘Lando’ destroying Agta tribe habitat

LUCENA CITY—The indigenous inhabitants of Sierra Madre are suffering from the destruction of their natural habitat caused by Typhoon “Lando” (international name: Koppu), according to activist priest Fr. Pete Montallana.

He said he received reports that several houses and the school building of the Agta tribe in the Sierra Madre in northern Quezon province were also destroyed by Lando.

He said Agta communities in Casiguran town in Aurora province also suffered grave destruction of their habitat and livelihood.

Montallana said the Indigenous Peoples’ Apostolate of the Diocese of Infanta is soliciting emergency assistance for the Agtas in Casiguran and General Nakar, Quezon.

On his Facebook page, Montallana posted: “Kindly donate through our BDO (Banco de Oro) Save Sierra Madre Network Alliance Inc. savings account 3820031906. Kindly inform us of your donation through text 09209684982.”

The Sierra Madre is the longest mountain range in the Philippines. It is a continuous landscape that covers the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Quirino, Aurora, Quezon, Rizal, Laguna and Bulacan.

It is not only home to rich flora and fauna but also plays significant roles in supplying water and reducing flood in Metro Manila.

Montallana has asked the government and the people to save and protect the Sierra Madre mountain ranges as the ongoing massive deforestation would wreak havoc to the community in the future, especially during disasters like Lando.

“It is now time for all of us to wake up and face the reality that we really have to start the rehabilitation and protection of the Sierra Madre,” Montallana said in a phone interview on Tuesday.

“The government and the people should save and protect Sierra Madre before it’s too late. Let us pity the next generation,” he said.

Since Sunday, Lando continued to pummel northern and central Luzon provinces along the Sierra Madre corridor leaving behind at least 12 people dead and billions of properties, mostly agriculture products, destroyed.

Montallana recalled how the vast Sierra Madre with its thick forest cover used to serve as a natural protective barrier from typhoon’s furious winds and strong rains.

“But now, the devastated Sierra Madre could no longer protect the people and the communities around her the way she did before. She is now weak against the onslaught of strong typhoons,” he said.

In September 2012, President Aquino declared Sept. 26 of every year as “Save Sierra Madre Day” in a bid to step up efforts for the rehabilitation, reforestation, protection and conservation of the Sierra Madre mountain ranges.

But the fragile condition of the Sierra Madre is now being threatened not only by nonstop massive logging, quarrying and mining but also by the so-called development projects and programs by the government, particularly the New Centennial Water Source (NCWS) dam project.

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System has been pushing for the construction of the P18.7-billion project in the Sierra Madre’s Kaliwa River.

The proposed dam will be constructed in Kaliwa River in the mountain village of Pagsangahan in General Nakar town in Quezon. The dam would flood a watershed area of 9,700 hectares and affect 1,465 families, according to studies conducted by the Save Sierra Madre Network Alliance Inc.

Aside from the NCWS dam project, another 80-meter tall concrete dam in the Sierra Madre’s Kanan River is also being planned for an ambitious P46.5-billion hydroelectric, wind farm and bulk water project.

The Kaliwa and Kanan rivers are major tributaries of the Agos River that runs along General Nakar and Infanta.

Legally protected rainforest areas housing endemic and endangered species would also be buried underwater as part of the dam reservoir area, along with areas being claimed as ancestral lands by the Agta, Dumagat and Remontado tribes.

The opposition groups also cited the risk posed by the project as its proposed site lies between the Marikina and Real-Infanta fault lines.