Guard against fires, DENR local officers told

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has instructed its local offices to remain on guard against forest fires during the dry season, following a six-hour grass fire that razed several hectares of a forest reserve in Tanay, Rizal province.

On April 5, fire swept through 10 hectares of bush and grassland in the Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve in Barangay San Andres in Tanay, the site of the government’s National Greening Program in 2013.

Ecotourism and conservation site Masungi Georeserve had earlier reported observing an increasing number of forest fires within areas in Tanay and Antipolo.

—JHESSET O. ENANO