Massive anti-illegal logging operation of the combined operatives of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) – Community Environment and Natural Resources (CENRO) based in Guiguinto, Bulacan and the DENR regional office Enforcement Division, the 48th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army (PA) and the Angat Watershed Area Team (AWAT) of the National Power Corporation (NPC) recently resulted in the arrest of seven suspected illegal loggers in the boundary between Bulacan and Rizal watershed.

 

Rolly Mulato, head of the DENR-CENRO, said the suspects were caught while hauling illegally cut lumber flitches using horses and ‘kolong-kolong” in Mount Balabag and Sitio Pulang Lupa in Barangay San Isidro, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan and in Sitio Ilas, Barangay Makaingalan in Rodriguez, Rizal.

 

“The style of this individual is to illegally cut trees here in Ipo watershed portion of Bulacan and transport it down to a near village in Rodriguez, Rizal where they will try to sell it,” he said.

 

Mulato identified the suspects as Diego Agudes Esto, Marlon Inggo Keling, Armando Agudes Esto, Ian Hermosa Lagos, Ronel Asiong Cocoy, Melvin Alacha Caballero, and Apolinario Avener Jr. De Asis, all from Puroy village in Rodriguez, Rizal.

 

Isagani Navalta, chief of the enforcement section of CENRO Guiguinto said a total of 1,750 board feet of illegal cut flitches of lumber worth P61,250 including four horses, two multi-cabs, and a motorized “kolong-kolong” were also seized from the suspects.

 

The DENR appealed to the public to report any illegal activities in the forests and watersheds of Bulacan to save the remaining forests of the province.

 

The DENR is now preparing to file criminal charges against the suspects for violating the Forestry Code of the Philippines or Presidential Decree 705.

 

Earlier, five suspected illegal loggers were also arrested by the joint operatives of the DENR-CENRO, Baliwag in Bulacan, Philippine National Police (PNP) of Dona Remedios Trinidad (DRT) in Bulacan and the NPC-AWAT in the forested area of Camachin village in DRT during an anti-illegal logging operation.

 

The more than 6,000-hectare Ipo watershed is part of the much larger Angat watershed, which supplies the 97 % water requirement of over 13 million population of Metro Manila. (-30-)

 

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here bagged the Bronze Award Maturity Level II for upholding excellence in its human resource management programs and successfully meeting the standards on the implementation of the Program to Institutionalize Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management (PRIME-HRM).

 

The Civil Service Commission (CSC), led by Regional Director Rosalinda Tanaliga-Oliva, conferred the award to Regional Executive Director Paquito Moreno, Jr. in a ceremonial program held this morning at the DENR Regional Office in City of San Fernando, Pampanga.

 

Moreno said attaining the second level maturity in PRIME-HRM confirmed that the DENR office in Central Luzon has managed and implemented its HRM systems according to documented process and has established a process-defined HRM in the four core HRM systems, which include recruitment, selection and placement, performance management, learning and development, and rewards and recognition.

 

“This recognition will serve as our daily motivation to bring out only the best in our HRM practices. This will inspire, and challenge us at the same time, to reach our full potential as a government organization,” Moreno said, adding that the DENR would continue to prime its HR processes to champion efficient and effective personnel administration in the office.

 

As a PRIME-HRM Bronze Awardee, the DENR is granted with the following privileges: authority to approve appointments, subject to post audit; 20% discount for the HRM officer or agency representative on trainings and conferences conducted by the Civil Service Institute; endorsement or recommendation for scholarship grant offered by other institutions; and nomination to CSC’s Certification Program for HRMOs subject to the guidelines to be issued by the Commission.

 

The DENR regional office may also enjoy exclusive membership to community of learners who shall have access to digital learning resources and other developmental opportunities subject to the guidelines to be issued by the Commission; announcement of the agency’s programs/projects bureaucracy-wide through the CSC website; and other benefits that the Commission may approve in the future.

 

Since 2015 the DENR has issued a total of 1,179 appointments, as part of their efficient and intensified recruitment and selection process to bring better service to the people and uplift socio-economic condition.

 

For her part, Oliva congratulated and lauded the DENR for their support in the human resources management programs and assured that the CSC will continue to provide assistance until the DENR reach the highest HRM maturity level, which is level 4 or the gold award,” she said.

 

The CSC also recognized Perla Collado, chief of the administrative division, and the HR team for their invaluable contribution and hardwork in the conferment of PRIME HRM Bronze Award to the DENR Region 3, and for their efforts in promoting human resource excellence.

 

Arturo Fadriquela, DENR deputy director for management services, assured CSC that the DENR would continuously strengthen its administrative governance to make its HRM programs more systematic, innovative and strategic.

“We will not just maintain the status under Level 2, but we shall continue to improve our HRM systems to meet the indicators of the next higher level,” he said.

 

 

 

A new plant species, Pyrostria arayatensis, was discovered in the 3,715-hectare Mount Arayat National Park (MANP) in Pampanga after three years of botanical exploration by a team of researchers from Angeles University Foundation in Pampanga and the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila.

 

Researchers Dr. Marlon Suba, Dr. Axel Arriola, Dr. Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro, Nicolas Raphael Arcangel, Jomari Jalipa, Joaquim Gerardo Jurilla, and Jose Manuel Villasenor discovered P. arayatensis in the lowland forest of MANP on 2017 while conducting a botanical study.

According to Dr. Suba, the newly-discovered species belongs to the family Rubiaceae and is endemic to the Philippines, adding that the study was part of his dissertation in the UST and was published in the international scientific journal of Annales Botanici Fennici on August 10, 2020.

 

In the Philippines, Pyrostria is currently represented by P. elmeri, P. obovatifolia, P. oligophlebia, P. ramosii, P. subsessilifolia and P. trifloral, while the conservation status of P. arayatensis is still unknown, the study stated.

 

Paquito Moreno, Jr., executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Central Luzon, said the discovery of the new plant species is an indicator that MANP has sustained its healthy biological diversity, as rare native plants continuously grow in the area.

 

“Even at the very start when this group of researchers applied for a gratuitous permit to do their research in the area, we were positive that something good and noble would come out of this,” Moreno said, adding that preserving the ecological value of MANP is among the priorities of the DENR here, since diverse flora and fauna flourishes in this mountain while serving as a natural habitat to rare and threatened species of plants and animals.

 

He also reminded the public that not all could do bioprospecting, exploration and scientific research on wildlife in a protected area, unless they secure a gratuitous permit or clearance from the Protected Area Management Board—the governing body in charge of the management and operations of the protected area.

 

The DENR here urged the public to protect and conserve the MANP as an important ecosystem in the region and that any disturbances that threaten its biodiversity is strictly prohibited under Republic Act 11038 or the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (ENIPAS) Act of 2018.

 

Poaching any wildlife, cutting, and transportation of timber and forest products and illegal occupation of lands within the protected area are just some of the activities not tolerated by the ENIPAS law, and any person found violating its provisions may be penalized or imprisoned, Moreno added.

 

Statistics shows that MANP is home to 49 species of trees and plants, 86 species of birds, 14 species of mammals, and 11 species of reptiles. Of these, two species of plants are endemic, the Flame Tree (Brachychiton acerifolius) and the Chamberlain's Pitogo (Cycas chamberlaini).

 

In 1933, Presidential Proclamation No. 594 was signed by former President Manuel Quezon establishing Mt. Arayat as a national park.