• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has created a multipartite monitoring team (MMT) to ensure the environmental compliance of Hacienda Asia Plantations Inc. (HAPI), holder of the Integrated Forestry Management Agreement (IFMA), on a P2-billion palm oil plantation in Barangay Gatuslao, Candoni, Negros Occidental.
This was after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) approved the Comprehensive Development Management Plan of HAPI under the IFMA for its oil palm, agricultural and agro-forestry operations, subject to regular monitoring to ensure compliance of environmental laws and regulations.
The MMT is composed of representatives of the Provincial Environment Management Office as the chairperson, DENR Environmental Management Bureau, HAPI, Candoni municipal government, barangays of Agboy and Gatuslao in Candoni, non-government and civil society organizations, academe and indigenous people.
In the executive order, Lacson said that the MMT has to ensure that HAPI complies with the terms and conditions of the Environmental Compliance Certificate and sustainable forest management practices, conduct regular monitoring and evaluation of the forest management activities, including tree planting, forest rehabilitation and biodiversity conservation, among others.
He said that the provincial government is committed to upholding environmental integrity, promoting responsible agricultural and agro-forestry practices, and ensuring that operations, like those of HAPI, contribute to the long-term sustainability and well-being of local communities and ecosystems.
In a joint statement, the Group of Environmental Socialists (GOES) Inc. and Green Alert Network (GAN), however, called on the DENR to cancel the project and revocation of IFMA granted to HAPI, claiming that the ongoing clearing activities in the area have caused dislocation of residents and their source of livelihood.
Citing allegations of residents in the area, the environmentalist groups further claimed that the sale and transfer of their 6,652-hectare forest land, which includes 4,000 hectares inhabited by IPs, is illegal. | GB
