Omnibus Sponsorship Speech of Senator Cynthia Villar
11 Protected Area Bills
20 March 2024

As your Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change, I am pleased to sponsor today the 11 bills declaring ecologically vital areas in the Philippines as additional protected areas under our existing National Integrated Protected Areas Systems, as amended.

At a time when we are finally taking notice of our protected areas as a part of our heritage, and there is substantial clamor for more effective protections as we have seen recently for the Chocolate Hills National Monument, I take this opportunity to affirm my commitment to the country's protected area system.

Prior to the enactment of Republic Act No. 7586, known as the "National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992" or the NIPAS Act we had multiple declared national parks whose protections were basically just on paper. NIPAS rationalized this by establishing management boards, funding mechanisms, recognizing ancestral domain owners and according rights to long term migrant communities whose incomes are derived only from the protected areas.

13 ecologically important areas were established through individual legislations while the rest continued to be managed as initial components of the system.

It was in the 17th Congress when I was installed Chairperson of the Senate Environment Committee, when I worked on the passage of Republic Act No. 11038 known as the "Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018" or the ENIPAS Act revised the original based on the experiences of nearly two decades and included the legislation of ninety -four (94) more protected areas.

And during the previous 18th Congress, we were able to pass into law seven (7) legislative measures declaring seven individual sites as protected areas under the mantle of the ENIPAS Act. This brought the country's total legislated protected areas to one hundred fourteen (114) or a total area of 4,432,984.76 hectares.

Upon enactment, these laws automatically shifted the lands of the public domain to the classification of national park, no longer subject to private titling under the Public Land Act. Since the controversy surrounding the Chocolate Hills came to light, allow me to take this opportunity to clarify that protected areas are not forfeitures or confiscations of existing private title. When we legislate, titled lands inside the boundaries remain titled. However, the activities of title holders inside protected areas are already constrained by the rules of the System and the management plan of each specific area. The development of such lands requires rigorous checking by the Protected Area Management Office (PAMO) and the to see if it enhances the protected area's assets and supports the objectives of the Management Plan.

There would be Protected Area Management Boards or PAMBs that would give clearances even if these standards are not met. Those exceptions are NOT the rule and do not warrant a harsh judgment on the entire system. What it does call for is a review of the PAMO operations and the clearance processes across the Board and a warning to PAMBs, possibly even revamps where these wrong decisions are frequent. It also calls for better and more strategic enforcement by the DENR and its regional and management offices. In a handful of protected areas with a lot of private lands, they have barely scratched the surface. They are lacking in enforcement of the law against illegal structures in public lands so expecting enforcement in titled lands is even more challenging.

If the restrictions are so tight that they constitute a taking of private property for public use, and it is warranted, for example to save the nesting tree of an endangered species on a private land, there are two options:

(1) we can exercise the power of eminent domain; or

(2) if the private landowner proves to be more capacitated than government to enhance this asset by protecting the nest and establishing habitat-sensitive facilities, then government can engage them to do its work.

Having given these clarifications, I hope we can pull together to pass the following bills to protect the specific sites indicated:

• REGION 1

1) SB No. 2252 under Committee Report No. 86, referring to PAOAY LAKE PROTECTED LANDSCAPE in the Province of Ilocos Norte as an important migratory bird stopover whose ecosystem caters better to certain birds, notably cormorants;

• REGION 3

2) SB No. 2614 under Committee Report No. 239, referring to AURORA MEMORIAL PROTECTED LANDSCAPE in Aurora Province, which serves as the middle corridor critical in conserving the entire Sierra Madre range so important for the entire Luzon Island's biodiversity and protection against extreme weather events;

3) SB No. 2203 under Committee Report No. 240, referring to MOUNT SAWTOOTH PROTECTED LANDSCAPE in Tarlac Province;

• NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

4) SBN 1536 under Committee Report No. 87, referring to the EXPANDED LAS PIÑAS - PARAÑAQUE WETLAND PARK in the cities of Las Piñas and Parañaque, which will ensure protected area integrity by the inclusion of the marine habitats deemed absolutely necessary to deliver the required biodiversity objectives of the LPPWP, including the rational management of its mangroves and mudflats and as a critical stopover for migratory birds;

• REGION 4-A

5) SBN 1691 under Committee Report No. 88, referring to SAN FRANCISCO PROTECTED LANDSCAPE; and

6) SBN 1725 under Committee Report No. 89, referring to ALIBIJABAN PROTECTED LANDSCAPE, both in Quezon Province, featuring the unique biodiversity of the province;

• REGION 5

7) SB No. 2616 under Committee Report No. 241, referring to the MT. MASARAGA PROTECTED LANDSCAPE In Albay Province, for serving as a critical watershed as well as a sharp topped inactive volcano in the Bicol River Basin to conserve endemics throughout the basin.

• REGION 6

8) SBN 355 under Committee Report No. 90, , referring to TAKLONG AND TANDOG GROUP OF ISLANDS NATURAL PARK in Guimaras Province, which serves as representative of small archipelagos with endemics that speciate in isolated and semi-isolated habitats.

• REGION 8

9) SB No. 2617 under Committee Report No. 242, referring to- PANAON ISLAND PROTECTED SEASCAPE in Southern Leyte Province, which is among the 50 reefs globally named for resilience from climate threats and its protection will ensure its 50% hard coral cover and high marine biodiversity including whale sharks can be managed;

• REGION 9

10) SB No. 2618 under Committee Report No. 243, referring to MT. GUTOM PROTECTED LANDSCAPE ACT in Zamboanga Del Norte for its dipterocarp forest ang mossy and pine forest at its summit that hosts multiple threatened species of flora; and

• REGION 10

11) SB No. 2619 under Committee Report No. 244, referring to SULTAN NAGA DIMAPORO PROTECTED LANDSCAPE AND SEASCAPE in Lanao Del Norte, which is an important model site representative for managing limnology and marine biodiversity specifically macrobenthic fauna along with socio-cultural studies, and their interaction with what is halal.

It is of paramount importance that we do better in our protected area system for our own good -- the resilience of our habitat, climate mitigation, the continued existence of our iconic and endemic species and the ecosystem services that protected areas provide. On top of these, we have international commitments of the Philippine Government under the Ramsar Convention, the World Heritage Convention, the Convention on Migratory Species, and the ASEAN Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, among others. In 2022, the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of Parties issued the Kunming Montreal Global Framework on Biodiversity, Target 3 of which is to "Ensure and enable that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, and of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed through ecologically representative, well-connected and equitably governed systems of protected areas..."

Our country stands at the verge of this target. With a small land area, we host an enviable number of species that evolved right here in our very archipelago and can be found nowhere else. It is therefore our patriotic as well as our global duty to ensure that we take all the steps necessary to fulfill these commitments.

The provisions of these bills are in line with the ENIPAS Act of 2018 but are site specific. We hope that our colleagues will enrich our discussion during the period of interpellation and may introduce amendments, in case any specific provisions are still necessary, to protect each of these unique habitats will come to light.

With this, Mr. President and dear colleagues, I hope that the proposed legislations be unanimously considered and approved by this august Chamber.

Isang makakalikasang hapon sa inyong lahat. Maraming salamat.