REVILLA QUIZZES DENR ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL GREENING PROGRAM

Senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr. quizzed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the status of the implementation of the government's National Greening Program (NGP) vis-a-vis the worsening effects of climate change during the Senate plenary debate on the FY 2023 budget of the agency.

"Halos kalbo na ang ating mga kagubatan at kaunti na lamang ang mga puno sa ating mga kabundukan - mga dahilan kung bakit kapag dumarating ang malakas na ulan ay tiyak ang pagbaba at ragasa ng tubig sa mga pamayanan. Higit pa rito, lubha ring napipinsala ng matinding pagbaha ang ating mga kalsada at tulay.", Revilla lamented.

The veteran lawmaker asked the DENR how many seedlings have been planted since the inception of the program and the survival rate of the trees. According to the DENR through the Department's sponsor Senator Cynthia Villar, P58 billion has been spent since 2011 amounting to 1.855 billion seedlings with a 78% survival rate.

Revilla was quick to ask where the seedlings were planted, prodding the agency to pinpoint where those surviving 1.45 billion trees would be found. The solon shared that during the series of relief operations he conducted recently, he observed that many mountains are in denuded state and forests are hardly spotted, in contrast to the report of DENR that the implementation of NGP has been successful.

"Sa tatlumpung milyong hektarya na sumasakop sa buong Pilipinas, saan po ba ito nakatanim? Dahil palagi po tayong lumilipad, naka-chopper, nakikita po natin ang sitwasyon ng ating kabundukan. Napakasama na po ng sitwasyon.", Revilla said.

"Nitong nakaraan lang, kalbong-kalbo ang mga bundok at yung mga natitirang mga puno Nakita natin, parang mga posporong nagtauban na nakakalat.", he added.

During the relief operations conducted by Revilla, people shared their observation that disasters have become more devastating due to the aggravating impact of climate change and worsening state of the environment.

Despite the continuing sad state of the country's forests, Revilla expressed his support for the passage of DENR's budget.

"We're here to help. Basta ang importante po ngayon ay tayo ay magtulungan. Climate change ang hinaharap nating malaking pagsubok", he ended.