BATANGBALER

Mula sa gmanews.tv:

A Catholic bishop and some priests from Infanta in Quezon province have started leading efforts to defend the environment by mobilizing the local communities.

Fr. Boyet Valenzuela of Dinalungan, Quezon said several priests have also been actively involved in the anti-logging campaign in their parishes.

Valenzuela recently received death threats after leading a group composed mostly of Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) leaders in investigating logging activities.

Mula naman sa website ng CBCP:

The Task Force Sierra Madre, headed by Fr. Pete Montellana, is coordinating the anti-logging campaign. It has exposed the corruption in Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that has allowed illegal logging to continue.

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Matagal nang daing ng karamihan sa Aurora na itigil na ang lahat na uri ng logging dito sa Aurora maging ito ay yung tinatawag nilang carabao logging o yung commercial logging. Lahat na kakayahan ng gobyerno ay nakatutok lamang laban sa mga small-time loggers o carabao loggers. Iyan ang tinatawag nilang “illegal loggers”. Pero yung mga commercial loggers ay hindi nila pinapansin kahit alam nating mas malaki ang mas malawak ang nagagawa nilang pagsira sa kalikasan.

Kailangan siguro nating malaman kung ano talaga ang posisyon ng mga lokal na politiko tungkol sa lahat na uri ng logging at kung anu ang mga ginagawa nilang hakbang hinggil dito. Sino ang magtatanung?

(An old photo of a logging operation in Aurora)

This news from Tonette Orejas of inquirer.net reads like the DENR is on the side of the logging companies. Maybe it’s time to move to higher grounds.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza ordered a review of the five-year operation plan of a logging company in northern Aurora on the heels of protests by residents and appeals by local officials, Environment Undersecretary Manuel Gerochi said on Wednesday.

“Yes we are reviewing,” Gerochi said, referring to the integrated annual operation plan of the Industries Development Corp. (IDC).

Atienza approved the renewal of IDC’s plan in June 2007, but Dinalungan Mayor Tito Tubigan and Fr. Ceferino Valenzuela of the Concerned Citizens of Dinalungan (CCD) said they learned about it only in early April.

Click here to read the complete news

I wonder why the Aurora-based reporters are not covering this news.

Just when i thought i’m beginning to like the colorful shirts of DENR Secretary Lito Atienza because of his swift action against a reported case of illegal logging in Dingalan, Aurora (read the 3-day timeline here, here and here), then this report from inquirer.net:

An information caravan in the nine villages of Dinalungan, Aurora, started to gather support on Monday for the protest against the approval by Environment Secretary Lito Atienza of a five-year logging plan by a firm in the province.

Fr. Ceferino Valenzuela, the town’s parish priest, said the caravan mounted by the Concerned Citizens of Dinalungan started at 8 a.m., holding short programs in every village it passed.

The 200 participants were expected to reach the logging areas of Industries Development Corp. (IDC) in Barangays Ditawini and Abuleg in Dinalungan, Dinadiawan in Dipaculao town, and at the Aurora-Quirino boundary before dusk.

Click here to read the full news.

Look at the Google Earth picture of Dinalungan here:

The town is already a big landslide viewed from space. This is not caused by just the “illegal” loggers. The environmental catastrophes happening in Aurora are mostly caused by legal loggers. Sec. Atienza should take this in consideration before approving any logging permit. Because, to parapharase his own quote, “To allow ANY KIND OF LOGGING to continue is like begging for a catastrophe with epic proportions to happen.”

Lest we forget, Tonette Orejas from Inquirer added this sidenote on the report:

What went before

By Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Desk
First Posted 00:27:00 04/30/2008

MANILA, Philippines – Landslides triggered by rains from Typhoons “Winnie” and “Yoyong” killed more than 300 people in Dingalan, Aurora in November and December 2005. Nearly 1,000 houses were destroyed.

On Dec. 30, 2005, 70 families were marooned in Barangay Esperanza in Casiguran as floodwaters reached 10 feet high. All 24 villages in the town were flooded.

Mayor Reynaldo Bitong said the floods, the worst in Casiguran after Typhoon “Harurot’s” rains in July 2003, came as the Amro, Minanga, Dibet, Bianoan and Calabgan rivers overflowed.

On July 31, 2006, the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council said 57 villages in the towns of Baler, Casiguran, Dilasag, Dinalungan, Dipaculao, Maria Aurora and San Luis were at high risk to floods and landslides on the heels of Typhoon “Henry.”

I’m glad to hear that Dinalungan Mayor Tito Tubigan listens to his constituents and opposes logging in his turf. Let’s hope it’s not just lip service.

For more info about the environment in Aurora click here.

The final updates of the news:

from inquirer.net: Suspected NPA rebels attack soldiers securing Angara route

Gunmen believed to be New People’s Army rebels fired at Army soldiers guarding the route in Aurora province that Sen. Edgardo Angara was to take, police and military officials said Saturday.

from gmanews.tv: NPA rebels ambush soldiers in Aurora after Angara visit

Suspected communist rebels fired at Army troopers who have just provided security to the visit of Senator Edgardo Angara in Aurora province Saturday afternoon, injuring one soldier, a military official said.

from abs-cbnnews.com: Soldier hurt in ambush in Aurora; Angara denies ambush reports

One soldier was hurt after members of the New People’s Army (NPA) ambushed a team from the 69th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Dinalungan town in Aurora province Saturday, ABS-CBN News learned.

from gmanews.tv:

Sen. Edgardo Angara laughed off Saturday afternoon reports he was ambushed in Quezon Province, while launching several government projects there.

Angara told dzBB radio he was on a boat heading for Casiguran when the supposed ambush took place.

“Walang katotohanan yan. Nakasakay kami sa barko papunta kami Casiguran (That’s not true. We were on a ship heading for Casiguran),” he said.

He said he never traveled by land in the area.

Read the complete news

from inquirer.net:

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines — Suspected New People’s Army rebels fired at Army soldiers securing the passage of Senator Edgardo Angara in Dinalungan, Aurora, at past 1 p.m. on Saturday, police and military officials confirmed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

Reached through his mobile phone by the Inquirer newspaper, Angara said there was “no more danger to my life.”

But in an interview with INQUIRER.net at around 3 p.m., Angara said that neither he nor his security was ambushed. “That’s a complete lie. Kalokohan yan (That’s not true),” he said.

The senator, who was in the area to launch several agriculture projects, said he was very far away from where the fighting happened. “It’s like the fighting happened in Basilan and I was in Manila,” he said.

Read the complete news

Another typhoon is bearing towards Aurora Province. It is expected to hit the Dicadi (DInalungan-Casiguran-Dilasag) area tomorrow.

from the PAGASA website:

Issued At: 5:00 a.m., 29 November 2006 Synopsis : At 2 a.m. today, Typhoon “REMING” was located based on satellite and surface data at 480 kms east of Northern Samar (12.6°N 130.1°E) with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph near the center ang gustiness of up to 150 kph. It is forecast to move west northwest at 22 kph.

typhoon forecast from typhoon2000.com

Forecast Outlook: DURIAN is expected to turn more WNW to NW’ly within the next 24 to 48 hours - passing to the NE of Bicol Region or about 140 km. NE of Catanduanes or 25 km. ENE of Naga City by Thursday Nov 30 around 8 to 9 AM local time. The 3 to 5-day (Dec 01-03) long-range forecast remains the same showing a more northwesterly turn while slowing down, reaching Category 4 strength with projected wind speeds of 215 km/hr. DURIAN shall make landfall along Palanan Bay in Isabela Saturday evening, Dec 02 (approx 8 PM) & cross Southern Cagayan (passing very close to Tuguegarao) by Sunday morning Dec 03. Remember, that the 2 to 5-day forecast have a very large margin of errors!

News from ABS-CBN Interactive

Picture above from PAGASA

Update December 1, 2003: The typhoon changed course and missed Aurora province. The latest news from inq7.net is here. Sometime between Nov 29 and today, this post suddenly switched to private mode, which means that it became invisible. I wasn’t able to update yesterday because there was a scheduled brownout.

from inq7.net:

A TSUNAMI alert raised in the Philippines after an 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck near Japan sent thousands of residents fleeing to higher ground because of rumors and miscommunication, officials said Thursday.

In northeastern Aurora province, hundreds of families from at least three towns hardest hit by a recent typhoon fled to higher ground.

(more…)

Electricity was restored yesterday at around 3 pm. Baler is back to normal. The residents of Dilasag, Casiguran and Dinalungan in the norhtern part of Aurora are still suffering from the effects of Typhoon Paeng. From inq7.net:

Thousands of families were displaced by the floods. Several persons remained missing.

Initial estimates placed damage to agriculture and livestock at P68.38 million. Damage to infrastructure was less, initially placed at P17 million in Aurora alone.

One good news surfaced. A child who was earlier reported to have drowned turned out to be alive, although seriously injured.

Aurora Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo said in a phone interview Tuesday that Ian Viares, 6, from Barangay Dimaseset in Dilasag, survived when strong waves washed out his family’s hut. The boy suffered fractured bones and was airlifted by an Army helicopter to a hospital in Baler in Aurora.

Floods and strong winds destroyed 183 houses and damaged 2,042 others in three northern Aurora towns, according to Castillo.

The floods in Dilasag, Casiguran and Dinalungan also ruined P12.5 million worth of crops and livestock, she said. Damage to infrastructure reached P17 million. Rampaging waters washed out the bridge in Barangay Dibacong in Casiguran.

Castillo said the three towns remained isolated as of Tuesday as the provincial road there was blocked by debris. She said the Aurora Memorial Hospital was ready to accommodate injured residents in Dinapigue, Isabela, north of Dilasag, on the request of the mayor there.

Power supply has yet to be restored in most towns in Aurora. The province was also the scene of devastating floods and landslides triggered by storms late 2004.

(more…)

Still no electricity here in Baler and the rest of the province. The sun is up and the sky is clear. The picture above is the only sign of damage I saw here in Baler, a fallen ipil-ipil tree in front of our building in ASCOT. Otherwise, everything is okay here. In the Dicadi area (northern Aurora about 200 kilometers from Baler), the story is different.

from inq7.net:‘Paeng’ weakens, exits RP:

Aurora took the brunt of the typhoon. Floods rose waist-deep as of 4 a.m. yesterday in the towns of Dilasag, Casiguran and Dinalungan.

A province-wide blackout began at 11 p.m. on Sunday. Electricity had not been restored as of 3 p.m. yesterday.

More than 300 families in Casiguran and 65 others from Dinalungan evacuated to the town centers to escape rising floodwaters. They began returning to their villages before lunch time.

Ramon Aquino, public works regional director, said Paeng’s winds blew the roofs off seven school buildings, a health center and barangay hall in Pangitahan, also in Dilasag.

The Baler-Casiguran and Baler-Bongabon roads in Aurora were not passable due to landslides, Aquino said. The only access route to Aurora was the Pantabangan-Canili Road via Nueva Ecija province.

A 28-year-old mother and her 6-year-old daughter drowned on Sunday night after strong waves whipped by Paeng’s winds washed away their hut on the coast of Dilasag town in northern Aurora. They were identified as Jocelyn and Iza Viares of Barangay Dimaseset in Dilasag.

(more…)

Photo taken here.

from ecogov project: One-stop-shop approach makes it easy for fisherfolk to register

Dinalungan is one of four municipalities in Aurora being assisted in coastal resource management by the Philippine Environmental Governance (EcoGov) Project, funded by USAID and implemented with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and other partners. The others are Dipaculao, Baler and San Luis.

Dinalungan has a population of 9,711 (Year 2000), half of whom are dependent on the sea for livelihood. EcoGov is assisting this LGU to protect and manage its municipal waters which is part of Baler Bay and home to rare marine species, such as dugong (sea cow), butanding (whale shark) and sea turtles. The declining fish catch and the slowly vanishing rare marine species alarmed Dinalungan officials and residents, making them decide to seek EcoGov assistance and go into high gear to manage their marine resources.

Read the complete story