HB 5880 now approved by the Special Committee on Reforestration

By Cong B. Corrales

Cagayan de Oro City - A HOUSE Bill (HB) that aims to reforest the watershed zone of Cagayan de Oro is nearing enactment as the Lower House's special committee on reforestation unanimously approved the bill here yesterday.

For the first time, a special committee of the House of Representatives held a committee meeting outside of Batasan Complex and held it at Pryce Plaza, Upper Carmen, this city. Nine members of the special committee on reforestation--Reps. Rufus Rodriguez, Rolando Uy, Yevgeny Emano, Candino Pancrudo, Emil Ong, Proceso Alcala, Angelito Gatlabayan, Marcellano Teodoro and Ariel Hernandez of Anak Mindanao party list--attended the meeting.

Authored by this city's 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, HB 5880--An Act reforesting 3,000 hectares of public land in Cagayan de Oro city and appropriating funds thereof--is the solon's response to ensure the spate of flashfloods that ravaged the city last January would not happen again.

It can be recalled that in January 3, this year, a tail-end of a coldfront with moonson rains hovered much of Northern Mindanao that resulted to a series of floods in the city. The Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC-X) had reported that the January 3 floods have affected 21,605 persons--5,223 families--in the city and damaged a total of 1,551 houses with an estimated cost of 1.9 million. In the January 11 floods, RDCC-X reported that 37,086 persons or 7,410 families were affected where a total of 165 houses were damaged.

"Trees are very important in maintaining and improving the quality of life. They remove carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Further, they filter out harmful pollutants. More importantly, tree absorbs water from the soil, making the soil drier and able to store more rainwater," the bill's explanatory note reads.

"I was really appalled at how the flashfloods disrupted many lives and so to prevent that calamity from recurring in the city, I have filed this bill," Rodriguez said.

An area of 3,000 hectares of the city's public land which will be identified by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-X) will be reforested once the bill is enacted. Under HB 5880, a budget of P37.5 million would be allocated for the implementation of the bill.

Each of the city's districts will host 1,500 hectares of the reforestation bill.

With the approval of the special committee on reforestation yesterday, HB 5880 will now be ready for deliberations in the Lower House's plenary in its second and final reading. The bill's co-author Cagayan de Oro 1st District Rep. Rolando Uy has expressed optimism that HB 5880 would be enacted into law sooner than expected.

"This bill will not only address the security of the city from flashfloods, the reforestation would also contribute to mitigating the issue on climate change," Rodriguez beamed. (With Report from pag-enews.tk)

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