DENR Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn Bambalan and PHPC Chief Operating Officer Francis Joel Sayre recently inked the Memorandum of Agreement at the DENR Regional Office in Tuguegarao City.

 

The PHPC, a holder of Special Use Agreement in Protected Area, will finance the three-year project amounting to P3.4 million starting May 2022.

 

The DENR will identify the 118-hectare planting sites within the Tumauini Watershed Natural Park while the people’s organizations and the communities nearby the park will be tapped as partners in the said undertaking.

 

“I would like to thank the PHPC for its commitment not only to replace the trees to be cut but also to finance an NGP area to form part of the terms and conditions in the tree cutting permit that was issued,” RED Bambalan said.

 

She also gave importance to the benefits of the hydro power project in the improvement of the watersheds.

“We need to improve our watersheds to protect the trees and other life forms in the environment,” she added.

 

For the part of the corporation, Sayre committed to be compliant to the policies set by the DENR. "We can even surpass our commitment in so far as replacing the trees to be cut is concerned,” he said.

 

The MOA signing was witnessed by Assistant Regional Director Marcos Dacanay, Isabela Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Federico Cauilan, and PHPC Project Development Officer Damar Calagui.#