Unboxing DENR in 2023

Sen. Cynthia Villar describes best what DENR Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga is faced with at the DENR in 2023.

During a recent hearing of the Senate’s environment committee, which she chairs, Villar at the outset made this very clear. According to the senator, it was not under Yulo-Loyzaga’s watch that the EECs now under review were granted. The EECs in question are for the 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay.

“I just want to make it clear that these reclamation projects happened before the term of Sec. Ma. Antonio Yulo-Loyzaga. She will be answering for those things committed not under (her) term,” Villar pointed out. 

In the course of the hearing, Yulo-Loyzaga committed that all ECCs will now be signed by her while she helms DENR. 

She also disclosed that the review of regulatory requirements for the ECCs issued to proponents of Manila Bay reclamation projects will be finished in six months. She added that the cumulative impact assessment being undertaken will be completed in one year.

Masungi

It isn’t only the controversial Manila Bay reclamation projects that Yulo-Loyzaga has had to deal with early on. She has now to decide on the legality of the 2017 memorandum of agreement which gave “perpetual trust” to 3,000 hectares of the Upper Marikina Watershed to the Masungi Georeserve Foundation, Inc.

The DENR’s regional office has recommended the cancellation of the agreement. In the House, a committee investigating alleged “unauthorized and unlawful activities” within the georeserve is expected to come up with its findings before year-end.

“We will be guided by the investigation being conducted by the (House committee)…and we have, by virtue of this committee, been able to access certain facts and circumstances that were not available to us previously,” says Yulo-Loyzaga.

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SBSI

Then there’s the matter of the Socorro Bayanihan Services, Incorporated (SBSI). The DENR in 2023 has been taken to task for not acting immediately on purported violations by the SBSI of a 2004 agreement. The said agreement allows them to conserve and develop 353 hectares in Socorro, Surigao del Sur.

A senate committee investigating cultist allegations against SBSI pointed out that a DENR probe in 2019 discovered violations of the Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement (PACBRMA) entered into with SBSI.

Among the violations was the establishment of structures and putting up of checkpoints. There’s also the concerning matter of conduction of military training. A hilltop park was also turned into a settlement by SBSI.

Acting on the committee’s initial probe, Yulo-Loyzaga suspended the agreement. And with the collaboration of other government agencies, expressed readiness to relocate the residents of the settlement.

She made it clear however that there would be “no movement” until the Senate completes its investigation.

Legacy Issues

A little over a year in office, Yulo-Loyzaga has been literally deluged by what she has described as “legacy issues”.

Issues like a convention center illegally built in a watershed area in Lanao del Sur. There’s also the occupation of hectares of public land along the beach front in Lingayen, Pangasinan. Then there’s the issue of reclamation without an ECC in Palawan.

“We’ve had to deal with a lot of legacy issues, as you know, and we’ve had to deal with some cultures and practices that are part of the history of this department,” Yulo-Loyzaga said in an interview. She did not elaborate.

Evidence-based management

As Yulo-Loyzaga continues to unbox DENR, she will undoubtedly discover more. She’ll see with her clinical eye, issues that need resolution without “fear or favor.” Her training and experience as a scientist will surely guide her in making evidence-based decisions.

So far, she seems to be unfazed by the issues that have emerged, and has doggedly carried on to pursue her vision and set goals for the department.

Yulo-Loyzaga is particularly focused on two major initiatives she has taken on at the start of her term. First is a water resource management office that will transition to a full department. Second is a geo-spatial database which will map and monitor the use of our country’s resources.

She has also begun energizing the department by training its next generation of leaders in adapting to the needs of the times. This is what DENR in 2023 has been like.

Her reply to Sen. Cynthia Villar’s comment about her being too cautious to take on vested interest groups is instructive.

“People who know me, know that I don’t scare easily,” says the bespectacled Yulo-Loyzaga. Her look has led her to be likened to the indomitable Edna of the hit cartoon “Incredibles.” Fittingly so, as the challenges she’s been facing and will continue to face should also be incredible.