Isko vows to tap indigenous people to protect forests if elected as president

Manila Mayor and Aksyon Demokratiko presidential aspirant Isko Moreno said Monday he would harness the strength and capabilities of indigenous communities to help reduce the impacts of climate change and disaster in the country should he win the presidential race in the May 2022 elections.

During the Stakeholders Meeting of the Agricultural Training Institute at the MIMAROPA Regional Office in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, Moreno said he would pursue a “massive rehabilitation, recovery, and reforestation” of around two million hectares of the country’s denuded forest, noting that investing in the country’s natural capital assets is critical in the country’s post-COVID-19 recovery plan and development future in the next decades. 

According to him, this version of the reforestation program will utilize the capacities of the local government units (LGUs), local communities, particularly the indigenous communities and tribes, and the private sector. 

“For decades, [the] government has borrowed and spent billions of pesos in government-led reforestation programs that have had limited success because of the absence of strong support and engagement with LGUs, communities and the private sector,” Moreno said. 

He said that under his “Bilis Kilos 10-Point Agenda for Governance,” he would coordinate with upland and indigenous communities to directly manage and protect forests and utilize the resources found in these areas and ancestral lands.

“Dito sa lalawigan ng Mindoro, malaki ang papel ng mga Mangyan at iba pang kautubo sa lalawigan para bantayan ang ating mga kagubatan laban sa illegal logging. At titiyakin nating mayroon silang suporta mula sa national government at sa mga LGUs,” he said before a multi-sectoral audience at the Gymnasium Sitio Paraiso, Pinamalayan.

(The Mangyan and other tribes here in Mindoro play a huge role in protecting the forests against illegal lodging. We will ensure that they will get support from the national government and the LGUs.)

Moreno further underscored the need for a trilateral cooperation among the LGUs, indigenous peoples, and local communities for the protection and preservation of some 4.5 million hectares of key terrestrial and coastal and marine biodiversity conservation areas. — Giselle Ombay/RSJ, GMA News