Villar lectures DENR over 'shocking' remark on Marikina watershed

Senator Cynthia Villar on Thursday lectured officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for a remark that seemed to diminish the importance of protecting the Marikina watershed area.

DENR's presentation during a Senate hearing led by the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change stated that "if all urban development and quarrying are stopped and the Marikina watershed is fully planted with 10-year old mature trees, it will require nine times the whole area to absorb all the water during Typhoon Ulysses."

"No matter how we fully plant the whole Marikina watershed, it still cannot absorb all the water during that event, typhoon Ulysses," Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Wilfredo Moncano told senators.

But Villar, presiding over the inquiry on green infrastructures that would prevent destructive flooding, expressed dismay, saying this tone is "unacceptable" and should not come from the DENR.

"That would make all our efforts on protecting the protected area useless... I'm always telling this DENR that you should not make statements like that," Villar said, also recalling a supposed position of some DENR officials that prohibiting quarrying in the watershed would delay developments in Metro Manila.

"I cannot imagine an officer of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources saying that. We should hear that from the Department of Public Works and Highways, not from you. You are justifying all the destruction of our environment... Na-shock na naman ako sa inyong department eh," Senator Villar said.

Senator Risa Hontiveros also shared her dismay.

"Yung logical conclusion ng statement nilang yung would be, let's just sacrifice the watershed in order to proceed with so-called development projects," Hontiveros said.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said the stance of the agency is to protect the Marikina watershed.

"Sa computations, hindi lang kasi namin napag-usapan 'yan," he said, agreeing with Villar that more effective interventions can be done by the DENR to ensure the preservation of the watershed and prevent severe floods. —LBG, GMA News