Illegal Logging Causes Landslides and Lahar Flow in Bulusan Volcano

Home

Columns

Noy (Bicol Column)

Illegal Logging Causes Landslides and Lahar Flow in Bulusan Volcano

Columns - Noy (Bicol Column)

Written by Bobby Reyes

Wednesday, 24 October 2007 02:17

Dateline Los Angeles, California, Oct. 24, 2007

Former residents of Sorsogon Province now based in Southern California attribute the continued mudslides brought about by seasonal rains and volcanic activities on Mount Bulusan to illegal logging. The cutting down of hardwood-tree varieties in what is supposed to be a national park in Bulusan town, Province of Sorsogon, has been going on for years under the watch of the provincial government and regional officials of the national government. The virgin forest of Mount Bulusan has been raped by illegal loggers, some of whom are provincial officials.

The Sorsoganons in Southern California say that it is public knowledge that the house of a former provincial governor has wall-to-wall hardwood panelling fashioned from the logs cut illegally in the Bulusan National Park.

The Malaya newspaper in the Philippines has recently published an article about the mudslides in Mount Bulusan. The article can be found in this link http://www.malaya.com.ph/oct19/metro1.htm

Jocelyn D. Montemayor wrote the news article. Here are excerpts from the Malaya article:

PRESIDENT Arroyo ordered all appropriate agencies Thursday to attend to the needs of the residents of Irosin, Sorsogon following a mudslide brought about by the activities of Mt. Bulusan.

Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral said her department had initially distributed rice, canned goods, used clothing and even masks to residents who had been forced to evacuate.

Cabral, in an ambush interview at the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service (TOWNS) 2007 awarding ceremonies in Malacañang, said some 430 individuals from 120 families evacuated after the mudslide but have already returned to their homes as of yesterday.

She said there is no need for further evacuation at the moment although the four-kilometer permanent danger zone around the volcano is still observed.

Cabral said no additional funds had been released to the DSWD for the needed aid but the Departments of Public Works and Highways, and Interior and Local Government would need extra funding for the rehabilitation of the roads and repair of other infrastructures and farmlands in the area that are now under mud and boulders.

<<Snipped>>

The continuous rain in Irosin resulted to a lahar flow from Mt. Bulusan Wednesday prompting residents to evacuate after thick mud and big boulders covered the roads and fields. # # #