Quezon City, Philippines — The House of Representatives approves House Bill No. 8179 or the proposed Sustainable Forest Management Act during its Third Reading held February 01, 2021. Said Substitute Bill consolidated four House Bills: 106, 1471, 3061, and 4891. “We welcome this development and believe that the Philippines is underway to a meaningful reform in forestry,” told SFFI National Council President (and concurrent Project Leader to the Project “Advocacy Towards the Passage of the SFM Bill – Phase 2”) Forester Tommy T. Valdez.
“Every square meter of the Philippine forest lands must have a clear and appropriate management regime thru the Forest Management Unit (FMU) system in order to establish accountability while extending privileges especially to individual, household, and organization-level would-be Forest Managers,” added Forester Valdez.
The SFMA promotes the FMU-based management of forest lands anchored on watershed-oriented planning and monitoring. FMU holders will also have access to socialized financing for FMU developments through the Sustainable Development Fund (SFDF) that shall be managed by a Government Financing Institution together with the DENR. It shall also create the Undersecretary for Forestry within the DENR organization and at the same time, reconstitute the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) from “Staff” into a “Line” Bureau, enabling it to have a direct hand in managing the country’s forest lands.
“This is considered a victory among forestry stakeholders who have been working closely to achieve this feat. The advocacy needs to be continued in the Senate with Senators Pia Cayetano and Ramon “Bong” Revilla who have filed Senate Bill Nos. 284 and 1799 respectively,” explained Forester Maila Vasquez, Executive Director of the Philippine Wood Producers Association (PWPA) and active party to the SFM advocacy. The SFFI National Council Officers and Members likewise recognized this accomplishment and expressed continuing support to the SFM Advocacy.
“We congratulate the Philippine forestry stakeholders on this development and hope that the Philippine Senate likewise approves of this measure. The SFFI has been very active in the SFM advocacy and we are proud to be part of it,” lauds Forester Karl Villegas, National FLEGT Expert and Focal Person to the FAO-EU-FLEGT Programme funding the “Advocacy Towards the Passage of the SFM Bill Project – Phase 2”.
The SFFI and DENR, together with other forestry stakeholders, continue to network with Senators to get support on the passage of the SFM Bill.
— SFFI/Advocacy Towards the Passage of the SFM Bill – Phase 2_01 February 2021
