CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar—Members of the Catbalogan Community Environment and Natural Resources Office team recently destroyed charcoal kilns in the towns of Villareal and Sta. Margarita.
CENRO officer Mar Torres said more than 45 charcoal kilns called “bulkan” in Villareal and “pugon” in Sta. Margarita were illegal, as they use mangrove wood for making charcoal.
The “pugon” in Sta. Margarita can produce more than 30 bags in a single operation, Torres added. The charcoal is then shipped to Calbayog, Tacloban and this city, where demand is higher.
CENRO have identified the owners and are preparing charges for violation of environmental laws.
In Villareal, children in first grade are already experts in making “bulkan” that can produce at least two bags of charcoal, said a CENRO employee who requested anonymity, saying he was not authorized to comment on the issue.
Provincial Environment Officer Elpedio Simon said an alternative job for these charcoal makers is planting trees under the National Greening Program, which has a P20-million budget to reforest the same areas like where the kilns were being operated.
“There are people’s organization here under contract with DENR for NGP, yet it is sad that they are still doing this,” Simon said.
He also urged the coastal barangays to refrain from destroying the very mangroves that will protect them once calamities occur. Mangroves are part of “the most diverse ecosystem” as fish, crabs and other marine life spawn in them, he added.
“It is absolutely illegal to cut mangrove species,” stressed Simon.