BAGUIO CITY—Cordillera lawmakers joined a colleague from Cagayan province in filing a bill in Congress that would ensure protection of the Chico River Basin, one of the major river systems in the Cordillera Region.
Kalinga Rep. Allen Jesse Mangaoang and Cagayan Rep. Randolph Ting are proposing the creation of the Chico River Basin Development Authority to guarantee the protection and management of the Chico River watershed and water system.
Mangaong said the would-be agency aims to provide focused management and intervention in the development, preservation and sustainability of the Chico River. It will “coordinate and implement programs that will ensure the participation of all stakeholders, government and non-government groups and individuals.”
Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol has recommended a “serious study” for the de-silting and dredging of the Chico River and Cagayan River, which caused damages in the province of Kalinga and Cagayan during Typhoon Lawin.
From its headwaters in the tri-boundary of Ifugao, Benguet and Mountain Province, the Chico River Basin covers an area extending from Mountain Province down to Ifugao, Kalinga, and Apayao, and drains into the Cagayan River.
The Chico River has a total area of 442,906 hectares, of which 92 percent falls within the Cordillera, with the rest within Cagayan area. It traverses 23 municipalities in CAR with 264 barangays.
According to the regional environmental office, the Chico River Basin has vast potential for development. Being one of the major river systems in the Cordillera, it has the capacity for electric power, irrigation and domestic purposes, recreation, and other projects.
The Chico River Forest Reserve was established by virtue of Proclamation No. 573, signed by President Ferdinand E. Marcos on June 26, 1969.
Among the issues surrounding the watershed include converting the land inappropriately, such as the conversion of a mossy forest in Mount Data to vegetable gardens; a decreasing water discharge as a result of drying up of water sources; diminishing biodiversity that may be attributed to human activities such as kaingin making, illegal cutting, forest fires and chemical pollution; river siltation due to soil erosion and landslides in upstream areas; and water pollution attributed to household and industrial wastes from towns in the Mountain Province that are dumped into the main river or its main tributaries.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recently included the Chico River System and the Mount Pulag National Park as priority areas for environmental protection and for improving the lives of the communities in the area through the Sustainable Integrated Area Development Management (SIADM).
DENR-Cordillera Regional Director Ralph Pablo said the SIADM is an approach introduced by Environment Secretary Gina Lopez to seek social justice by implementing environmental protection programs that would lead to growth in the communities and primary stakeholders in the selected sites nationwide.
In a planning workshop last week, stakeholders identified areas within the Chico River Basin as priority sites.
