The government should implement the position of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that its 2017 contract of the Masungi Georeserve Foundation Inc. (MGFI) was void ab initio, an activist based in Rizal province said.
“In the recent Senate hearings, issues have emerged regarding the conduct of Masungi Georeserve Foundation, Inc. (MGFI), raising serious concerns about the foundation’s adherence to legal and environmental standards,” said activist Bernadette Torres in a statement.
Torres said the 2017 memorandum of agreement covering the Greater Masungi Karst Area in Rizal has raised many serious questions.
“One particular concern is the inclusion of a ‘perpetual land trust’ clause in the MOA, which grants MGFI indefinite control over the designated area,” Torres said.
She noted that in a position paper submitted to the House of Representatives in 2023, the DENR under Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga reiterated that a “perpetual land trust” is not recognized by the Philippine Constitution.
The DENR said agreements over inalienable natural resources are limited to periods of 25 years, renewable for the same period.
Yulo-Loyzaga earlier said the deal was void ab initio or void from the beginning.
“The legal grounds for the [recommendation of] cancellation are what we’re calling [void] ab initio, given the advice of the Department of Justice,” Loyzaga earlier this month said in a Senate hearing.