To establish sustainable management of the environment and water resources of Abra River, various stakeholders inked a memorandum of cooperation creating the Abra River Basin Management Council.
In simple rites at the Eurotel Hotel in Baguio City on August 19, 35 regional heads of national government agencies in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and the Ilocos region, presidents of four state colleges and university and governors and representatives from the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Abra, Benguet and Mountain Province, signified their commitment to the management and protection to the resources of the Abra River.
Prior to the creation of the council, an Integrated Abra River Basin Management and Development Master Plan was formulated after a series of consultations in 2014 to 2015.
Ralph Pablo, regional director of environment department, said the master plan was created to harmonize the activities of the concerned local government units and government agencies irrespective of their mandates as well as the efforts of civil society groups for the preservation of the Abra River.
This year, the Abra River Basin Management Council, will be the coordinating, advisory, policy planning and management body for the Abra River Basin.
“This council was created to ensure that the different programs and projects identified in the plan are implemented by the different implementing agencies and sectors,” Pablo said.
To systematize the implementation of the projects initially identified in the master plan, the four thematic areas were also conceived, i.e. watershed management and development; water resource management and development; marine and freshwater management; and disaster risk reduction-climate change adaptation development.
Pablo, the lead convenor to the formulation of the master plan and the creation of the ARBMC, disclosed that at least P19 million is necessary for the operation of the council in the next 15 years. He said the council’s executive committee is responsible for the resource mobilization.
The Abra River Basin, which is one of the country’s 18 major river basins identified by the environment department, is the sixth largest basin in the Philippines. The main river has a length of about 198 kilometers.
In CAR, the provinces of Abra, Mountain Province, and Benguet are within the Abra River Basin. All the 27 municipalities of Abra are located within the basin. Benguet and Mountain Province have three municipalities within the basin.
In the Ilocos Region, 14 out of the 34 towns of Ilocos Sur are within the basin.