To help arrest deforestation nationwide, Malacañang said Tuesday applicants for franchise and license with the National Irrigation Administration and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources must plant trees.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said this would be government policy, seen as in response to deforestation which has been among factors blamed for record flooding seen in Luzon following Typhoon "Ulysses."
The government will also coordinate with the education department on possibly requiring students to plant trees, said Roque.
The National Irrigation Administration said Tuesday "massive" reforestation was needed, as the governor of Cagayan called for the urgent improvement of the Magat watershed.
Gov. Manuel Mamba said release of water from the Magat Dam while the 505-km-long Cagayan River was swelling was one of the main reasons the province was inundated last week as Ulysses crossed Luzon.
Magat Dam is a large rock-fill dam on the Magat River, a major tributary of the Cagayan River whose eight-year construction was completed in 1982.
It is a multi-purpose dam which is used primarily for irrigating about 85,000 hectares of agricultural lands, flood control, and power generation through the Magat Hydroelectric Power Plant.
Mamba told ANC's Headstart: “I believe they could not control the water they had to release because of the watershed. If they don't improve the watershed, whether they like it or not, they will not be able to control the influx of water into the town and release because they have to do something for the dam not to burst.
“The most important part for them to control is the watershed, because we will have to bear the brunt.”
Eduardo Ramos, dam and reservoir division manager of NIA, said the agency was giving attention to improving the watershed.
In the same interview, he said: “The water-holding capacity in our mountains is weak because there are no more trees, no more roots. We really need to do massive reforestation.”
NIA is in charge of some 7,500 hectares of the shed, while the Department of Environment and Natural Resources takes care of the remaining area, said Ramos.
Flooding in Cagayan was the worst recorded in the last 40 years, killing at least nine of the nearly 70 recorded deaths.
Meanwhile, an environment group on Tuesday made a call to President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a national climate emergency following a spate of typhoons that has brought massive flooding in parts of Luzon.
Greenpeace Philippines country director Lea Guerrero called for a more comprehensive approach in addressing the climate crisis, as the Philippines is among the most susceptible countries to hazards brought about by climate change.
"The climate crisis is here to stay. It will be part of the future of the country. This is the new normal,” Guerrero said during an interview on ANC’s “Matters of Fact”.
“Unless we have plans that are comprehensive and that are forward-looking like planning for the long term… we'll be stuck in a cycle of just responding to every disaster that comes in and it’s not sustainable,” she said.
Extreme weather events such as the strengthening of typhoons are among things linked to climate change and the worsening global warming.
While there have been efforts in addressing the effects of the climate crisis, Guerrero noted that the focus of present and past administrations had always been on post-disaster response.
“There hasn’t been a big effort for a lot of administrations to really address issues such as the country's coal use, fossil fuel use,” she said.
Instead of creating task forces or ad hoc committees in dealing with disasters, Greenpeace proposed strengthening existing protocols such as typhoon response.
“We don't need a national task force to keep on responding to everything that’s happening in localized places. But we need LGUs (local government units) to have more capacity, to have more resources to be able to determine the risks and manage the risks in their localities,” Guerrero said.
Other issues that must be addressed by the climate emergency declaration is holding fossil fuel and cement companies responsible for human-induced carbon emissions. Dozens of these companies are already the subject of a climate change inquiry of the Commission of Human Rights.
The group also urged the Philippine government to hold other nations accountable for having the most greenhouse gas emissions.
“What’s happening right now to the Philippines is not something we're responsible for. We're one of the least, the smallest contributors,” Guerrero said.
“We do need that action from outside to make sure this global problem is solved not just for the Philippines, but for developing nations that are reeling under the impacts of the climate crisis,” she said.