The Masungi Georeserve Foundation is keeping watch over this vast protected area in Rizal province. 鈥擯hoto courtesy of Masungi Georeserve Foundation
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The private caretaker of the Masungi Georeserve in Rizal province has renewed hopes that the plan to build a new Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) headquarters within the protected area will be 鈥渟crapped altogether.鈥�
The Masungi Georeserve Foundation (MGF) made the statement on Thursday because of BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. announced the deferral of the development plan during a Senate tourism panel hearing on Tuesday, March 7.
READ: BuCor HQ at Masungi Georeserve: What鈥檚 really at stake?
鈥淜nowing the potential environmental impacts of the plan, we are hopeful that the project will be scrapped altogether,鈥� it said in a statement.
The MGF then urged Environment Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga to draw up a meeting with the Masungi Geopark Project鈥檚 oversight committee to resolve conflicts hounding the site and to ward off future problems from arising.
鈥淲e must all be aligned with the long-term vision for Masungi that has been painstakingly built over the last 25 years. As scientists, environmental planners and citizens have all said: Let us keep Masungi a sanctuary for our unique geological heritage and threatened wildlife,鈥� it added.
The foundation remained upbeat in continuing to work with the Senate as the chamber 鈥渆xercises oversight over matters affecting our people鈥檚 right to a healthful ecology.鈥�
The Masungi Georeserve, a 300-hectare landscape in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, has been conserved and rehabilitated by the MGF since the 2000s.
It was declared a protected area in 2011, but conflicts existed before that since private settlements and establishments had already been at the site.