LUCENA CITY鈥擳he role of Sierra Madre as a protective barrier against typhoons is now being threatened by illegal logging and destructive farming practices in sections of the mountain ranges that stretches from Quezon to Cagayan provinces, environmentalists warned.
Fr. Pete Montallana, president of Save Sierra Madre Network Alliance (SSMNA), said all storms that entered the country and passed through the Sierra Madre had weakened and spared population centers from widespread destruction.
鈥淪ierra Madre is now losing her capacity to absorb a storm鈥檚 fury because of rampant illegal logging and other destructive activities,鈥� Montallana said on Friday.
Both Supertyphoon 鈥淟awin鈥� (international name: Haima) and Typhoon 鈥淜aren鈥� (international name: Sarika) weakened when these hit the mountains and crossed the Sierra Madre, considerably reducing the damage that the storms brought.
Juliet Borlon-Aparicio, area director of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Luzon, shared Montallana鈥檚 observation, saying Sierra Madre鈥檚 forest cover has sharply decreased.
Aparicio said without Sierra Madre as a natural barrier, highly populated communities would be very vulnerable.
The Sierra Madre has the largest remaining tract of old-growth tropical rainforest in the Philippines. It spans Luzon鈥檚 northeastern coast from Cagayan province in the north to Quezon province in the south.
The longest mountain range in the country, also known as the 鈥渂ackbone鈥� of Luzon, Sierra Madre has 1.4 million hectares of forests, representing 40 percent of the Philippines鈥� forest cover.
Early this month, government forest rangers recovered more than 3,000 illegally cut logs abandoned in General Nakar town in northern Quezon. This area in the Sierra Madre is considered to be a hot spot for illegal logging operations.
Former President Aquino, through Proclamation No. 233 signed on Aug. 10, 2011, declared Sept. 26 as 鈥淪ave Sierra Madre Day鈥� in a bid to step up rehabilitation and conservation of the mountain ranges.
That day coincided with the second anniversary of Tropical Storm 鈥淥ndoy,鈥� which dumped record amounts of rain that triggered widespread flooding. It killed 464 people.鈥擠ELFIN T. MALLARI JR.
map sierra madre-01