North Cotabato LGU moves to protect home of Philippine eagle

KIDAPAWAN CITY—A local government in North Cotabato has vowed to protect a mountain range in the province that is home to the endangered Philippine eagle. Local officials of Arakan town, led by Mayor Gerardo Tuble, inked a “covenant" with environmental groups on Friday to protect Mount Sinaka by banning logging and mining in the mountain, which is home to the Philippine eagle and a hundred other plant species. Tuble said that the mountain has been threatened in the past years by “unscrupulous" human activities, including illegal mining and logging. “If we allow logging firms and mining companies to explore our resources and wealth, we let these people destroy our very own life," he said in the covenant-signing ceremony in Kidapawan City last Friday. The mayor added that a local legislation, Municipal Ordinance No. 12, already declared Mount Sinaka as a protected watershed area. The municipal ordinance, however, lacks the force of national law, in this case that of the National Integrated Protected Area Systems (NIPAS) law. Thus, the mountain range remain under threat in the past years due to illegal logging activities and conversion into palm-oil and banana plantations, the official said. Last year, the Visayas Ore Philippines had applied for a mining permit to more than 11 thousand hectares, covering seven villages of Arakan town. Mount Sinaka, which straddles the common borders of North Cotabato, Bukidnon and Davao Del Sur, serves as natural habitat to 13 hardwood species and 89 other plant species. The mountain range is also considered sacred by indigenous peoples living in the area, such as the Manuvu and the Ubo-Manuvu. Mount Sinaka was also discovered to be a sanctuary for the Philippine eagle during the early 1990s, and since then, has been home to the endangered birds. The environmental groups Bantay Kalikasan Alliance and Kinaiyahan Foundation Inc. spearheaded the signing of the covenant, which capped off a two-day summit on the protection of the mountain range.—Malu Cadelina Manar/ACC/JV, GMANews.TV