MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Magandang umaga, Malacañang Press Corps, and welcome sa ating press briefing ngayon, June 27.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the sectoral meeting this morning which focused on the establishment of the National Natural Resource Geospatial Database. This is a mapping tool that would be used to help identify areas for reforestation, watershed management and mining policies, among others.

To give us more details on this, we have with us the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Maria Antonina Yulo-Loyzaga. Good morning, Secretary Loyzaga.

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Good morning, Daphne.

So just this morning, we were asked to present a new office at the DENR called the National Natural Resources Geospatial Database Office or the GDO. That office was organized after our first meeting with the president after our appointment where we suggested to him that it would be essential to manage our natural resources through establishing a physical baseline, kung ano po ang nandidiyan in terms of our natural resources in order for them to be accounted for, to be valued properly and to be managed properly.

So iyong geospatial database po ay gumagamit ng mga satellite imagery and other tools to process kung ano po ang nandidiyan for example, nasaan po ang river basins natin? What is the flow of those river basins? Kung tutuusin, malakas ba or mahina ang flow through the river basins and the watersheds that they host ‘no? Ang forest natin, ilan ba talaga ang nako-cover in terms of ang classified forest lands po natin ay 15 million hectares? Ang nakikita po namin sa satellite imagery, mga seven million lang ang actually with forest cover.

So what this will do for us is it will allow us to identify saan ba ang priority in terms of forestation, reforestation, afforestation or where should be the water systems and infrastructure na dapat po ilagay natin in order to reach the most populations in need.

So aside po sa forest and water, we’re looking also at land management. May mga foreshore lease ba diyan na hindi na ginagamit for the purpose na they were established for, puwede ba iyang gamitin sa ibang purpose, for example. And of course, our mineral resources na dati nang minamapa, pero ngayon po, we’re looking at the situation of the mineral resources given certain other data for example, may mga protected areas ba within the mineral resources or vice versa.

So these are just some of the few products that we are trying to produce sa GDO. And sa ngayon po, it is a very small office. We were able to establish it without any additional budget by just making use of the resources na nandidiyan na po inside the DENR for that fiscal year. And we’re looking, of course, to build more capacity ‘no to actually acquire the satellite imageries that we need and the kind of processing, software, that we need in order to continue the work. So ayun po.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you for the update. Are there any questions from the press? Eden Santos, Net 25.

EDEN SANTOS/NET25: Hello! Good morning po, Secretary. Papaano po makatutulong itong bagong tanggapan at doon iyong mga kailangan po nating mga equipment para naman kaagad makapaghanda ang ating pamahalaan hindi lang sa panahong ito ha, under the administration po, even iyong mga susunod na administration, para po mapigilan iyong mas matinding epekto ng iba’t ibang disaster or kagaya rin po ng climate change, mga ganiyang po?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Thank you very much for that question. So ang nagagawa po ng office na ito is really to establish, for example, iyong forest cover natin, may different purpose po ang forest cover natin, not just to give shade ‘no. For example, forest actually protects the sources of our water ‘no. So kung wala po ang forest, iyong watersheds po natin ay hindi na makakapigil ng water para makalabas in areas where, in fact, they will be most useful so iyong rivers and streams po natin, iiba po iyong flow.

So in terms of forest, we look at forest cover that actually helps us sa climate change mitigation, number one, sa pag-sequester ng carbon dioxide sa atmosphere, that’s one value; secondly, what it does for flood management and soil erosion control; there are also community-based livelihoods na nandidiyan po in terms of the way we manage our forest. So there is a social and economic component as well na kaiba doon sa actual standing forest natin.

So in terms of the ability of this office to detect kung nandidiyan ba iyan or hindi, that’s the principal value of this office. By using certain software, we can also anticipate how much carbon, for example, ang puwedeng ma-sequester given the species na nandidiyan sa different forest cover. So in terms of climate change and disasters, talaga po iyong forests are kailangan po.

In terms of water, ang gawi po natin ngayon is kung walang tubig, huhukay po tayo ng isang deep well para makalabas iyong tubig para magamit po natin.

So what we are doing ngayon po, because there was a DOST project, nagsimula pa po in 2017 that mapped all the actual surface water sources sa buong bansa, we are able now to see kung saan po dapat kumuha ng tubig na hindi po kaya sa deep well. Also, we are also able to see saan ba ang may local water utilities administration, the governance aspect ‘no, saan ba nabigyan na ng water rights ang mga ibang parties so that we can also match the supply with the demand side governance.

What that also allows us to do is, given climate change projections, mayroon po tayong mga climate physicists dito sa Pilipinas that will say, “Ah iyong rainfall change po natin ay ganito,” magiging mas maulan dito versus—so for example, in the northern and central areas versus southeastern Mindanao, mas maulan po ang mangyayari diyan in the next coming few years, sa north; dito naman sa baba, sa may Mindanao, medyo mas tutuyo, di-decrease po iyong rainfall. What we are able to do now is designed our infrastructure angkop doon sa rainfall change na ina-anticipate ng mga scientists.

EDEN SANTOS/NET25: [OFF MIC]

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Opo, opo. So we can also design multiple purpose sa infrastructure na iyon – impounding system pero may irrigation function, mayroon ding hydropower potential and, of course, the potential for domestic and industrial use.

EDEN SANTOS/NET25: Secretary, isa na lang pong follow-up. Kanina nabanggit ninyo, 15 million hectares ng ating forest land ang sinasabing—

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Classified forest po natin.

EDEN SANTOS/NET25: Oo, classified. Pero seven million lang pala talaga?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Ang may cover. Opo. So what we are also tracking is saan ba talaga ang nawawalan ng forest, saan po nagdadagdag? So we’re able to do that.

Ngayon po, ang capacity ng office na ito, we can actually monitor monthly kung ano po iyong kaiba. It’s called change detection, mayroon tayong capacity to do that. But what’s more important is, ang potential for the reforestation, afforestation of certain areas na talaga pong nakalbo na pero classified as forest and therefore, we can actually make use of that in terms of climate change mitigation and disaster risk reduction din, of course.

EDEN SANTOS/NET25: Ma’am, patunay po ba iyon, iyong 15 million hectares na forest land na nawawala na dahil seven million na lang, ng kapabayaan ng ating mga mamamayan ba iyan, LGUs or ng ating government mismo kung bakit itong mga forest land na ito ay biglang naubos o nawala?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Wala po sa mandato ng DENR ang magsabi niyan kasi po governance issue iyon ‘no, governance issue. So what we are able to do is just advise ‘no. Dito po mas nakakalbo ang mga areas, and therefore dapat po may investment po dito in terms of reforestation. Dito po ay grassland na or dito wala na, talagang [unclear] na ‘no.

So sana po, dito rin mag-i-invest iyong mga ibang LGUs, also private sector ‘no.

So mayroon tayo ngayon, of course, isang tinatawag na carbon credits market ‘no. Iyan po is also based on how much carbon you can sequester from the atmosphere. So marami pong mga parties ngayon, including governments, including private sector, including LGUs na tinitingnan po iyong potential for the economic value ng establishing the forest or re-establishing the forest kasi po nabibenta po iyan, may economic value siya globally. Kasi mayroon pong mga bansa, for example, na sobra talaga iyong emissions nila, kailangan nilang i-offset doon sa kung saan may actual sequestration na nangyayari.

Dito po sa atin, medyo malakas po because we still have the seven million. But kung tutuusin, kung ma-forest po natin ang lahat ng 15 million, ang Pilipinas po has a great possibility combining the land-based – land-based lang ho iyong 15, mayroon pa tayong mangrove forest, mayroon pa po tayong seagrass – we have the great potential of being a real sink, ang tinatawag pong sink ‘no; hindi po tayo net emitter but eventually we can actually have the capacity to absorb other areas’ emissions ‘no.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Before we go on, I just want to reiterate what the president had said at the meeting. He said that this tool and this office that Secretary Loyzaga had presented to you, strengthens the monitoring and enforcement of our existing laws already. So it will be of benefit to various government agencies and departments which I’m sure you would like to—would you like to talk about the all-of-government approach and how you are going to coordinate everyone?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: So iyong environmental management and natural resource management is really whole-of-government approach ‘no. So this will make use of our natural capital, ang tinatawag natin na natural capital in order to add value to the investments of the other departments.

For example: mayroon po kaming for example ngayon, isang convergence initiative ano po with DPWH, with DILG, sa governance with NEDA, with LWUA, pati pa iyong MWSS kasama na po. Ang nagawa po ng DPWH is inimbita po nila kami at iyong mga ibang departments to join them in the implementation of nationally-funded local water projects. So ang role po ng DENR using this tool is to identify the best surface water source doon po sa mga projects na iyon. There’s over one thousand projects po na nationally-funded pero local ang pag-i-implement.

And so, what we are trying to do po is kinakausap po namin of course ang mga LGUs through the DILG na sana po ang pag-i-implement is hindi na po iyong deep well, dito na po sa surface water source. So we add value po dito sa investment ng national government in terms of providing water at the barangay scale ‘no.

So, we also are working for example with the DOF dito po sa valuing our mineral resources and with NEDA as well as of course, the rest of our natural capital ‘no, in terms of establishing what they call the ‘natural capital accounting system’. Iyong natural capital accounting system po ay napakahalaga because in terms of wealth of a country, dati-dati po ang mga physical na bina-value lang basically ay iyong mga infrastructure, iyong mga assets in terms of financial ‘no, instruments, etcetera.

Pero ngayon po, there is a move globally to take stock of iyong natural resources ng isang bansa at actually to consider that as what they call ‘natural capital’ na puwede pong mag-generate ng both economic and of course financial benefits, and eventually of course the social benefit of having that actual compensation or income from the use of the natural resources.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: All right. We have Alexis Romero, Philippine Star.

ACE ROMERO/PHILIPPINE STAR: Secretary, may we know the reforestation target of the Marcos administration? Are we going to finish the entire 15 million before the end of this administration or just part of it?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Realistically speaking po, we cannot complete the 15 million in terms of reforestation. What we are doing po ngayon is we have prioritized the first million in terms of verifying kung saan po talaga ang pangangailangan. So, the first million is there although we are looking at two million hectares that we would like of course to reforest once again.

Alam ninyo po, mayroon tayong dating programa called the National Greening Program. May mga sites po tayo na nag-graduate na po sa programang iyon. Those sites need to be maintained and need to be sustained in order for us not to lose further ‘no, the cover that they actually prevented – and sana po ma-enhance pa.

So in terms of our own targets sa DENR, we want to do two million hectares as a priority. Ang one million na pong iyan have been mapped adequately and we can actually already show this to local decision-makers as well as private sector, community-based forestry and management groups to say dito po sana ang priority natin.

ACE ROMERO/PHILIPPINE STAR: So, 15 million? So far, we have seven million forest covers. So, pagkatapos ng Marcos admin, so mga eight pa po iyong natitira more or less, so mga ilan po kaya iyong malalagyan ng forest cover by 2028?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: You asked me a very difficult question to predict [laughs]. Kasi po ang determining factor po doon, kung sino po ang mag-step forward in terms of the partnership with the DENR. And here is where we also have stated in the past ‘no, ang DENR po ay hindi iyong pinakamalaking budget sa buong… ‘di ba, sa gobyerno ‘no. We are just number—siguro 12 po kami in terms of budget and we are very grateful na this year, parang madadagdagan po iyan ‘no.

We need partnerships, and the only way we’re going to be able to implement the reforestation at a phase na siguro ina-anticipate ng lahat ‘no, is to build the partnerships in those areas na priority siya. So, ang one million is the modest target for our being able to actually get partnerships to move forward. Two million is our reach ‘no, is our reach; but sana po umabot sa ten at least in terms of the overall na 15 by the end ‘no.

ACE ROMERO/PHILIPPINE STAR: Salamat po, Sec.

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Thank you po.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Jinky Baticados.

JINKY BATICADOS/IBC: Secretary, just one question po. We do understand that GDO is a new office under the DENR. What’s your marching order po kung sino man ang maghi-head doon?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Right now, po, we have had to establish it with the leader; our head of the GDO is our undersecretary, na bago rin po, for integrated environmental science and that is because cross-cutting po ang value na ginagawa ng GDO. And iyong head po ng office ngayon is si Usec. Carlos Primo David.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Job Manahan, ABS-CBN.

JOB MANAHAN/ABS-CBN: Hello po, Secretary. Good morning po. Ma’am, speaking of iyong budget kanina, magkano po iyong budget na allotted dito sa new office na ito? Papasok po ba ito for next year, sa 2024?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Opo. We are asking for a certain allocation. Sana po hindi ko pa sasabihin kasi under negotiation. Pero previously po, in the year that had passed ‘no from its establishment sa January of 2023, we were able to actually use internal budget so hindi po kami humingi sa iba. We have about ten staff ngayon, halos lahat po iyan ay entry level/contract of service. So if you can imagine po ang salary grade po nila ay hindi po masyadong mataas pero ang value related to their service of course is multiples of that. Ang head po is an undersecretary level salary. We were able to use existing computer assets so wala pong additional talaga ang hiningi for this year, 2023 po.

JOB MANAHAN/ABS-CBN: Pero, ma’am, baka puwede i-reveal kung magkano siya or kahit estimate lang, ma’am.

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: I’ll get back to you with that one siguro because iki-clear ko muna sa finance. But really, it’s really just providing for salaries sa ten staff na iyon. Ang Usec po ay multiple assignments, so hindi fair na ilu-load po iyan sa isang office lamang. So essentially, ten people lang at the entry level salary grade. Ang iba po ay talagang assets na mayroon ang DENR— computers ‘no.

Malaking bagay po ang interface namin sa Philippine Space Agency. Ang pinaka, I think, mahal ‘no in terms of iyong ginagamit is the use of the satellite imaging, kung papaano siya ipu-procure. But because we have a Philippine Space Agency, nagagamit po namin iyong anong mayroon sila ‘di ba. So, at this point, walang extra outlay ang GDO; basically tao lang ang budget.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Maricel Halili, TV-5.

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Sec, magandang umaga po. Sec., follow up lang po doon sa na-mention ninyo kanina na one million hectares na priority or two million. Of course kinu-consider kung sino iyong mag-step forward. But basically, how will you choose kung anong areas iyong priority? What are the factors to be considered?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Yes. Essentially graduated sites that have already been graduated from the National Greening Program; there are also NGP sites that have actually not been quite successful in generating the forest cover that, you know, have been planned. So we’d like to prioritize those areas first. Actually, kalat-kalat po sila all over the country, mayroon pong allotment all over the country ‘no. So, we’re looking at of course sa Region II sana and of course certain areas po sa Mindanao.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay, Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Secretary, on another environmental topic, may we know the status of the Environmental Compliance Certificate of the PAREX?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Okay. We’re currently looking into what is already been issued. I’ll make a statement on that very soon, possibly next week.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: May we know the salient points at least initially what did you find out about? Is the DENR leaning to approve it or disapprove the program?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: We’re not at that point, Katrina, ‘no. So, what we’re trying to do is evaluate this issue called the cumulative impact and this is the same approach that we’re taking on the various ECCs that have been given in areas where there are multiple projects that are in a single ecosystem.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Ma’am, last question, what is the timeframe for the issuance of the ECC?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: There is no timeframe. The investigation is ongoing in terms of the cumulative impact ‘no.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Mariz Umali, GMA 7.

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: Hi. Good morning, Secretary. Ma’am, can you just enlighten us a little bit more on the acquisition of the satellite imagery. First of all, how many do we have right now and how many more do we need in order to really achieve the things that we want to achieve using this new technology?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Well, there are two things ‘no, Mariz, here – there’s establishing the baseline for which we have to get a cutoff date ‘no; as of ‘X’ ‘no; and then there’s what we call the need to detect changes, so that’s a recurring demand for updated satellite imagery.

One of the applications really here very recent days is sa user case. We are monitoring certain developments on the ground in a time series, so we can detect whether compliance was actually achieved by those that are doing the work on the ground.

But I’d like to drive home is that it’s a continuing demand. If you are doing change detection especially on forestry ‘no, you have to do it periodically in order to know whether nadadagdagan ba or may nangyayaring iba sa mga areas na ito.

Fortunately, we do have the Philippine Space Agency, Dr. Joel Marciano was there. We work very closely with him and he has arrangements with the different satellite imagery providers and processors and so we tap into the resource of the space agency.

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: So, ma’am, would this be able to really identify and detect the most vulnerable communities and if such, will this also help in at least transferring them to other areas for their own safety? Paano po kapag hindi sila pumayag, ano ang mangyayari?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: So what we are using the satellite imagery for is mapping natural resources ‘no – so, the physical features. The governance aspect really is part of our collaboration in term of the whole-of-government and actually whole-of-society approach ‘no to this work.

There needs to be integration in term of implementation of certain policies some of which would be policies of the DILG for example, or DHSUD ‘no and your question regarding housing and the vulnerable populations.

When you actually acquire satellite imagery, iyong parang pag-Google na alam natin ‘di ba, the optical images will tell you who is and what is there – ‘who and what’ ‘no. And so what is incumbent upon the decision makers is to really make use of that information as part of what we call decision support system. What we do is not decision making in terms of ano, its decision support.

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: Recommendatory?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Decision support. So, basically we’re going to say “By the way, there is erosion in this river, we see it and there might be a community in line of that erosion.” So, what we do is we talk to the LGU or we talk through the DILG to actually pinpoint kung ano po iyong kailangang gawin sana.

MARIZ UMALI/GMA 7: Thank you, ma’am.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you. Last question is Nestor Corrales, Philippine Daily Inquirer.

NESTOR CORRALES/PDI: Secretary, just on another equally important environmental issue – what is the president’s position on Manila Bay Reclamation since several groups have urged the president to unconditionally revoke all Environmental Compliance Certificate for Manila Bay Reclamation and there’s a statement previously from the Philippine Reclamation Authority that there are 22 reclamation activities in Manila Bay?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Well, right now what I have been given some latitude to do is to actually present a cumulative impact assessment of the different individual projects. Ang nangyari po kasi in the past, ang evaluation po ng mga projects na ito have been on an individual basis.

Globally po, ang practice whenever you have several projects in a single ecosystem, you need a cumulative impact assessment and so we are undertaking that. Alam ninyo po, there is a Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan that was also contracted during the previous administration. We are actually using the baseline of that Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan and taking that baseline comparing it with the technical descriptions of all the different reclamation projects in Manila Bay.

Just to add to that question in terms of a complication layer. The DENR is also of course, one of the mandamus agencies in the decision by the Supreme Court to actually rehabilitate the bay. What we are concerned about is our task in terms of implementing that mandamus, okay, is actually going to be impeded by some of these developments. And so for example, may mga STP na po that have been setup, as you know in order to treat the water that flows back into the bay. Saan po ilalagay ang mga future STPs at ano po ang mangyayari sa mga STPs na nandidiyan na in terms of the effluent pathways na in-establish prior to the approval of any of these projects. So, as you can understand it may mga tubo po iyan – ilalabas nila iyong treated water. Kung mayroon pong nakaharang medyo may problema po tayo.

So, we have a mandamus that we need to implement – that’s by law already, by the decision of the Supreme Court and we need to also now actually evaluate the cumulative impact of all of those of all of those projects together.

NESTOR CORRALES/PDI: As of now, Secretary, wala pa namang pinatitigil ang DENR na reclamation activities sa Manila Bay?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: We are looking at compliance for those that have already began working ‘no and also calling them in. So, kinakausap po namin ngayon ang mga nag-umpisa na.

NESTOR CORRALES/PDI: May mga nakita po bang violations ang DENR?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: There are discussions ongoing with at least one party. Since bago lang ang release ng information, they will be called in for a technical conference to see whether may explanation po sila sa mga in-observe na potential non-compliance.

NESTOR CORRALES/PDI: If okay lang, Secretary, kung ano po iyong naging violation nila kaya po sila tinawag?

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Iba-iba po and so may mga … kasi may mga issue for example na related to mga conditions na on the basis of which the ‘no objection’ was given by other departments and agencies. So, there are conditions that need to be complied with in order for the ‘no objection’ to actually take effect. So, iyong mga condition po na iyon ay naka-identify po iyan in the ECC and so we are looking at each one of those specific conditions and seeing whether nag-comply na po ba sila. And so iyon ‘yun.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. It’s a developing story. Thank you very much, Malacañang Press Corps and thank you, Secretary Loyzaga – have a good afternoon guys. Thank you very much.

DENR SEC. LOYZAGA: Thank you.

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SOURCE: News and Information Bureau – Transcription Section