Lawmaker, PWPA hail partial lifting of log ban

Rep. Prospero A. Pichay Jr. hailed yesterday the decision of President Arroyo to partially lift the log ban and allow the continued operation of legitimate logging operators especially those in Mindanao.

According to Pichay, the partial lifting is in line with President Arroyo’s 10-point Economic Agenda which includes job generation.

With the lifting, Pichay said, at least two million jobs have been saved. At a minimum wage of P5,000 a month for the two million jobs saved, Pichay said that an estimated P10 billion a month in salaries is generated or P120 billion per annum.

If the jobs were lost, Pichay added, several other industries would be affected such as the furniture industry.

Pichay pointed out that legal logging operators who have Timber License Agreements (TLAs) or Industrial Forest Management Agreements (IFMAs) are the ones who are actually conscientious about protecting the country’s forest reserves.

The legal loggers, Pichay said, have promised to cooperate with the government to protect the forest and even "adopt-a-forest." Thus, protecting our forest reserves, Pichay said, is "just a question of proper management as against mismanagement."

In Mindanao, Pichay boasted, legal loggers who follow rules have been able to preserve 6-percent forest cover.

The Philippine Wood Producers Association (PWPA), which represents the legitimate wood-based and wood-producing industries, also welcomed the partial lifting of the three-month log ban.

Antonio Olizon, president of PWPA, praised President Arroyo for averting a crisis in the wood industry that could have led to a loss of two million jobs and the dissipation of over P20 billion in investments in upstream and downstream wood-based industries.

The partial lifting, Olizon added, has saved the export market for high value-added finished wood products estimated at P21 billion annually.

The Philippine Wood Producers Association (PWPA) hailed yesterday the decision of President Arroyo to lift the suspension of legitimate logging operations in some parts of Mindanao after a three-month suspension.

Antonio Olizon, president of PWPA, said the President exercised strong political will in making the decision for the legitimate logging operators exercising sustainable forest management program.

Olizon said the lifting has averted what could have been a crisis in the wood industry that would have meant loss of two million jobs and the dissipation of over P20 billion worth of investments in upstream and downstream wood-based industries.

"The partial lifting has removed the risk of totally losing the export market for high value-added finished wood products estimated at P21 billion annually," he added.

He said the move was timely because the country at this time is in no position to import its annual wood requirements estimated at P28 billion ($500 million).

"It has also averted the growing restlessness in the countryside among our small tree farmers in public lands who cannot harvest the trees they planted based on the law (PD 1559)," he added.

The Mindanao wood workers welcomed the President’s decision saying that they now have a work to go back to.

It will be recalled that thousands of wood workers demonstrated in Davao, Butuan and Cagayan de Oro Cities some weeks back for the lifting of the log ban. The workers said that their children have stopped schooling because they have lost their only means of income which comes from the wood industry. The workers belong to Mindanao’s biggest labor organizations, Associated Labor Union and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.