EDITORIAL - Local leaders

At least eight mayors are protecting illegal logging, according to Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo. Some local officials have urged him to identify the mayors. Better yet, formal charges should be filed against the mayors for violating environmental laws.

Certain quarters believe there are more than eight mayors involved. Many illegal activities especially in the countryside cannot flourish without the knowledge of local government executives. And if they are aware of the activities but fail to stop the illegal acts, local executives can be deemed complicit in these undertakings that are typically hugely profitable.

Illegal gambling, smuggling, gunrunning, and unregulated small-scale mining are just some of the activities that cannot flourish without the knowledge of local government officials. The barangay system is supposed to allow the government to monitor such illegal activities right down to the grassroots. Instead those tasked to keep an eye out for such illegal activities often look the other way for their personal profit.

With many government functions devolved, the prosperity and development of a particular area depend heavily on the competence, integrity and leadership of its local officials. Creating the proper environment to attract tourists and investments is the responsibility not only of the national government. Local executives must play an active role, rallying their constituents to support development initiatives.

The same is true in efforts to protect the environment. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources lacks personnel and facilities to guard the country’s watersheds and other resources. Preserving the country’s dwindling forests – critical for preventing flash floods and landslides – must be spearheaded by local executives. Regulating small-scale mining activities to minimize damage to the environment also falls on the shoulders of local officials.

Last year the nation saw the consequences of illegal logging in the deadly floods that inundated the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro. With a nudge from Robredo’s department, local executives must do their part in preventing a repeat of that tragedy.