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Senator Villar set out a mission to save planet Earth, pushes for more protected areas under E-NIPAS

The Philippine Star

August 17, 2021 | 12:00am

Senator Villar set out a mission to save planet Earth, pushes for more protected areas under E-NIPAS

Villar has been leading the campaign in the conservation of our environment to even hold at bay climate change that could endanger all forms of life on earth.

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MANILA, Philippines — “We are very happy to come up with this legislation ensuring protection for more areas in our megadiverse country. We have to take action about its protection because any damage or loss will cost too much for a country such as ours.”

A staunch environmentalist, Villar has been leading the campaign in the conservation of our environment to even hold at bay climate change that could endanger all forms of life on earth.

The senator has embarked on legislations to protect and conserve biodiversity.

Protecting the environment and preserving ecosystems

Villar, Chairperson of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, noted that under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, it is a declared state policy that the State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature, in line with safeguarding a healthful ecology.

She said the Constitution likewise mandates that Congress shall determine the national parks, which shall be conserved and may not be increased nor diminished except by law.

NIPAS Act builds system of Protected Areas

The National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) was established by virtue of RA No. 7586 on June 1, 1992, as amended by RA No. 11038, known as the Expanded NIPAS Act of 2018.

The NIPAS Act of 2018 provides the state policy “to secure for the Filipino people of present and future generations the perpetual existence of all native plants and animals through the establishment of a comprehensive system of integrated Protected Areas (PAs).”

Under Sec.3 of the NIPAS Act, there are at least seven categories of PAs. They are the Strict Nature Reserve, Natural Park, Natural Monument, Wildlife Sanctuary, Protected Landscapes and Seascapes, Resource Reserve and Natural Biotic Areas. Other categories established by law, conventions or international agreements by which the Philippine government is a signatory.

Because of this, Villar cited the need for stricter implementation of environmental laws especially in protected areas that serve as natural habitats for wildlife, including endangered animals that contribute significantly to biodiversity.

Villar asserted they should not be damaged or destroyed, but protected instead, not only for the animals’ sake but for our sake as well.

13 Protected Areas under Original NIPAS Act

Region	Protected Areas	Province
2	Bangan Hill National Park	N.Vizcaya
	Batanes Landscape and Seascape	Batanes
	Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park	Isabela
4A	Mt. Banahaw – San Cristobal Protected Landscape	Laguna & Quezon
4B	Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park	Palawan
6	Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park	Negros Occidental
	Sagay Marine Reserve	Negros Occidenta & Oriental
7	Central Cebu Protected Landscape	Cebu City
10	Mt. Malindang Natural Park	Misamis Occidental
	Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park	Bukidnon
	Mimbilisan Protected Landscape (protected landscape), Misamis Oriental	Misamis Oriental
11	Mt. Apo Natural Park	Davao del sur
	Mt. Hamimguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary	Davao Oriental

Warnings vs environmental destruction

Despite the Philippines being biodiversity-rich, the country is also among the world’s biodiversity hotspots or those areas experiencing high rates of habitat loss.

Expanding NIPAS Act

Due to this, Villar led legislative efforts to amend Republic Act 7586 or the National NIPAS) Act of 1992. She was principal sponsor of Republic Act 11038 or the law expanding the National Integrated Protected Areas System (E-NIPAS) that President Duterte signed into law last June 22, 2018. Republic Act 11038

The law provides the legal framework for the establishment and management of protected areas in the country. NIPAS refers to the classification and administration of all designated protected areas to preserve genetic diversity and to maintain their natural conditions to the greatest extent possible. The Expanded NIPAS Act was passed in 2017 to include more areas.

The Expanded NIPAS Law facilitated the legislation of 94 more protected areas through the effort of Senator Villar:

To date, Villar said there are 107 protected areas in the country that have been so declared through legislation.

Vilar said at least six of these are internationally recognized: RAMSAR Sites: Las Piñas Parañaque Wetland Park, Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary and Tubbataha Reefs. Heritage Sites: Mount Timpoong-Hibok-Hibok and Mount Iglit-Baco. Malaysia-Philippines Heritage Parks: Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area

However, based on the records and suitability, assessments by the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the DENR, she emphasized there are still numerous sites in the country that have to be given ‘protected area’ status.

94 Protected Areas under Republic Act 11038 or E-NIPAS

Region		Name of Protected Area	Province
1	1	Kalbario-Patapat Natural Park	Ilocos Norte
	2	Libunao Protected Landscape	Ilocos Norte
	3	Bessang Pass Natural Monument/Landmark	Ilocos Sur
	4	Bigbiga Protected Landscape	Ilocos Sur
	5	Lidlidda Banayoyo Protected Landscape	Ilocos Sur
	6	Salcedo Protected Landscape (formerly Sta. Lucia Protected Landscape)	Ilocos Sur
	7	Agoo Damortis Protected Landscape and Seascape	La Union
	8	Manleluag Spring Protected Landscape	Pangasinan
2	9	Palaui Island Protected Landscape and Seascape	Cagayan
	10	Peñablanca Protected Landscape and Seascape	Cagayan
	11	Tumauini Watershed Natural Park	Isabela
	12	Salinas Natural Monument	Nueva Vizcaya
	13	Casecnan Protected Landscape	Quirino, Nueva Vizacaya, and Aurora
3	14	Amro River Protected Landscape	Aurora
	15	Dinadiawan River Protected Landscape	Aurora
	16	Simbahan Talagas Protected Landscape	Aurora
	17	Talaytay Protected Landscape	Aurora
	18	Bataan Natural Park	Bataan
	19	Roosevelt Protected Landscape	Bataan
	20	Masinloc and Oyon Bay Protected Landscape and Seascape	Zambales
NCR	21	Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA), also known as Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park	Las Piñas City and Parañaque City
NCR	22	Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center	Quezon City
4A	23	Mts. Palay-Palay-Mataas-na-Gulod Protected Landscape	Batangas and Cavite
	24	Taal Volcano Protected Landscape	Batangas and Cavite
	25	Buenavista Protected Landscape	Quezon
	26	Maulawin Spring Protected Landscape	Quezon
	27	Quezon Protected Landscape	Quezon
	28	Hinulugang Taktak Protected Landscape	Rizal
	29	Pamitinan Protected Landscape	Rizal
	30	Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape	Rizal
4B	31	Marinduque Wildlife Sanctuary	Marinduque
	32	Apo Reef Natural Park	Occidental Mindoro
	33	Mt. Calavite Wildlife Sanctuary	Occidental Mindoro
	34	Mts. Iglit-Baco Natural Park	Occidental and Oriental Mindoro
	35	Mt. Guiting-Guiting Natural Park	Romblon
5	36	Mt. Mayon National Park	Albay
	37	Ticao Burias Pass Protected Seascape	Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon
	38	Abasig-Matogdon-Mananap Natural Biotic Area	Camarines Norte
	39	Bicol Natural Park	Camarines Sur
	40	Buhi Wildlife Sanctuary	Camarines Sur
	41	Lagonoy Natural Biotic Area	Camarines Sur
	42	Malabungot Protected Landscape	Camarines Sur
	43	Mt. Isarog Natural Park	Camarines Sur
	44	Catanduanes Natural Park	Catanduanes
	45	Bongsanglay Natural Park	Masbate
	46	Bulusan Volcano Natural Park	Sorsogon
6	47	North west Panay Peninsula Natural Park	Aklan and Antique
	48	Sibalom Natural Park	Antique
	49	Northern Negros Natural Park	Negros Occidental
7	50	Albuquerque-Loay-Loboc Protected Landscape and Seascape	Bohol
	51	Chocolate Hills Natural Monument	Bohol
	52	Panglao Island Protected Seascape	Bohol
	53	Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape	Bohol
	54	Talibon Group of Island Protected Landscape and Seascape	Bohol
	55	Camotes Island Protected Landscape and Seascape	Cebu
	56	Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary	Cebu
	57	Tañon Strait Protected Seascape	Cebu, Negros Occidental and Oriental
	58	Apo Island Protected Landscape and Seascape	Negros Oriental
	59	Balisasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park	Negros Oriental
8	60	Cuatro Islas Protected Landscape and Seascape	Leyte
	61	Lake Danao Natural Park	Leyte
	62	Mahagnao Volcano Natural Park	Leyte
	63	Guiuan Marine Resource Protected Landscape and Seascape	Eastern Samar
	64	Biri Larosa Protected Landscape and Seascape	Northern Samar
	65	Calbayog Pan-as Hayiban Protected Landscape	Samar
	66	Samar Island Natural Park	Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar
9	67	Basilan Natural Biotic Area	Basilan
	68	Aliguay Island Protected Landscape and Seascape	Iablea City
	69	Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary	Tawi-Tawi
	70	Great and Little Sta. Cruz Island Protected Landscape and Seascape	Zamboanga City
	71	Pasonanca Natural Park	Zamboanga City
	72	Jose Rizal Memorial Protected Landscape	Zamboanga del Norte
	73	Murcielagos Protected Landscape and Seascape	Zamboanga del Norte
	74	Selinog Island Protected Landscape and Seascape	Zamboanga del Norte
	75	Siocon Resource Reserve	Zamboanga del Norte
	76	Dumanquillas Bay Protected Landscape and Seascape	Zamboanga del Sur
	77	Mt. Timolan Protected Landscape	Zamboanga del Sur
	78	Buug Natural Biotic Area	Zamboanga Sibugay
10	79	Mt. Kalatungan Range Natural Park	Bukidnon
	80	Mt. Timpoong Hibok-Hibok Natural Monument	Camiguin
	81	Mt. Inayawan Range Natural Park	Lanao del Norte
	82	Baliangao Protected Landscape and Seascape	Misamis Occidental
	83	Initao-Libertad Protected Landscape and Seascape	Misamis Oriental
	84	Mt. Balatukan Range Natural Park	Misamis Oriental
11	85	Mabini Protected Landscape and Seascape	Compostela Valley
	86	Mainit Hot Spring Protected Landscape	Compostela Valley
	87	Aliwagwag Protected Landscape	Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley
	88	Mati Protected Landscape	Davao Oriental
	89	Pujada Bay Protected Landscape and Seascape	Davao Oriental
12	90	Saragani Bay Protected Seascape	General Santos City and Sarangani
12	91	Mt. Matutum Protected Landscape	South Cotabato and Sarangani
13	92	Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary	Agusan del Sur
	93	Siargao Island Protected Landscape and Seascape	Surigao del Norte
	94	Tinuy-An Falls Protected Landscape	Surigao del Sur

Villar said additional six protected areas were to be legislated by the Senate Committee on Environment which she chaired during the 18th Congress. These are :

Region	Protected Areas	Province
CAR/R2	Mount Pulag	Benguet,Ifugao and N. Vizcaya
	Banao Protected Landscape	Kalinga
1	Tirad Pass Protected Landscape	Ilocos Sur
3	Mount Arayat Protected Landscape	Pampanga
6	Sicogon Island Wildlife Sanctuary	Iloilo
9	Naga-Kabansalan Protected Landscape	Zamboanga Sibugay