Press Release - Villar, Cynthia: Opening remarks during the hearing public hearing on bills on protected areas

COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Joint with
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
7 November 2023 (Tuesday), 9:00 a.m.
Hybrid via Cisco Webex Sen. A.M. Tolentino Room, Sen. M.L. Quezon Room
2/F Right Wing, Senate

At today's hearing, we are going to tackle six (6) bills that aim to declare certain areas in the Philippines as protected areas under the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (ENIPAS). The bills are as follows:

These bills are as follows:

1.) SB No. 2202 and HB No. 8441, referring to the Aurora Memorial Protected Landscape in Aurora Province (which I filed in the Senate, and authored by Representative Rommel Angara, along with the Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Representative Elpidio Barzaga);

2.) SB No. 2203 and HB No. 8394 referring to the Mt. Sawtooth Protected Landscape in Tarlac Province (authored by Sen. C. Villar, and Representatives Cojuangco, Yap and Barzaga);

3.) SB No. 2204 and HB No. 8202, referring to the Mt. Masaraga Protected Landscapein Albay Province (authored by Sen. C. Villar, and Representatives. Cabdredo and Barzaga);

4.) SB No. 1690, referring to the Panaon Island Protected Seascape in Southern Leyte Province, which I authored;

5.) SB No. 2188 and HB No. 8395, referring to the Mt. Gutom Protected Landscape Act in Zamboanga del Norte (authored by Sen. C. Villar, and Representatives Labadlabad and Barzaga); and

6.) SB No. 2189 and HB No. 8504, referring to the Sultan Naga Dimaporo Protected Landscape and Seascape in Lanao del Norte (authored by Sen. C. Villar, and Representatives Sittie and Kahlil Dimaporo, and Barzaga).

In 2018, when I first assumed the role of Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, we successfully pushed for the passage of Republic Act No. 11038, also known as the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018. This law strengthened the legal framework for establishing, managing, and maintaining all designated protected areas in the country. These are identified as ecologically rich and biologically important public lands that are habitats for rare and threatened species of plants and animals, and