Saving Panigan-Tamugan Watershed for the Future
DAVAO CITY – The Panigan-Tamugan watershed, while not really well-known, has recently been in the limelight due to the attention given to its surface waters. As a sub-watershed area belonging to the main Davao River Basin, the watershed area is located in the Baguio District and adjacent to the Talomo-Lipadas Watershed, which is currently the source of Davao’s drinking water. In the late 1990s, faced with the problem of dwindling ground water in the aquifers of Talomo-Lipadas, the Davao City Water District (DCWD) sought other viable sources of drinking water in the region to allow the aquifers to recharge.
The Biodiversity of Davao’s Watersheds
DAVAO CITY – In the olden days, Bagobos living in Davao’s watersheds look to the limokun, the white-eared brown Philippine dove, for omens. In indigenous folklore, the limokun is believed to be a spirit messenger, a harbinger of doom or fortune. For Filipino ornithologists, however, the limokun occupies a more mundane status, albeit a very important one, since the dove is a Philippine endemic, which means that it can be found only here in Philippine watersheds. However, like most endemic species, the limokun’s survival is at stake since its habitat, which is found in lowland dipterocarp forests along the watershed, is fast vanishing due to various threats. In 2012, watershed advocacy group Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS) commissioned wildlife biologists from the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) to conduct a biodiversity assessment on two of Davao’s important watersheds, the Talomo-Lipadas (TL) and Panigan-Tamugan (PT) watersheds, which are the current and future sources of the city’s drinking water. “The watersheds, essentially, are a center for endemism.”, said PEF Conservation Director Jayson Ibanez who said that his team was able to document 171 vertebrate species, mostly endemic, which are living in the dipterocarp forests found in the lowland areas. 28 of these species are categorized as threatened and near threatened, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Giving back to the Watersheds: Davao’s Environmental Tax
DAVAO CITY – Taxation can be a problematic word, especially during an election season, but among watershed advocates in Davao City, taxes, or more specifically Green Taxes are just being par for the course when one lives in a city whose mantra is “Life is Here”. 2016 could be the year of the watershed environmental tax, as the city amps up its collection from the agri-businesses operating in the Talomo-Lipadas and Panigan-Tamugan watersheds. Last year, when the envi tax was first implemented, only a handful of businesses complied, under protest. In fact, a case was filed in the courts to contest the tax implementation. Complainants argued that the local government does not have the right to impose an environmental tax since they are already paying property taxes and business permits. They contend that this is a case of double taxation, which is prohibited under the law. But according to the watershed advocacy group Interface Development Interventions (IDIS), the environmental tax imposed by the city’s Watershed Code is within the authority and power conferred to it by the Constitution and the Local Government Code.
Green spaces eyed against wildfires
DAVAO CITY – A leader of a fisherfolk association in Barangay 17-A, Bucana highlighted the importance of green spaces in communities, saying that urban tree cover can help mitigate sudden fire outbreaks in socialized housing settlements. Speaking during an Earth Day forum organized by the Green Davao Coalition last April 21, 2016, Cora Refulle said that the presence of trees around her house has kept her family safe from floods and the recent spate of fires in the area. “1990s pa, natanum nako ug kahoy. Dako ang natabang ani sa pagprotekta sa akong balay sa baha ug sunog.”, she said.
4th Lunhaw Awards announces winners
DAVAO CITY – A community-based radio station broadcasting an on-air organic farming school, an underground rainwater catchment system and the green building of a commercial mall are some of the winners of the 2016 Lunhaw Awards. Award organizers recognized five outstanding green initiatives from a shortlist of 21 entries last night in a ceremony attended by Datu Bago Awardee Joey Ayala at the Taboan in Matina Town Square. “We are very glad and honored to announce these year’s winners for the innovative and important green initiatives they have done, and the example they set for all of us Dabawenyos to follow.”, said Lunhaw Awards co-organizer and IDIS executive director Ann Fuertes. “These year’s winners and nominees have made laudable efforts to protect and preserve our air, water and land and by showing that being environment-friendly makes good business sense.”
EDITORIAL: Green spaces for the rich only?
The national law requires subdivision developers to allocate 30 percent for open spaces but the Davao City Council enacted a landmark ordinance requiring an additional 10 percent green space. The same Council, with the exception of a few, changed their minds after a year or two, and decided to do away with the mandatory 10 percent green space and instead, incorporated that to the national law requirement. Several councilors claim they were doing Dabawenyos a favor because imposing the additional 10 percent green space is an added cost to the developers that has resulted to an increase in the price of housing units which poor people—to include office workers who get a meager salary of less than P10,000 a month—could not afford. They said the amendment to the zoning ordinance is favorable to these poor people who slave their lives away just to get poor-quality low cost housing. Of course, developers of high-end subdivisions allocate more than 30 percent for their open and green spaces because the houses are more expensive. We have this feeling of dread, listening to these councilors who keep on justifying their actions in approving the amendment. Instead of penalizing and mandating developers to stick to their promises when they pre-sell the lots, regardless if it is low cost or high-end, this body opted to penalize the poor people who live in low cost subdivisions. The moral of the story is that, if you are poor then you don’t deserve breathing space. Where is social justice in this argument? And we thought that the members of this body consisting of supposedly honorable men and women were elected by the people to make sure that the people they serve get social justice. The argument that the Council did not remove the 10 percent green space but made it better by incorporating it in the 30 percent open space and mandating the developers how to utilize that space is obviously a mantra they have memorized to justify their acts. Watershed advocacy group Interface Development Interventions (IDIS) begged to disagree and slammed Councilor Bernard Al-ag for saying that the 10 percent green space requirement is ‘anti-poor’ since it will make developers build high-rise subdivisions instead of social housing. This statement, according to IDIS, “smacks of elitism; even poor families living in low cost subdivisions have a right to greenery in their communities.” (MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR)