San Pedro River Basin Council

03/09/2026

The government should seriously consider the effects of global warming on our people. The unprecedented rainfall, rising temperatures, increasing tectonic plate movements, frequent flooding and landslides occurring in different parts of the country... This is already a global problem. And yet, our government is still allowing the removal of a valuable resource that captures and reduces carbon emissions! Our forests serves as our watershed! Removing it for mining at a time when the world is already losing the fight against global warming will only contribute to more expenses for our country for the losses we will suffer from the damages brought by floods, landslides, sinkholes, eruptions, and tremors as a consequence of heating up this planet.
STOP DEFORESTATION!
Trees do not grow overnight.
The proponents and supporters of mining today will be dead before a forest can grow back again.
They will be gone before they realize the gravity of the problem they have contributed to the world.
The welfare of the next generation matters!

𝐁𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐒 𝟓𝟕,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐍

A Catholic bishop in Palawan has renewed his call for stronger protection of the province’s forests, saying planting new trees cannot replace an established forest once it has been cleared.

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Apostolic Vicar of Taytay, made the remarks Tuesday during the opening Mass of the 2nd National Convention of the Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines.

Pabillo was referring to about 57,000 trees in southern Palawan that he said are set to be cut for a mining project.

“You can plant the trees, but you cannot replant the forest,” Pabillo said.

He questioned the use of the term reforestation when referring to efforts to replace forests removed for development.

“That’s why the term reforestation is wrong. It’s a big lie,” he said.

Pabillo described the affected areas as almost primeval forests and criticized the government for allowing large trees to be removed for mining.

His remarks come as church leaders and environmental advocates continue to raise concerns over mining related tree cutting in southern Palawan.

The 57,000 trees mentioned by Pabillo are separate from another figure cited by Puerto Princesa Bishop Socrates Mesiona earlier this year.

In June, Mesiona questioned government issued Special Tree Cutting and Earth Balling Permits covering at least 218,854 trees in several parts of Palawan.

The figure was based on publicly available documents and consolidated records cited by the bishop.

The permits covered areas in Aborlan, Brooke’s Point and Bataraza, including areas associated with Mt. Bulanjao.

The figure does not mean that all 218,854 trees have already been cut. It refers to trees covered by permits connected to various activities and projects.

Mesiona called for a review of the permits and urged government agencies to make information about their approval and implementation available to the public.

He also called for consultation with communities that could be affected by mining and related activities.

The concerns over mining are being raised despite Palawan having adopted a 50 year provincial moratorium on new mining applications in 2025.

The ordinance covers new applications involving exploration permits, mining agreements and financial or technical assistance agreements.
It also restricts existing mining companies from expanding into new areas.

The moratorium does not mean that all mining operations already existing in Palawan automatically stopped.

Existing mining rights and previously approved activities remain separate issues, which is why mining related operations and tree cutting permits continue to draw public attention.

The provincial moratorium followed years of calls from church leaders and environmental groups for stronger restrictions on mining.

Mining is only one of the issues surrounding forest protection in Palawan.

A study cited by the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development reported that southern Palawan lost 57,715 hectares of forest between 2001 and 2023.

The study attributed most of the recorded forest loss to kaingin, or slash and burn agriculture.
Environmental advocates and a researcher later questioned that interpretation and warned against placing the responsibility for forest degradation primarily on upland farmers and Indigenous communities.

The different views reflect the larger debate over how forest loss in Palawan should be measured and what factors are driving it.

Pabillo’s latest statement is part of a continuing position taken by Catholic leaders in Palawan.

In 2024, Palawan bishops called for a 25 year moratorium on mining and urged greater protection for forests and communities.

The provincial government later adopted the longer 50 year moratorium in 2025.

Church leaders have continued to speak about environmental protection as part of their responsibility to communities and to the natural world.

During Tuesday’s Mass, Pabillo said creation should not simply be treated as something to be used and exploited.

“Creation is not just to be exploited, to be used, but also to be respected,” he said.

He also warned that environmental destruction can eventually affect communities, citing flooding and other disasters as consequences of neglecting nature.

“God always forgives. Man, from time to time, we forgive. Creation never forgives. What we do to it will come back to us,” Pabillo said.

Pabillo urged religious leaders to use the Season of Creation to raise awareness about environmental issues and encourage people to speak out for the protection of nature.

“We should make our leaders and our own people conscious of this, and encourage them to speak more on behalf of creation,” he said.

The national convention brought together 233 religious superiors representing 159 congregations.

For Pabillo, the discussion goes beyond the question of whether trees can be planted after mining.

His concern is whether a forest that has developed over many years can truly be replaced once it has been cleared.

“You can plant the trees, but you cannot replant the forest,” he said.

Via Hanna Zapanta / Palawan Daily News

📷 CBCP

11/08/2026

Ang kalidad ng mga mamamayan ng isang bansa ay malinaw na makikita sa ibabaw ng mga ilog at daluyan ng tubig nito.

Kuntento na ba tayong mga Pilipino sa ganito???

The quality of citizens of a country is clearly reflected on the surface of its rivers and waterways.

Are we, Filipinos, contented with this???

19/06/2026

Excited to see The Ocean Cleanup's Interceptors on Pasig River. Hope we could use the same technology in the waterways feeding the Laguna Lake Sub Basins

The Philippine government has formally entered into a partnership with global non-profit The Ocean Cleanup

14/06/2026

When local governments work together for the good of the environment, the community benefits. Let us not leave that responsibility with the local government. It is everyone's responsibility to keep our rivers clean by starting with our own surroundings.

04/06/2026

28/04/2026

The Ocean Cleanup is coming to the Philippines!!!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXrYwkWlO9P/?igsh=ZG40MzV5ZXFrZTVl

09/11/2025

We should unite in protecting our watershed

09/11/2025

08/11/2025

Nakikita at nararamdaman na natin ang epekto ng pagsasamantala at pagpapabaya sa ating Inang Kalikasan na nagdudulot ng pagtaas ng temperatura sa buong daigdig, mababang ani ng pagkain, pagguho ng lupa, malawakang pagbaha na nagdudulot ng pagkasira ng ating mga tahanan, ari-arian at kalusugan.
Kaya't sama-sama muli nagpakita ng pagkakaisa ng suporta ang mga kasapi ng San Pedro River Basin Council, San Pedro City Solid Waste Management Board, San Pedro Sub-basin Water Management Alliance, City of San Pedro Environment and Natural Resources Office, Laguna Lake Development Authority, City of San Pedro Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Fire Protection, San Pedro Private Schools Administrators Association, at iba pang mga opisina at CSO ng Lungsod ng San Pedro na nananawagan sa mga mamayan na mas masigasig na ipagpatuloy ang pakikipagtulungan upang pangalagaan ang ating kalikasan sa ginananap na "Fun Walk: Go Clean, Go Green" noong Nobyembre 7 ng umaga, kung saan nagtipon-tipon ang mga kasapi sa San Pedro City Plaza at naglakad at naglinis ng daan patungo sa hanggananan ng San Pedro-Biñan, Bgy. Landayan, kung saan itatayo ang San Pedro Sports Complex. Doon ay nagtanim muna ng ilang mga puno ng Ilang-Ilang sa paligid ng lupa sa tabing-ilog at pagkatapos ay nagsipaglagda ang bawat kasapi ng kanilang Pledge of Support for the Environment. Ito ay Isa sa mga programang ginanap ngayong Environmental Awareness Month taong 2025 sa Lungsod ng San Pedro.

07/11/2025

Let us learn from the wisdom of the highlanders.

I look at the images from Cebu—the mud swallowing homes, the faces twisted in a grief I cannot fully comprehend—and my own heart aches in a familiar way. It is the ache of fear. It is the ache of seeing a nightmare that feels both distant and terrifyingly close.

Here in Benguet, our mountains are not just land. They are our ancestors. They are the keepers of our stories, the source of the water that quenches our children’s thirst, the shoulders that hold up our sky. When I climb the trail to our family’s uma (farm), I don't just see trees; I see my grandfather’s wisdom in the gnarled pine roots. I hear my grandmother’s prayers in the whisper of the wind through the needles.

When I saw the news from Cebu, I didn’t just see a flooded city. I saw a warning.

I saw what happens when the mountains are silenced.

They tell us that the flood in Cebu was caused by “ghost projects”—billions of pesos that vanished, leaving behind concrete ghosts that could not hold back the water. But long before the ghosts of concrete, there were the ghosts of the forests. The trees that were cut down and never regrew. The rivers that were choked with soil from the mines. The land that was sold and paved over, its spirit suffocated under cement.

And now, they bring the same blueprint here.

When the big mining companies show their maps and talk of “progress,” I do not see prosperity. I see the future gullies that will scar our slopes. I taste the metallic poison that will seep into our rivers, the same rivers where we draw water for our coffee and where our children still play. I see the sacred grounds where we pray, shaken by dynamite until they crumble.

They call it “development.” We, the Igorots, call it the beginning of our end.

They tell us it will bring jobs. But what good is a salary if the mountain that feeds your soul is gone? What good is a paycheck if the water from your tap is no longer safe to drink? What is the price of the land where your forefathers are buried?

The pain of Cebu is a deep, open wound. We cannot look away. We must let their sorrow settle in our bones and become our strength. Their 111 lost lives must be the fire that fuels our vigilance.

We are not against progress. But our progress is measured by the health of our forests, the cleanliness of our rivers, and the continuity of our culture. It is a progress that sings with the rhythm of the tayaw (community dance), not the deafening blast of a mine.

So, to my fellow Igorots, to my people of Benguet: let us stand together.

Let us be the roots that the loggers cannot cut. Let us be the rocks that the miners cannot break. Let us be the chorus of voices that the politicians cannot ignore.

Let us honor the tears of Cebu by ensuring our own children never have to shed them. Let us protect this sacred land with the same fierce love our ancestors did. For if we allow our mountains to be stolen and sold, we are not just losing soil and trees.

We are digging graves for our own future.