beautiful samar

STATEMENT BY THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF BORONGAN ON THE LIFTING OF THE LOGGING MORATORIUM IN SAMAR ISLAND

Beloved People of God:

Once more we are facing a serious challenge as residents of Samar Island and as a people of faith. We stand to systematically lose again our now flourishing forest cover because the logging moratorium that has saved it since 1989 has been lifted. We cannot take this threat to the integrity of God’s creation and to the eco-system in our island lightly.
After a prayerful deliberation we, the Roman Catholic Bishop, the Most Rev. Leonardo Y. Medroso, D.D., and the priests of the Diocese of Borongan, raise our collective protest against the lifting of the logging moratorium in Samar Island, particularly that affecting San Jose Timber Corporation, dated August 15, 2005 and signed by Secretary Michael T. Defensor, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Our stand is not without basis. We urge our people, our non-Samareño friends and all concerned citizens to consider the following:

1. The circumstances that led to the lifting of the moratorium had not been transparent and the process flawed. Concerned foresters, for example, question the lack of a credible field study by independent experts. Neither had there been any consultation nor public hearing on so grave a matter as the lifting of a logging moratorium that affects not only the San Jose Timber Corporation but also the lives of hundreds of thousands of Samareño Filipinos. It is likewise pointed out that the decision does not even have the endorsement of two sangguni-ans, as is required by law. Moreover, the cutting cycle ordinarily covers twenty five (25) years. There is therefore no reason why, only after 16 years, SJTC should start cutting timber.
2. The ninety five thousand seven hundred seventy (95,770) hectares of timber concession to the SJTC lies at the heart of the one hundred twenty thousand (120,000) hectares of old growth forest and critical watershed constituting the Samar Integrated Forest Reserve (SIFR) and the Samar Island National Park (SINP). To allow the resumption of commercial logging in these protected areas is to make a mockery of the purposes and goals of SIFR and SINP. To say that Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and SJTC have prior rights to the old growth forest is a legal assertion. It does not reflect true justice or morality. In truth, the people of Samar have more prior rights than both.
3. As stewards of God’s creation people of faith must oppose the lifting of the logging moratorium as it threatens the very survival of at least 80% of Samar’s old growth forest and watershed. This, in turn, threatens our water supply and the livelihood of our farmers whose irrigation mechanisms would be in jeopardy as the watershed breaks down. Moreover, logging threatens the very survival of critical flora and fauna in the island. We cite the 2,400 species of flowering plants, with 406 Philippine endemic species and 40 endemic to Samar Island, which are in the World List of Threatened Species. We also cite the 197 bird species, 50 species being endemic to the Philippines, including the Philippine Eagle, the Philippine Hawk Eagle and the Philippine Cockatoo, not to say 39 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles and 12 amphibian species etc. To risk the lives, livelihood and survival of these God’s creatures is not only bad governance. It also contradicts our identity and the practice of the faith. We cannot truly say we are God’s children and knowingly put ourselves and his other creatures in harm’s way.
4. Justice to SJTC’s rights has been raised as the principal reason for the lifting of the moratorium. It is so easy to see justice in regard to oneself and to miss justice in regard to others. The Church has always taught that the goods of the earth are meant for all (universal destination of goods). Given the history of logging and mining exploitations in Samar which have only showcased our gross social inequality and massive poverty, justice truly dictates that the natural wealth of Samar Island benefit Samar’s poor and not end up in the hands of the already wealthy few.
5. Pope John Paul II taught that our responsibility to protect the environment is a new field where we Christians witness to the faith (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, no. 46) and constitutes one of the “signs of hope”. That is to say that since it is the Holy Spirit that gives us hope, working to save the integrity of God’s creation is Spirit-inspired. It is the Spirit who “witnesses to our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom 8:16). But the freedom of the children of God is not only meant for them. “Indeed the whole created world eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God” and “will be freed from its slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:19-21).

Now we are being called to be instruments of the Spirit in extending this freedom of God’s children to our forests in Samar Island.

May God bless us all with the courage and generosity to heed his call!


Yours in the Lord,


The Roman Catholic Bishop and Priests
Diocese of Borongan