On World Wildlife Day, we the undersigned concerned groups call on President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to urgently rescind all existing Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSAs) inside the 26,126-hectare Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL) and nearby protected areas. 

This is pursuant to the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018 prohibiting mineral exploration or extraction within protected areas, among other official policies, and the president’s 2016 campaign promise for reforms towards more responsible development and extractive industries.

According to available information, there are at least six (6) MPSAs existing or overlapping with the UMRBPL, covering about 1,500 hectares of protected forest land. An additional estimated 658 hectares appear to be under MPSAs in adjacent protected and conserved areas. Even if some of these MPSAs are not yet operational, they are a clear and present threat to the integrity of the watershed and all life within it.

Quarrying will permanently destroy sensitive habitats of threatened flora and fauna, like Narra, Red and White Lauan, Kamagong, Molave trees; birds like Philippine Hawk-Eagle and jungle fowl; mammals like Philippine Deer, Philippine Warty Pig, Philippine Monkey, and Northern Luzon Cloud Rat, among many others. It will also worsen the perennial, devastating, costly, and life-threatening floods experienced by local governments, businesses, and ordinary citizens of Metro Manila, Rizal, and nearby areas. 

The urgency to rescind all MPSAs and stop other destructive activities cannot be undermined as shown by the havoc brought by Typhoon Ulysses which submerged more than 30,000 houses and displaced more than 200,000 fellow Filipinos (NDRRMC). 

Some government offices have argued that even without quarrying in the Upper Marikina Watershed, flooding, erosion, and siltation will still occur. While these are indeed natural processes, it is by protecting and restoring designated protected areas that we are able to mitigate their increasingly adverse effects.

Protected areas are also off-limits to extractive industries not just to help reduce the risk of flooding and other forms of disasters, but to conserve precious wildlife and habitats and preserve ecosystem services such as clean and healthy soil, water, and air. Protecting the UMRBPL is also an important part of climate adaptation, being our only natural defense against extreme weather events, and climate mitigation, being a natural carbon sink. 

Heeding the call of science, the law, and their constituents, local chief executives like Rizal Governor Rebecca Ynares have called for the immediate cessation of large-scale mining agreements. Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro has also underscored the need to rehabilitate Upper Marikina Watershed. The Senate Committee on Environment and various legislators have likewise sought to investigate the different causes of flooding in pursuit of long-term solutions such as reforestation and smart infrastructure.

With less than 500 days left before the end of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s term in office, there is no better time than now to leave a lasting legacy for Filipinos. 

We urge President Duterte to rescind the MPSAs found inside this critical watershed and nearby protected and conserved areas now. The Filipino people will be behind him. 

On 2020’s World Wildlife Day, Secretary Roy A. Cimatu already started this campaign by announcing that mining agreements found inside the UMRBPL and the Masungi Wildlife Sanctuary shall be canceled. If accomplished, this is a legacy that will surely be remembered by generations to come.

List of Signatories:

  • Antipolo Cathedral Youth Ministry-ICP Antipolo
  • Association of Young Environmental Journalists
  • Balabag Environmental Society
  • Barangay San Luis Youth Org
  • BSYO MENTalk Antipolo
  • Center for Energy and Ecology Development (CEED)
  • Environmental Childrens Organization (ECO)
  • For the Future
  • Global Shapers Manila
  • Greenpeace Philippines
  • Kid for Kids
  • Living Laudato Si
  • Masungi Georeserve Foundation
  • Mga Anak ng Inang Daigdig
  • Patnubay Youth Council-New Generation
  • Philippine Native Tree Enthusiasts (PNTE)
  • Student Activity Council-Dazsma Antipolo City