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A sad news was reported last month about the killing of a tamaraw and the drying of its meat for food in Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park (MIBNP).
Environment Assistant Secretary Ricardo Calderon described the incident as 'unfortunate.'
Illegal structures and fences/enclosures erected by a fraternity inside the upper Marikina Watershed and Masungi Wildlife Sanctuary in KM 45 Marcos Highway, Pinugay, Baras, Rizal, were demolished on July 30. The team was led by Executive Director Nilo Tamoria (left) of the DENR's Environmental Protection and Enforcement Task Force and Undesecretary Jim O. Sampulna (center).
The Philippine tamaraw, also known as the Mindoro dwarf buffalo, remains critically endangered. Only around 600 of them are left in the wild, mostly in the hinterlands of Mount Iglit and Mount Baco.
The incident occurred at a time when the economic impact of the new coronavirus disease is taking its toll on poor communities around the MIBNP.
With no source of income, nearby communities are forced to go to the forest to hunt animals, cut trees and harvest wood for fuel, adding more pressure on the environment.
This dire situation mirrors what may in fact be happening in other Protected Areas in various parts of the country.
Task force dependent
In a telephone interview on August 30, Calderon said this highlights the need to enhance the law enforcement capacity of the DENR once and for all.
'What we really need is to enhance our law enforcement capacities to fight environmental crimes,' said Calderon, concurrent Director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The DENR depends largely on the mandate of special task forces to enforce environmental laws.
The DENR is tasked to implement various laws and fight environmental crimes, yet unlike some government agencies, it has no law enforcement unit of its own at its disposal, Nilo Tamoria, executive director of the DENR's Environmental Protection and Enforcement...