NATIONAL GREENING PROGRAM
By Anton Antonio
December 12, 2015
One of the flagship programs of the Aquino Administration is
the National Greening Program. This is
arguably one of the best pro-environment programs any political administration
and national leadership could implement that has widespread benefits that would
extend to even the future generations of Filipinos. The Commission on Audit (COA), the government
watchdog for public programs, however, has worrisome news for everyone. Please read the following researched news
item…
“COA: P7B TREE-PLANTING PROJECT OF DENR A FAILURE
By Marlon Ramos and Dona Z. Pazzibugan
April 24, 2015
MANILA, Philippines – The P7.2-billion National Greening
Project (NGP) and the land survey project of the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) were “unsuccessful,” according to the Commission on
Audit (COA). In its 2013 DENR audit
report, the COA said the agency undertook the tree-planting program and the
cadastral survey project covering 10 regions of the country without an efficient
and effective system of implementing and monitoring projects. The COA said the DENR identified
“nonplantable areas” as tree-planting sites because it did not conduct mapping
and planning. It said the delay in the
delivery of seedlings resulted in the “untimely planting,” which happened at
the end of the rainy season, “thus giving the planted seedlings a very short
period to recover and withstand the onset of the dry season.” In some planting sites, the COA said the DENR
had no partner organization to help monitor the plantations. The COA report on the DENR’s finances is part
of the latest incriminating financial audit of major state agencies that
receive the biggest appropriation from the national government and are headed
by President Aquino’s close political allies.
In separate audit reports, the state auditors disclosed damning evidence
of apparent misuse of billions of pesos in public funds in the Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of National Defense
(DND), the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR). In its scrutiny of the agency’s
projects, the COA said the DENR did not put up measures to ensure the viability
of the NGP, the centrepiece of the Aquino administration’s effort to achieve
food sustainability and save the environment from further degradation. “In the overall analysis, the unsuccessful
DENR program/project delayed the benefits that could have been derived from the
completion of the NGP and the cadastral survey project as envisioned by the
program/projects,” COA said. Environment
Secretary Ramon Paje did not respond to the Inquirer’s request for comment on
Thursday. The NGP aimed at planting 1.5
billion trees on 1.5 million hectares of public land within a four-year period
with the help from local governments and other partner agencies. The government appropriated P5.9 billion for
the tree-planting program, which was also designed to help reduce poverty in
the countryside and to mitigate the effects of climate change. The land surveys, on the other hand, had a
budget of P1.3 billion also for the same number of years. Upon verification, the COA found various
deficiencies in the two projects that contributed to the DENR’s failure to
satisfy their goals. “The objectives of
the NGP and (the cadastral surveys) of the DENR regional offices were not fully
attained… due to lack of an efficient/effective implementation and monitoring
mechanisms for the program/project,” the COA said. It said the deficiencies led to low
accomplishments and survival rates of tree saplings, noncompliance with the
work and financial plan, delay in the delivery of seedlings and failure to
finish the projects. The COA said these
“(delayed) the benefits that could have been derived from the completion of the
NGP and the cadastral surveys contrary to NGP implementation manual, applicable
DENR circulars… and other regulations.”
The state auditors also noted the lack of a “clear-cut policy” in the
custody of seized forest products, tools and equipment, which led to
“undetermined losses to the government due to unaccounted assets and exposure
of the same to risks while awaiting final disposition.” The COA likewise assailed the DENR for
spending 31.6 million in the purchase of goods and services through deficient
public biddings, which violated the provisions of Republic Act No. 9184, also
known as the Government Procurement Reform Act.
It said this “(defeated) the purpose of transparency, competitiveness
and accountability in the procurement process.”
According to the COA, the NGP has four major components – survey,
mapping and planning, plantation establishment, seedling
production/procurement, and protection and maintenance of established
plantations. From 2011 to 2013, it said,
only 20 percent of the 17,697 hectares of land were planted with tree seedlings
in provinces in Central Luzon. In the
Ilocos region, only 53 percent of the 14,954 hectares had been covered by the
project. In the Calabarzon region,
environment officials failed to coordinate with the local offices of the Department
of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the proper identification of plantation
areas. Because of this, seedlings were
planted in areas of Cavite province that were later cleared by the DPWH for
road-widening projects. “This,
therefore, resulted in wasted, damaged and increase mortalities of seedlings or
trees planted in most municipalities in the province of Cavite,” the COA said.”
This news report is quite discouraging. What now, National Greening Program?
Thoughts to
promote positive action…
(Please
visit, like and share Pro EARTH Crusaders on Facebook or follow me at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/
and http://twitter.com/EarthCrusader/)
REFERENCE:
Inquirer.net, (2015). “Tree Planting Project of DENR a
Failure?”. Retrieved on December 12,
2015 from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/687426/coa-p7b-tree-planting-project-of-denr-a-failure?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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