BAGUIO CITY -- A local ecological group here has expressed alarm over what they call as “invasion” of Busog and Buyog watersheds, both officially declared forest reservation areas and sources of potable water for Baguio City residents.
“We should help each other in continuing to protect our watersheds,” said lawyer Erdolfo Balajadia, a former city councilor who now heads the 30-year-old multi-sectoral group Baguio Regreening Movement (BRM) during the group's executive committee meeting on Tuesday.
Balajadia expressed concern about the continuing invasion of Busol watershed, the city’s top source of water for household consumption.
The BRM, composed of over 30 representatives from various government agencies involved in environmental protection, community volunteers, and private firms, came up with a consensus to continue fencing the 102-hectare Busol watershed.
Busol watershed is covered by Proclamation 15 issued on April 17, 1922, identifying the area as a forest and water reservation. It is bounded by the city of Baguio and La Trinidad town in Benguet.
“We should never compromise the boundary line of the reservation in favor of those illegal settlers inside Busol,” Balajadia stressed during the meeting. “We have to protect our watershed. It is our main source of water in Baguio. Fencing cannot transfer the legal boundary; it is non-negotiable.”
It was revealed during the meeting that some parts of the fence that determine the boundaries of the watershed had to be moved due to the existence of structures, which, the group said, were put up by illegal settlers.
“This is Baguio’s life and we cannot just sit down and wait until it deteriorates in full,” Balajadia said.
Meanwhile, another Baguio watershed, Buyog, is also being invaded by private individuals, the group noted.
The group said a private person is even claiming part of it and, like in Busol, had moved the fences lining the forest reserve to give way to the construction of the person's house there.
“I cannot understand why even if everybody knows what is happening inside Buyog watershed, nobody is doing something about it,” Balajadia lamented.
The Buyog watershed was declared a forest reserve by Proclamation 93 in 1992.
"Let us be wary of all these illegal activities to protect our watersheds. This is about the supply of our water in the city,” Balajadia continued.
The BRM has been clamoring for the complete fencing of Buyog watershed to enclose and protect the whole reservation area. (PNA)
