Loggers Bring More Harm Than Good, asserts LRC
By JIGGER JERUSALEM - Correspondent Updated January 23-24, 2010 12:00 AM
By JIGGER JERUSALEM - Correspondent Updated January 23-24, 2010 12:00 AM
A GROUP opposed to logging operations in Misamis Oriental said Southwoods Timber Corp. and Asia Pacific Timber Corp. do not offer sustainable livelihood, and their operations do more harm than good.
The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC-KSK) said this after the logging firms and their supporters said voiding Southwoods’ industrial forest management agreement (Ifma) would economically displace many people in Gingoog City.
The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC-KSK) said this after the logging firms and their supporters said voiding Southwoods’ industrial forest management agreement (Ifma) would economically displace many people in Gingoog City.
They claimed some 35 thousand people would be badly affected if the Ifma is revoked or cancelled by the environment department.
But the figure is just a projection of the total number workers that would be hired by the loggers, on contractual basis, during a 25-year period, said Carl Cesar Rebuta of the LRC-KSK.
In LRC’s calculation, based on the figure given by Southwoods, some 1,400 people would be hired in a year or 700 workers every six months.
In LRC’s calculation, based on the figure given by Southwoods, some 1,400 people would be hired in a year or 700 workers every six months.
“The job that they will provide to the communities will not be sustainable since the Ifma issued to STC will last only 25 years. After that, where will the people go?” Rebuta asked.
STC general manager Jhonny Young earlier told this paper that cancellation of Southwoods’ Ifma would “badly affect the firm’s workers and their beneficiaries, including tribal members.”
Rebuta said it would be better for the affected communities to engage in alternative livelihood like planting and processing of non-timber forest products like rattan, basket weaving, among others.
He said even without the loggers, the communities can economically stand on their own.
Local governments must allocate funds and provide technical support to villagers, he said.
Based on records from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Southwoods and Asia Pacific Timber are sister companies. Young, Raymond Yap and Nimfa Leonco are incorporators of both companies. Young is listed as general manager, Yap as resident manager and Leonco as corporate secretary.
Based on Southwoods’s certificate of incorporation, the firm’s “primary purpose” is “to engage in wood processing such as veneer and other wood related products, and to trade the same on a wholesale basis.”
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