Masungi Georeserve Foundation’s co-founder Billie Dumaliang said on Sunday, Mar. 9, that they were kept in the dark about the DENR’s decision to cancel its contract with Masungi Georeserve’s developer. She noted that they have yet to receive a copy of the eviction letter but vowed to exhaust all legal avenues. Dumaliang remains optimistic that they will not be evicted from the land they have protected for decades. She is urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to intervene and stop the DENR’s move to cancel the contract. (MB video by Santi San Juan)
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NewsTranscript
00:00We haven't received the notice so we can only give initial reactions as of now.
00:10But we're confident of the legal remedies available to us.
00:15This contract is not an ordinary contract. This is a joint venture.
00:21So it's not a straight contract that the company paid to deliver this deliverable.
00:31But it's actually a joint effort. So it should be between DNR and Blue Star.
00:36And it's also written in the contract that when there are disputes or conflicts,
00:41you have to talk between the two parties so that you can amicably resolve it.
00:46And that's what has not been given to Blue Star.
00:51And at the end of it all, we'll see through a mountain of evidence
00:56that all of the delays, if there are any, will be traced to the fault of DNR.
01:04So I think this is very unwise and irresponsible actually for DNR to be doing.
01:11And we will take other appropriate actions, whether to take it to court or other means,
01:20for us to be able to continue our work, for us to continue to serve the nation.
01:27You know, at the onset, we think those are very flimsy excuses that they're using.
01:35I mean, look at all of the destructive activities they've done.
01:39They've done so much destruction to the environment.
01:43The mountains are destroyed, our rivers are destroyed, our rivers are destroyed.
01:52And yet, are they giving 15-day notice to come back?
01:58So I think it's very obvious that there's a vested interest here
02:04behind these moves.
02:08I believe they mentioned in my press that the space between certain government agencies has been divided.
02:20And then you'll see that the delays in the project was actually due to DNR's failure to remove the illegal occupants.
02:30So these are the occupants who don't have a contract with the government,
02:35but they claim the area, most of Lot 10, as their own private property.
02:43So for example, actually, we posted this last night, the fact check.
02:48You'll see the map of Lot 10 is already subdivided into specific families.
02:55Even quarrying companies have claims within Lot 10.
02:59Then there's a wind farm that wants to go in and build windmills inside.
03:08And so, maraming vested interests and our primary fear,
03:14and I think it's a valid concern based on the track record that we've seen,
03:20is all of our efforts here, the trees that we planted, that we took care of,
03:27the birds, the wildlife,
03:34they can no longer be taken care of the way that we've taken care of them in the past two decades.
03:44It has been two decades that we've taken care of them.
03:47We've been through a lot, I'm sure the people of the country know that.
03:51And they're also here, how hard we've fought for Masungi against all of these threats.
03:58And we know that it can't be done by those who want to come back here.
04:05So yeah, we will fight as we always have for Masungi,
04:09and we call upon all concerned government leaders,
04:13we call upon our community, we call upon the media,
04:17as well as all Filipinos to stand with us in this fight.
04:21Yeah, I think I will echo what people have been saying on the internet,
04:26as well as our Senator Cypher Dinay, as well as Congresswoman Franz Castro,
04:35have said na alam naman natin na walang track record.
04:40Unfortunately, DNR in protecting these areas,
04:44we have over 200 protected areas na walang nagaalaga,
04:48kulang ng malaki yung pangalaga,
04:51bakit sila uhaw na uhaw at laway na laway to take over something that's already broken.
04:59So I think yun yung na-establish natin dito na gumaga na yung solution dito,
05:05dahil we have an 80% biodiversity gap in biodiversity financing.
05:09So yung laki ng kulang ng budget natin at manpower,
05:13we have an average of one ranger for 4,000 hectares of protected areas.
05:18So kami, tumutulong kami sa gobyerno para maalagaan itong isang area na to out of the 200 plus na protected areas.
05:28So the fact na gusto nila mag-concentrate dito instead of other areas that need their support,
05:36yun, medyo ano yun, that is alarming, that is very, very concerning.
05:41Ngayon na, siguro ngayon nakita nila maganda na,
05:44naalagaan na namin na secure na namin as soon as possible.
05:47Secure na namin up to our own capacity.
05:52Gusto na na nilang kulin and so forcibly, again without any dialogue,
05:57without due process, they are wielding their power with impunity
06:03and they will be held accountable for that.
06:05We are very optimistic of this fight.
06:09It's been 20 years na inaalagaan namin yung lugar.
06:16There's a contract that has been signed by no less than the Secretary
06:21and ordered by no less than the President at that time.
06:25We have a mountain of evidence supporting our counter allegations against the DNR,
06:32which I don't think they have or I don't think na pag-aralan talaga na mabuti yung kanilang action na ito.
06:40So yes, we are pretty confident of the legal remedies.
06:43We're confident that we will be able to achieve justice in this situation for our rangers, for the environment.