During one of the committee hearings on the proposed Payment for Ecosystem Services ordinance, some councilors were arguing against the provision asking all concessionaires of the Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD) to add P5 a month to their monthly bills to be used for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the Cagayan de Oro Water Shed.
Kag. John Michael L. Seno
Sagunniang Kabataan Federation Chair John Michael Seno caused a lull in the heated arguments when he asked, “Why don’t we ask ourselves, is the future of my children worth P5 a month to me?”
The draft ordinance sponsored by Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya proposes the adoption of a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) as “an emerging financial tool for environmental conservation” built on research and community collaborations.
It proposes a “reward mechanism” through which “buyers” who benefit from the intangible products of the eco-system such as fresh air, water and forests which mitigate disastrous floods, pay “sellers” who protect and provide these ecosystem services.
Thus, concessionaires of the Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD) would pay P5 a month on top of their current water bill for this purpose, while industrial and commercial users pay an amount commensurate to the volume of water they use for the period, whether sourced from groundwater sources or the COWD. Resorts and white water rafting operators who benefit from using water for their respective businesses would also collect a P5 cash tickets per person.
City SK Federation Chair Kag. John Michael L. Seno takes the floor during a regular session of the city council.
Seno also urged his fellow youth in the City to help in campaigning for this initiative by convincing their parents to support the proposed ordinance.
“Five pesos is just a little amount to ensure the sustainability of our resources. This is not just for us, but also for the future generations”, he added.
Besides Nacaya, other councilors who have expressed their support for the PES ordinance are Finance, Budget, and Appropriations Committee chairwoman Edna Dahino; Police, Fire, and Public Safety Committee chairman Romeo Calizo; Health Committee vice-chairman Reuben Daba; Tourism Committee chairman Jay Roa-Pascual; and Environment and Natural Resources Committee chairman Zaldy Ocon.
“It’s important for us to see the whole picture. There should be a sample so we can specify [and] clarify where the fund goes. The people should understand their involvement in protecting the environment by paying the ecosystem services. Help us understand where the money will be spent on. Credibility and trust (referring to the PES implementers) are important here,” Dahino stressed. “If we pay for the water supply and distribution, we must also pay for the source.”
Seno cited the present water crisis in Metro Cebu which has left it with few viable options such as sourcing water from its neighboring provinces due to saltwater intrusion in its water table brought about by depleted watersheds.
Saltwater Intrusion
Saltwater intrusion is an irreversible phenomenon which may result to water contamination and other consequences.
Saltwater intrusion in Cagayan de Oro’s coastal barangays was already noted as way back as 2003, according to a 2003 study conducted by Rosalina Palanca Tan and Germelino M. Bautista. “Pulling the Plug on Water Mining: A Groundwater Conservation Strategy from the Philippines.”
“This is a systematic approach to ensure the sustainability of water supply in the City. Environmental stewardship is not the sole responsibility of the local government but rather of everybody because we all benefit from water sourced from surface and groundwater sources”, Seno said.
The payment for ecosystem services (PES) ordinance was introduced by the Cagayan de Oro River Basin Management Council, a multi-sectoral body headed by Archbishop Antonio Ledesma.
Evan as the Cagayan de Oro Council has been debating the merits and demerits of the proposed ordinance on the PES, four forward-looking local government units (LGUs) in the Visayas and Mindanao have been reaping the benefits of implementing similar measures.
San Carlos City Green Fund
Among them is San Carlos City in Negros Occidental one of the pioneers of PES implementation with its Ordinance No. 37, Series of 2004 “An Ordinance Regulating the Operations of the City Waterworks of the City of San Carlos, Negros Occidental and Creating the Watershed Protection Fund, and for other related purposes” some 14 years ago.
Through the so-called Green Fund, the LGU utilizes a non-traditional scheme of financing environmental protection by imposing a fee P0.75 per cubic meter of water used by the residents of San Carlos City as provided by the aforementioned ordinance.
The revenues generated goes to a Trust Fund created specifically to protect and rehabilitate the watershed within the City. The Green Fund Levy was increased from P0.75 to P1.00 per cubic meter in 2008.
Through a Memorandum of Understanding with the local water system, the LGU aims to leverage the fund over a period of 15 years with other resource agencies to create a substantial multiplier effect into the coverage area.
Kag. John Michael L. Seno with delegates of the Youth Leadership Camp help in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon October last year.
Since its establishment in 2005, the San Carlos Watershed Management Project has progressed from an initial area planted of 3.87 hectares (ha.) to 445 has. as of 2012 with another 70 has. projected to be plante2013.
Through Nursery Operations conducted by the Nabingkalan Indigenous Seedlings Producers Association (NISPA), another initiative is turning laborers into entrepreneurs, an undertaking which has made the group the Grand Prize Winner for the Leonard Co Award for Best Native Forest Tree Nursery in 2011.
The Galing Pook Foundation recognized the San Carlos City LGU with a Galing Pook Award in 2007 for its Water Levy for Watershed Development initiatives through the PES. The LGU is now the benchmark model in the Philippines for PES.
Wao PES for Forest Development
Another PES pioneer is the Wao, Lanao del Sur LGU which has been implementing it as an alternative financing scheme since 2010 in partnership with local stakeholders who agreed to a PES scheme to sustain the municipality’s forest development program.
Among its partner institutions are the Wao Water District (contributing P75,000 a year); Unifrutti Philippines (P100,000/year contribution in cash or in kind);Wao Truck Owners’ Association (10/truckload of agricultural products) and Wao Development Corporation (P100,000/ year contribution in cash/in kind since March 2011).
The revenues generated through the PES have been used for the purchase and distribution of rubber and coffee seedlings; rubber and coffee clones; and rubber, fruit tree and coffee seedlings.
Among the immediate results and impact of the PES initiatives are the establishment of a Municipal Nursery which augers a potential increase in household income of farmers(with 300 hectares agro-forestry area), the creation of alternative employment (forest guards, laborers for nursery operations), and soil and water conservation resulting in the shift in farming methods from mono-cropping with corn to multiple cropping with perennial crops such as rubber, fruit trees and endemic wood species.
Most significantly perhaps, the PES initiatives have resulted in the cessation of illegal cutting of forests and have reduced kaingin to nil on an annual basis.
Naawan Green Governance Program
Closer to home, the Municipality of Naawan, Misamis Oriental has been implementing its own version of the PES since 2013.
With less than 2,000 households served by the municipal water system, the local government of Naawan is generating an average of P350, 000.00 per year from its P1.00 per cubic meter of potable water provided for watershed and reforestation fee.
Dubbed the Green Governance Program of Naawan, it aims to rehabilitate and protect the Naawan watershed, improve ecosystem services; reduce poverty; and develop the municipality’s adaptation and resilience to the challenges of climate change.
Among the town’s stakeholders who have committed support to the program are the MASS-SPECC Cooperative Development Center, Environment Department of Holcim Philippines, and other stakeholders, with the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) as lead agency.
The Naawan Green Governance Program was conceptualized when the Misamis Oriental municipalities of Manticao, Lugait, and Naawan (MANLUNA) a Cluster Eco-tourism plan to Conserve Nature and Revive Tradition as an Economic Driver, participated in the Partnership for Democratic Local Governance of Southeast Asia (DELGOSEA) Project which champions the ecosystem-based and ridge-to-reef approaches.
Bago Environmental Protection Fee
The latest but definitely not the least among the PES Pioneers, the Bago City Environmental Protection Ordinance No. 15-16. An Ordinance imposing an Environmental Protection Fee, (EPF) providing for the management and use thereof, and for other purposes was enacted by the Bago City SP Dec 29, 2015, and adopted unanimously by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental on 17 Feb 2016.
To date, the PES has collected P 2.5 million from commercial water users alone to finance forest conservation in Bago City, including forest protection and livelihood projects.
It has also in the process of negotiating an agreement with sugar and rice producers which is projected total collection of around P 2-4 million annually through the EPF.
Among the EPF’s immediate results is the reduction of charcoal-making within MKNP (?), increasing awareness of people on forest conservation, and encouraging more farmers to join the program.
The MKNP Conservation Area Protection and Management through LAWIN (a cyber tracking forest and biodiversity assessment tool), in collaboration with DENR and USAID is now being regularly patrolled, with data gathered processed and used to immediately response to identified threats. Continuing consultations with upland communities and suspected violators are being conducted as part of this response.
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