Mt. Kanlaon at losing end in budget scramble

And another one...Mt Kanlaon is one of the active volcanoes in the Philippines. Many local and foreign tourists captured their heart when they saw the beauty of this natural wonder


Mt. Kanlaon at losing end in budget scramble
By: Roberto Leonoras
BusinessWorld
6/23/2006 9:18:14 AM

Bacolod City -- Not a single centavo has been allocated for forest protection and law enforcement at the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park in the proposed 2006 budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), a park official said.



Photo from WOW Philippines Web site.

"Just when we need it the most, there isn’t a single centavo to work on," said Julie Rex Molavin, park superintendent of the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park. The volcano has been acting up and has spewed grayish steam with ash eight times in the last two weeks.

Negros Occidental Rep. Carlos Cojuangco had proposed a P3.8-million budget for the park, but this was ignored by the members of the bicameral committee, Mr. Molavin said.

The park, however, expects assistance from the DENR Western Visayas regional office, which promised to provide P25,000 for park operations for the rest of the year despite the lack of a budget in the national office. Pledges of financial assistance were also made by the Negros Occidental provincial government and other local government units in the vicinity of the park.

But Mr. Molavin said this is not enough. Of the P25,000, he said only P18,000 will be left for the park since P7,000 will go to the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office-Negros Occidental to cover administrative expenses. The amount is less than half of the P59,000 that they received from the DENR regional office last year, he added.

"The P18,000 is not enough for our maintenance and operating expenses. This amount will easily be eaten up by the Protected Area Management Board meetings. Only a few thousands of pesos will be left to cover management concerns of the park," he said.

There would be no amount left for forest protection, information and education system as well as socioeconomic programs of the agency, he added.