DENR to release decision on Masungi issue soon

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyazaga said Friday she will be releasing a decision regarding the issue on the Masungi Georeserve soon.

“Masalimuot po talaga ang Masungi. Ito ang sasabihin ko po sa issue na ito. Magre-release po ako ng desisyon ng Masungi very shortly,” Yulo-Loyazaga told Super Radyo dzBB in an interview.

(Masungi is really complicated. This is what I will say on this issue. I will release the decision on Masungi very shortly.)

“Pero ang kailangan pong isipin ng lahat, kagaya ng Chocolate Hills, ito problemang ito ay hindi po sumulpot ngayon lang. Meron po itong early beginnings sa 1990s na trinace back na namin,” she added.

(But what everyone needs to consider is just like the Chocolate Hills, this problem did not appear only now. It has its early beginnings in the 1990s that we already traced back.)

Yulo-Loyzaga said there were so many stakeholders involved in the issue of Masungi.

She further said the DENR, with the help of a congressional investigation, has gathered details and facts that are not easily available for everyone.

In the previous years, both the Senate and House of Representatives conducted investigation into Masungi amid reported violation of laws and violence among claimants.

This year, similar probes are also being sought in connection with Masungi.

The Masungi Georeserve is a conservation project in Rizal that has won international awards including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) Action Award for Inspire Category in 2022.—AOL, GMA Integrated News