THE DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has asked the Senate for an additional P500 million to manage legislated protected areas around the country and about P150 million to expand water service coverage to 10,000 households next year.
At a Senate Finance committee hearing on the agency’s proposed budget, Senator Cynthia A. Villar adjourned the hearing and said she would consult with her colleagues in plenary on the budget hike requests.
“We will talk to the mother committee on the decided increases in the final version of the budget,” she said.
DENR Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh told the same hearing that it is looking to source the additional P500 million to the original P1.2 million in funding for the protected areas from the Integrated Protected Areas Fund and within the agency’s own budget ceiling within the 20205 National Expenditure Program.
She added that the P150 million request to boost the Local Water Utilities Administration’s coverage of its water services would be through “congressional initiative,” which would be left to senators to decide how to source this funding.
In April, Ms. Villar called on the agency to improve its implementation of laws, policies, and regulations intended to safeguard legislated protected areas. This was amid viral videos of resorts being set up within the Chocolate Hills in Bohol and Mount Apo Natural Park in central Mindanao. —John Victor D. Ordoñez
