BAGUIO CITY– Various stakeholders from the Cordillera and Region 1 forged a partnership for the integrated management and implementation of the Abra River Basin which is a priority river basin in the country.
The Memorandum of Cooperation(MOC) for the establishment of the Abra River Basin Management Council (ARBMC) was spearheaded by the DENR and Environmental and Management Bureau offices of both regions in partnership with the local officials of the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Abra, Benguet and Mountain Province at the Eurotel Hotel here last August 19.
Signatories to the MOC include officials of DILG, NEDA, DPWH, OCD, DA, DOST,DSWD, DAR, NCIP, MGB, NIA, BFAR. PIA, DOT, DTI, DepED, DOE, and NWRB.
Partners from the academe are the Abra Institure of Science and Technology, University of Northern Philippines, Benguet State University and the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College.
Indigenous peoples’ groups from the four involved provinces are also represented in the ARBMC.
The creation of the ARBMC is vital given the Abra River’s present state that calls for immediate protection, conservation and rehabilitation. The Abra River basin spreads over 5,125 kilometers covering 48 municipalities – 34 in the Cordillera and 14 in Ilocos Region.
The master plan involves water resources management, watershed and environment management, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, and coastal and aquatic resources plans.
Aside from the MOC, ARBMC members also signed a pledge of commitment for the implementation of the master plan.
DENR Cordillera Regional Director Ralph Pablo, in an interview, affirmed the importance of all stakeholders to focus on the whole watershed system from the headwaters to downstream ommunities.
What is good about what we are doing here is that the cooperation of all stakeholders on what we call from ridge to reef is now being strengthened. They will be involved in the planning and implementation of a master plan to protect, preserve and rehabilitate the Abra River Basin, Pablo stressed. **By Carlito Dar
