Amid strong objections to its plans to transfer its headquarters and detention facilities plus staff housing in Masungi Georeserve in Rizal, the Bureau of Correction, which is being grilled by the Senate, said it would await and shelve, for now, its transfer to its new home.
While awaiting geological and environmental studies in its property inside the Masungi Georeserve in Rizal province, the Bureau of Corrections, which has come under heavy attack from the community and environmentalists, is postponing its move to their planned new headquarters, staff housing and jail facilities in the property.
At the Senate tourism committee hearing, BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. today said the proposal
“will no longer push through… pending further studies to be undertaken, taking into consideration the impact on the environment of the construction of BuCor facilities in the area.”
On February 17, Catapang confirmed that the BuCor plans to build its national headquarters in the area.
This confirmation came a day after the Masungi Georeserve Foundation said that BuCor personnel inspected the area for the reported relocation of the New Bilibid Prison from Muntinlupa City in Metro Manila.
Catapang earlier insisted that since the BuCor is the registered owner of the property, it has the right to conduct activities in the area – including ocular inspections.
Days later, Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, whose agency oversees the BuCor, explained that the decision to utilize the georeserve is yet to be finalized.
The Masungi Georeserve is located in the rainforests of Baras, in Rizal province, and is approximately 51 kilometers (32 miles) away from Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport. It is found within the 26,000-hectare (64,500-acre) Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL), a protected area under Proclamation No. 296 (s. 2011), which benefits five municipalities in Rizal — Antipolo, Baras, Rodriguez, San Mateo and Tanay — and regulates water flow toward the National Capital Region of Manila.
However, despite being inside a protected area, the reserve faces challenges such as illegal logging, land-grabbing, quarrying and violence against its forest rangers. Rizal province is abundant in natural resources and is one of the country’s most active quarrying and mining areas. So close to the capital, the landscape also attracts business interests, and the land has a long history of illegal occupation and development.
Even though the public came to know about Masungi Georeserve when the foundation was launched in 2016, reforestation efforts date back to 1996. It had two decades of conservation efforts before the organization was formally established. In 2017, the Masungi Georeserve Foundation entered into an agreement with the government to restore more than 2,000 hectares (4,940 acres) of land.
In 2022, Masungi Georeserve also won a UN SDG (Sustainable Development Growth) Action Award under the “inspire” category, besting 3,000 applications from 150 countries.
Tags: #BuCor, #DoJ, #Senatehearings, #MasungiGeoreserve