DENR presents ‘Poles of Hope’ book

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff Reporter

LAOAG CITY—In what was meant as a perfect duo of strong public and private partnership, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative lead the way how to turn the vast resources of the country into a sustainable source of development both for people and the environment.

Presenting the “Poles of Hope”, a book featuring a story of the INEC and its Industrial Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) with the DENR-Ilocos Norte proved to be a success after 25 years of lease agreement amidst the government’s declaration of moratorium on total log ban.

In 2011, a few months after President Benigno Aquino III signed Executive Order No. 23, declaring a moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber in the natural and residual forests and creating an anti-illegal logging task force, the law exempted the INEC-IFMA, a 235-hectare industrial tree plantation in Pancian, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, considering that their matured plantation are purely classified as big-leaf Mahogany (Swietenia Macrophylla), meant as source of locally-produced wood poles for an intensified campaign to electrify the entire country.

Back in the 1980’s when the agreement was signed, the rural areas in the province through the INEC has been pursuing its electrification program, resorting to importation of costly wood poles, cross arms and anchor logs due to limited supply in the Philippines.

So, on September 4, 1989, the DENR granted INEC an Industrial Tree Plantation Lease Agreement (ITPLA) which was later on converted into an IFMA in 1992.

Instead of importing forest products from abroad, INEC established an industrial tree plantation to have a reliable source of wood materials for its electrification program.

After 25 years, INEC is reaping the fruits of its labor, harvesting around 273 poles in 2013 and to harvest 655 more trees this year under the close watch of the DENR, which issued the tree cutting permit.

On Monday, the DENR launched the book at the La Tabacalera Function Hall to show that public and private partnership is doable and the huge benefits of sustainable development trickle down to the masses like the case if the INEC-IFMA success story.