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BY TIFFANY ANNE TAN
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BACOLOD City – Rebels could best serve as forest guards once “transformed” into civilians, Negros Occidental vice governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
It is an “ideal” job for them, what with their familiarity with the country’s terrains and forests, according to Lacson.
But the government must first prioritize the peace agreement with the rebels, the vice governor said.
Lacson was reacting to a suggestion to convert the Reds into a “Green army” by deputizing them as “guardians of the forest.”
According to Sen. Ralph Recto, the country’s forests need reinforcements since there is only one government guard per 3,376 hectares.
“The lack of forest guards has made our timberlands prone to fires, poachers and destruction,” an online news report quoted Recto as saying.
Only three full-time forest guards patrolthe 11,000-hectare Mount Banahaw protected area in Southern Tagalog in 2014, while around two dozen guards protect the 6,600-hectare Ipo Watershed in Bulacan, he said in the report.
Lacson stressed the government has to strike the peace deal first before it could think of what to do with the rebels.
Recto’s idea is one way for the government to provide the rebels livelihood and thereby “immerse (them) into mainstream (society).”/PN
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