MANILA, Philippines – For the first time, Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga openly spoke about the 2017 contract of the Masungi Georeserve Foundation Inc. (MGFI) with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), saying it was void ab initio or void from the beginning.

“The legal grounds for the [recommendation of] cancellation are what we’re calling [void] ab initio, given the advice of the DOJ (Department of Justice),” Loyzaga said on Wednesday, April 3, in a Senate hearing that was broadcast live.

In 2017, the DENR, under the leadership of the late environment secretary Gina Lopez, signed a memorandum of agreement with the MGFI. It gave the MGFI the responsibility to reforest around 3,000 hectares of land in Rizal province which is within the Upper Marikina Watershed and the Kaliwa Watershed. The MGFI also oversees the popular ecotourism spot Masungi Georeserve.

Contested in the said contract was the provision that gave the MGFI “perpetual land trust for conservation.”

The DOJ previously said the perpetuity provision violated Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution, which provided that such agreements must not exceed a period of 25 years.

When asked about the issue in 2023, Loyzaga only said that there were “certain features” that “bring it into question,” which would need “appropriate actions” from the agency.

This is the first time Loyzaga mentioned anything about a recommendation to cancel the contract. Environment Undersecretary Jonas Leones had referred to it before, saying the recommendation was still pending the approval of the secretary.

In her message before the Senate committee on environment, natural resources and climate change on Wednesday, Loyzaga said that the conservation of protected areas in the Philippines is historically fraught with conflicting claims.

Four years since the passing of the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act (E-NIPAS), Loyzaga said the DENR has had to contend with “realities on the ground.”

“The E-NIPAS law has been tested against the context of rights that preceded its passing,” she said. The environment chief said national and local laws, formal and informal agreements, “as well as powerful influences and pressures both benign and malignant” have all affected the implementation of the law.

Masungi ‘ready to defend’ contract

In response to Loyzaga, the MGFI said in a statement that no one – not Filipinos and not the environment – would benefit from the cancellation of the contract.

“Hindi na nga mabantayan ng DENR ang ating mga protected areas, gusto pa nilang tanggalin ang isa sa mga nangungunang organisasyon na nagtataguyod dito?” said Billie Dumaliang, MGFI’s director for advocacy.

(The DENR can’t even safeguard our protected areas, and now they want to remove one of the leading organizations in conservation?)

The MGFI continued to stand by the validity of the contract they signed with Lopez.

Ann Dumaliang, managing trustee of the foundation, told Rappler they were “ready to defend” the contract in any legal forum.

“We’ll pursue legal action when necessary,” she said.

The MGFI said on Wednesday that the claim that the contract was void ab initio was “untenable.”

“The contract was validly entered into by the DENR secretary under her broad powers under the E-NIPAS Act to enter into agreements with non-state actors in pursuit of conservation. The contract also has all the elements of a valid agreement,” the statement read.

The geopark management was referring to a recommendation from the International Union for Conservation of Nature that conservation projects can be held in perpetuity by private partners to ensure long-term gains, as has been the case in other countries. – Rappler.com

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