DENR terminates Socorro 'cult' use of protected area

Source: Rappler
Author: Iya Gozum

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) cancelled the Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement (PACBRMA) No. 74007 of the alleged cult Socorro Bayanihan Services Incorporated (SBSI), led by Jay Rence Quilario, alias Señor Aguila.

The DENR served the cancellation order to SBSI on April 4, terminating the PACBRMA which awarded 353 hectares of protected area in Surigao del Norte to the organization in 2004.

A PACBRMA is a legal instrument entered into by the DENR and tenured migrant groups to conserve land within a protected area for 25 years. Tenured migrants are residents who have been living in the area at least five years before it was proclaimed a protected area.

Upon cancellation of the agreement, the government instructed residents to "self-demolish their houses and to harvest their crops within a reasonable amount of time."

"The whole idea of our approach is to be as humane and as peaceful in terms of this process," DENR Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga said in Filipino during a press briefing on Monday, April 8. "That's why it took a while because we wanted to be sure that there were options available especially for peaceful resettlement."

The following were SBSI's violations of the agreement, according to findings from the DENR's investigation conducted last year:

Found within the PACBRMA area were the following illegal structures:

The DENR originally awarded the PACBRMA to 404 tenured migrant households. It has now ballooned to 1,425 households. According to Nonito Tamayo, regional executive director of DENR Caraga, the number increased in 2019 when an earthquake hit the area and forced locals to relocate.

In September last year, the DENR suspended SBSI's use of the protected area. SBSI had been the subject of Senate hearings which covered allegations of child marriages, sexual abuses, and military training. Senator Risa Hontiveros said in a previous hearing that the alleged practices could have been prevented if the DENR suspended the agreement earlier.

The PACBRMA area formerly under the stewardship of SBSI is part of the protected area in northeastern Mindanao proclaimed by then president Fidel V. Ramos in 1996.

There are 131 PACBRMAs across the country that are currently under investigation. - Rappler.com