Master_thesis

Table 6. Timber Licenses: FY 1970 – 75 to
CY 1990
Year
Timber License Agreement
No. Area▫ AAC♦
CY 1990 75 2,812 4,730
1989 99 4,259 6,315
1988 110 4,421 6,913
1987 137 5,404 8,204
1986 142 5,675 8,231
1985 148 6,093 8,903
1984 142 5,878 9,027
1983 125 5,392 9,228
1982 186 6,709 12,879
1981 184 6,539 13,322
1980 191 6,500 13,699
1979 198 6,776 13,741
1978 207 7,060 14,672
1977 230 8,279 15,921
1976 219 8,005 15,592
FY 1974 - 1975 171 6,921 13,736
1973 - 1974 171 7,305 13,589
1972 - 1973 120 5,252 10,373
1971 - 1972 64 - 7,279
1970 - 1971 63 3,571 5,777
Source: 2000 Philippine Forestry Statistics, DENR
▫ Thousand hectares of forest area
♦ AAC in thousand cubic meters
Under Marcos regime, logging
concessionaires grew. He authorized the
concessionaires by TLAs and issued shortterm
“special permits” to cut trees as a
means to strengthen and maintain his
political network (Vitug, 1993). Table 6
shows how TLAs increased in number
during his political term from 1970 to
1986. The highest number of TLAs ever
recorded was during after the declaration of
the Code, including the forest area and
annual allowable cut (AAC). Furthermore,
between 1974 and 1978, export tax on logs
was suspended though the forestry sector
had been an important part of the export
economy during that time (Boado, 1988).
These are some specific examples of “policy failure” (Gupta et al., 1995) and some are
epitomized by the Revised Forestry Code. As soon as the government knew that there was
not enough timber to be harvested, it decided to export only processed timber. After the
revolution in 1986, the Aquino government took over the responsibilities of the former
coalition. The change in government ushered new changes in natural resources and
environmental administration by virtue of E.O. 192 (see chapter 1). Along with these
changes was “Our Common Future” A publication that gained wide recognition in the
forestry sector and influenced the creation of the Philippine Strategy for Sustainable
Development (PSSD) (Amado, 1994). In 1989, through Cabinet Resolution No. 37, the
Aquino government endorsed and approved the adoption of the conceptual framework of
PSSD as a basic response to the global call of sustainable development. And one of the
auxiliary objectives of the PSSD was to develop a management program to preserve the
country’s heritage of biological resources (DENR, 1990).
47