Pampanga First District Rep. Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr. filed a resolution on July 29, 2025 to rename the reforested portion of the Sapangbato Watershed in Angeles City after Renato “Abong” Tayag, Jr.
“Maragul ya po saup ng Abong Tayag keng kekatamung adbokasiyang magtanam kening Sapangbato Watershed, anya dapat mu pung kilalanan tamu ing kayang kontribusyon,” Lazatin said.
Tayag was a Kapampangan environmental advocate who dedicated his life to the protection of natural resources. He was the founder of the Abacan River and Angeles Watershed Advocacy Council, Inc. (ARAW-ACI), one of the leading non-government organizations working for the preservation and reforestation of the Sapangbato Watershed.
In 2019, during Lazatin’s term as Mayor, the Angeles City Government forged a partnership with ARAW-ACI for the Sapangbato Watershed reforestation program.
The reforestation kicked off in June 2020, initially targeting only 45,000 endemic trees to be planted in the area. By year 2025, through the partnership with ARAW-ACI, a total of 145,041 seedlings have been planted.
On July 29, 2025, Lazatin also filed House Bill. No. 2423, “An Act Declaring Sapangbato as a Protected Area in the Province of Pampanga, Providing For Its Management And For Other Purposes.”
HB 2423 aims to ensure the preservation of the ecological biodiversity within the Sapangbato Watershed through its establishment as a Protected Area.
Among other things, HB 2423 prohibits poaching, killing, destroying, or disturbing any wildlife, including private lands, within the protected area; cutting, gathering, removing or collecting timber within the protected area, including private lands, without necessary permit, authorization, certification of planted trees or exemption; dumping, throwing, using, or causing to be dumped into or places in the protected area of any toxic chemical, noxious or poisonous substance or non-biodegradable material, untreated sewage or animal waste or products; prospecting, hunting or otherwise locating hidden treasure within the protected area; and purchasing or selling, mortgaging or leasing lands or other portions of the protected area which are covered by any tenurial instrument.
Under the proposed bill, a Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) shall also be created to manage the Sapangbato Watershed.
The Sapangbato Watershed covers a land area of 546 hectares in the uplands of Barangay Sapangbato, which was identified as Protected Agricultural Land, delineated from the Network of Protected Areas for Agriculture and Agro-industrial Development (NPAAAD) of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) of the Department of Agriculture and with a specific designation as Fragile Agricultural Land (Watershed Protection).
(File photo shows Lazatin and Tayag during a meeting on August 17, 2023.)
