First District Rep. Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin has filed his first bill in the 20th Congress,“An Act Declaring Sapangbato as a Protected Area in the Province of Pampanga, Providing For Its Management And For Other Purposes.”
House Bill No. 2423 aims to ensure the preservation of the ecological biodiversity within the Sapangbato Watershed, located in Barangay Sapangbato, Angeles City, 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.
During his two terms as Angeles City Mayor, Lazatin spearheaded a massive reforestation project in the Sapangbato Watershed, which entailed regular tree-planting activities in the area conducted by Angeles LGU employees and other partner private organizations.
During Lazatin’s two terms as Angeles City Mayor, the Angeles LGU has planted more than 100,000 trees in 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).
