The Misamis Oriental province allocated more than PHP5 million in its budget to hire additional staff to safeguard natural protected areas.

On Monday morning, Governor Peter Unabia signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Northern Mindanao (DENR-10) Executive Director Arleigh Adorable.

Under the MOA, the DENR will hire 25 forest protection officers, 15 land examiners, four “bantay lasang” or forest watchers and two “bantay dagat” or sea watchers.

They will work within the province to safeguard its identified protected areas, with an initial contract from July to December.

Unabia said the priority under the MOA is to conserve, protect and preserve the province’s watersheds.

Since most of the water sources in the province and this city come from river tributaries from Bukidnon province, Unabia said he has also engaged with Indigenous Peoples community living near the watersheds.

“According to the United States Agency for International Development, we face a water crisis in the province. Yes, we are already dealing with a climate crisis, but when it comes to water, we need to intervene as soon as possible,” Unabia said. (PNA)