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The Wood-Based Industry’s Efforts Under the Arroyo Administration
Speech of Antonio C. Olizon, President, Philippine Wood Producers Association
During the Ang Minera Award and The Sustainable Development of Natural Resources
Rizal Hall, Malacanang Palace, Manila
June 4, 2010

Sustaining A Green Philippines

Her Excellency, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
We thank our friends from DENR for this opportunity to honor and update President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the wood industry’s contributions toward the sustainability of our country’s natural resources and environment.

By way of introduction, let me state that the Philippine Wood Producers Association or PWPA represents the country’s wood-based industry. Our members are engaged in natural forest management, industrial tree plantation development, and lumber, veneer, plywood and blockboard manufacturing, which include finished articles of wood such as doors, windows and builder’s joinery.

We are proud to say that members in the wood industry have effectively managed and sustained todate close to one million hectares of the country’s 15 million hectares of forestland.

Working in partnership with the DENR under the Integrated Forest Management Agreement or IFMA, our members have persevered to maintain the health and growth of our natural forests and develop industrial tree plantations, thus increasing the supply of wood products. More than these, they have perpetuated our forests and tree plantations, increasing our country’s green cover which in turn sequesters and stores carbon dioxide (CO2) - our most effective weapon against climate change.

Thank you, Madame President, for giving priority to the Climate Change Act. We are optimistic that this law will strengthen efforts to expand further our country’s forest cover and will likewise broaden the public’s awareness on the importance of sustainable forests and the need to combat illegal logging.

Our country’s wood industry has continued its steady growth in spite of successive regional and global economic crises. Credit this to the fact that the domestic market for primary wood products has remained stable; and that the export market for secondary wood products continues to thrive.

Raw materials used by the furniture sector come from our members’ mills and tree plantations and also from small tree farmers. We could easily become self-sufficient in wood if PWPA members would be allowed to operate more vacant or unmanaged forestlands.

Again, thank you, Madame President, for the sound macro-economic fundamentals set by your administration. These have helped us and various other industries survive these financial and economic crises - perhaps better than in other parts of the globe.

Throughout Your Excellency’s administration, the DENR had seven secretaries, who because of their fast successions, may have inevitably made some decisions on policies and regulations which sent cross signals to the industry.

We would however like to single out two of your former DENR secretaries: Secretary Elisea Gozun and Secretary Angelo Reyes. They both believed that a vibrant wood industry results from a strong partnership of government and the private sector.

We believe that Your Excellency’s last appointment in the person of Secretary Horacio Ramos will further advance the cause of our environment’s sustainability. Having risen from the ranks and possessing a balanced view of natural-resource-based industries, Secretary Ramos enjoys the respect of his own constituency and the private sector because of his technical and managerial capability, transparency, fast and systematic way of implementing programs and resolving problems. We salute you, Madam President, for appointing Engr. Ramos as DENR Secretary.

We like to inform you that the Sustainable Forest Management Act or SFMA has been pending since the 10th Congress. It passed the Lower House in the 12th and this 14th Congress. However, the Senate still has to act on it.

Madame President, we look forward to working with you and our nation’s leaders again in the 15th Congress. We assure you of our 100 per cent support so that your and our dream of a “Green Philippines” does not just remain a slogan but a reality for all Filipinos today and for future generations.

Please continue to champion the cause of forestry, climate change and the environment.

The officers and members of the Philippine Wood Producers Association would like to say, “MARAMING SALAMAT, AMING PANGULO.”