LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – A coordinating body formed for the sustainable management of the Agno River Basin is set to be created by the Provincial Government of Pangasinan and various regional government line agencies.
The provincial government’s participation to the Agno River Basin Inter-Agency Coordinating Body (ARBIACB) has already been granted by the Provincial Board in a session at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall, Capitol Compound here recently.
Governor Amado “Pogi” I. Espino, III has been authorized by the august body to sign a memorandum of cooperation that will create a coordinating and advisory board crafting policies for the supervision of the river basin.
Such was sought by the provincial resolution sponsored by Board Members Liberato Villegas of the fourth district and Noel Bince of the sixth district to push forward the provincial government’s commitment to support the ARBIACB.
“The present state of the Agno River Basin calls for immediate rehabilitation, protection and conservation, therefore an urgent implementation of a sustainable river basin management in the area should be established,” the resolution reads.
Villegas said that this collaboration among government agencies will link the agencies to protect, rehabilitate, develop, manage and utilize natural resources within the river basin.
The provincial chief executive is set to sign with the regional line agencies of the three regions encompassed by the country’s fifth largest river: Ilocos Region, Central Luzon and the Cordillera Administrative Region.
Other involved agencies include: Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of the Interior and Local Government, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Agriculture, National Commission on Indigenous People, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Office of Civil Defense, Environmental Management Bureau, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Department of Science and Technology and National Irrigation Administration.
On the floor with Villegas and Bince at the session were Board Members: Napoleon Fontelera, Jr., Antonio Sison, Raul Sison, Nestor Reyes, Angel Baniqued, Jr., Generoso Tulagan, Jr., Jeremy Agerico Rosario, Rosary Gracia Perez-Tababa, Clemente Arboleda, Jr., and Salvador Perez, Jr.
Presiding over the session was Vice Gov. Jose Ferdinand Calimlim, Jr.
By Dexter A. See
