The need to protect the environment is not lost on local government units (LGUs), but lack of enough funds to implement programs and local laws are getting in the way of their green campaign.

Sharing their experiences at a forum Thursday, local chief executives said a number of LGUs have crafted local environment codes to monitor land conversion and extraction of natural resources and to address illegal fishing, illegal logging, and deforestation.

However, they have yet to fully enforce these laws because of financial constraints.

Masbate Gov. Elisa Olga Kho said that most LGUs already allocate a huge slice of their internal revenue allotment and local revenues on health services and infrastructure.

Kho told Newsbreak that illegal fishing is a concern in her province, but they do not have enough money to buy equipment and mobilize personnel to guard municipal waters against illegal commercial fishers.

Masbate’s local environment code was approved in 2000 and it has provisions that mandate the creation of the Provincial Office on Environment and Natural Resources Management and the delineation of the municipal water boundaries.

“We want to intensify our campaign against illegal fishing, but we do not have enough money to buy high-speed boats,” Kho said. She added that they need to provide arms to their personnel monitoring their municipal waters because “they are running against illegal fishers who are armed.”

South Cotabato, meanwhile, drafted a local government code in 2005, but has yet to enact it. Vice Gov. Eliordo Ogena said the province does not have enough funds to even hire consultants and conduct public hearings to finetune the draft.

Antonio La Vina, dean of the Ateneo School of Government which organized the forum, said that LGUs that really want to focus on protection their environment should be willing to spend for it.

“It’s a question of priority,” La Vina told Newsbreak. “Although there’s a limit to what they can do, they should also leverage money from national government and from international organizations.”

Some LGUs are able to sustain their environmental programs because of continuous financial support from the local officials.

Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado said that the provincial government allocates 20 percent of their development fund to the Bohol Environment and Management Office (BEMO), which oversees the implementation of environmental laws.

Portions of the revenues from environmental permits issued by the provincial govenrment are also used to fund the BEMO, he said. (Newsbreak)

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