MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday morning called attention to deforestation in the Sierra Madre that he saw during an aerial inspection over Marikina and Antipolo to inspect damage brought about by typhoon Enteng.

Social media users from across Rizal province, where Antipolo is, posted photos and videos of flooding over the past week, with some saying flooding has gotten worse and has reached areas not usually affected by floods.

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“Everywhere puntahan mo after the storm kapag nakita mo yung gumuguho, tignan mo lang sa taas. Last year hindi kalbo yan, ngayon kalbo na,” Marcos Jr. said in a press conference on Wednesday.

(Everywhere you look that has been affected by the landslide, you will see denuded areas that used to have trees)

The President noted the need for government to be much stricter in the enforcement of environmental laws.

“Because now it’s not just a question of illegal activities, it’s life and death already. Maraming namamatay sa ginagawa nila (Many people die because if their activities)… the laws are all there, it’s the implementation and enforcement (that is a problem)," he said.

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The Philippines had 7,226,394 hectares of forests in 2020 — the latest available government data — against 7,014,152 hectares of forest cover in 2015.

Most forests in the Philippines are open forests, which the emvironment department defines as having "discontinuous tree layer but with a coverage of at least 10 percent and less than 40 percent" that may have grass for grazing.

'MAPPING OUT GOVERNMENT RESPONSE'

Marcos Jr said the aerial survey was meant to help effectively map out the government’s response to flood-affected communities.

“The first thing we’d like to look for is where are the areas that are still under water para makita natin kung saan tayo pwedeng pumasok, (so we can see where we could already respond to) na what I’m really trying to assess is where are the areas that we can already service," Marcos Jr. said.

"Because at the very beginning wala tayo nagagawa for the storm to pass, ngayon nakalabas na, so titignan natin kung saan ang mga area na nangangailangan at pwedeng pasukin kung hindi pwedeng pasukin kung ano ang gagawin natin para makapasok na mga asset," he added. 

(At the very beginning we have done nothing for the storm to pass, now that it's out, so we're going to look at the areas which urgently need help, and which areas we could enter in. If we can't enter these areas, we'll explore how our assets could enter these areas.)

The President wanted to proceed to inspect the effects of the typhoon in Bulacan but the weather prevented them from doing so.

“Buti nakalipad tayo… [W]e were able to look at Antipolo at Marikina but that is as far as we go,” he said.

•Agri damage due to Enteng pegged at P350.85 million

Enteng has exited the Philippines but is currently strengthening the southwest monsoon, which has brought rains to parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila.

Authorities say the death toll from the storm is now at 15, with most of the casualties coming from Rizal province.