As one could learn from news reports from the Philippine News Agency, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has committed 5 million PHP for the restoration of the world-renowned Rice Terraces of the Philippines in Ifugao province.
DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje said that the amount was included in a Memorandum of Agreement signed among the DENR, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), National Commission of the Philippines (NatCom) represented by its Secretary General Dr. Virgina Miralao; and the provincial government of Ifugao, represented by its Governor Eugene Balitang.
Paje said the DENR's commitment was to provide assistance to the local government of Ifugao in rehabilitating the terraces, especially in Batad which has been assessed by experts as the "most damaged".
The DENR appreciates the natural and cultural heritage that the rice terraces bear, and the Filipino people are one with the provincial government in recognizing the need to reserve the deterioration of this heritage site, especially those areas that were damaged by typhoons.
