Philippine lawmakers approve bill to create Sierra Madre Mountain Authority

The House Panel on Government Enterprises and Privatization approved a substitute bill that creates the Sierra Madre Mountain Range Authority (SMMRA), a government-owned or controlled corporation linked to the Office of the President. Championed by House Speaker Bojie Dy and presented by Bukidnon First District Representative Jose Manuel Alba, the authority seeks to address the loss of 130,000 hectares of forest and the 800,000 hectares under mining claims since 2003.

SMMRA will serve as a unified, science-based governance body, drafting a 25-year master plan for land use, watershed protection and disaster risk reduction, with revisions every three years. It will not replace existing agencies but will complement them, and it will prohibit new commercial mining applications while mandating a gradual phase-out of current operations with required restoration plans. Financially, the GOCC will be self-sustaining, receiving 10% of local environmental fees, penalties, forfeitures, grants and income from a “Sierra Madre Nature Credit System” that obliges medium and large businesses to purchase nature credits or invest in resilience projects.