There are a few probable reasons why the country’s protected areas – there are 240 of them – can easily be intruded into by scheming persons under the guise of “investors.” Why is this so? Under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources department order 2007-17, the protected areas are allowed to be used for agro-forestry, ecotourism facilities, camp sites, communication and power facilities, irrigation canals, aquaculture, and for weather and other scientific monitoring facilities. As one can see, those are open areas that can be possibly exploited by unscrupulous groups, including poachers.

Cinco, E. B. (2018, May 11). Government-protected areas leave avenues for exploitation. Manila Bulletin, p. 10.