SP to plan help for woodcraft

industry’s permit compliance

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—An industry made up of over 200 furniture shop and woodcraft workers face penalties and even closure, as the government environment department issued notices of violations to these establishments, for failure to secure necessary permits.

But as for Sangguniang Panlalawigan Committee on Environment chair Jiselle Rae Villamor told the collegial body in session last week that she learned from the Balik-Bohol Technology Business Incubator of the local state college that wood furniture makers have received notices of violation from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for failure to secure permits like the Environmental Compliance Certificate and Wool Processing Plant Permit.

She wants to know if the local wood furniture workers knew all along, that this was a requirement.

Standing to protect the livelihoods of hundreds of Boholano wood furniture workers, Villamor said many of our small furiniture makers, our micro, small and medium enterprises are unaware of these requirements. They operated in good faith, believing that securing business permits for their LGUs and registering with the Bureau of Internal Revenue were sufficient.

She presumed that the challenge may not be the wood workers’ willingness to comply, but the difficulty of compliance itself.

She said the process of compliance is often complex, technical and costly, going through many offices, prepare documents and possibly employ consultants to be able to comply, something that could be beyond the capacity of many small operators.

Now fearing the real threat of closure of over 200 small businesses, loss of thousands of livelihood and the source of pride which is the world-renowned craftsmanship, creativity and identity as a people, BM Villamor said the regulatory issue has just become a livelihood issue.

To capture this before it would be too late, the lady lawyer legislator asks the provincial law-making body to come together and identify gaps in the awareness and implementation, purportedly to prevent similar issues of non-compliance.

She also wants, with appropriate groups to explore mechanisms for the local government to assist in the compliance and hopefully to develop policy measures hat balance environmental protection with economic survival.

To this, Villamor wants the matter referred to SP Committee on Trade and Industry, Committee on Environment to jointly conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation and do the necessary steps to help.

This is not about choosing between environment and livelihood, this is about ensuring that we achieve both-responsibly, fairly and humanely, she said.

Good governance means taking compliance possible, not punitive, she capped her privilege speech. (PIAbohol)

KNOCKING ON WOOD. Before the wood furniture industry stakeholders could be penalized and their wood working plants closed, BM Jiselle Rae Villamor wants the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to step and mediate, possibly helping the woodcrafts operators comply with the requirements, as penalizing and closing them could mean thousands of jobs lost and, the death of an industry that helps keep the unique Boholano identity as master woodcraftsmen intact. (PIABohol)