No more tragic a sentence on the future of Philippine forests has ever been uttered than that of the Vice-President. ”To plant five million hectares is no mean joke,” he said. ”This area, equivalent to 17 percent of the total land area of the Philippines, make up our denuded lands.” How this came about is the saddest aspect of the failure of the past administrations to enforce the laws and to preserve the richest resources of the country. The kaingineros and the ruthless adventurers in the logging industry rode and are still riding (on the basis of licenses secured through influence) roughshod over the stringent laws which protect our forests.