[New from the Press] Power from the Forest: The Politics of Logging Revised Edition

Revised edition of acclaimed investigative book Power from the Forest is now off the press

Multi-awarded journalist and bestselling author Marites Dañguilan Vitug releases the revised edition of her investigative work on Philippine forestry, Power from the Forest: The Politics of Logging. Reissued by the Ateneo University Press, this book is now available for purchase.

Power from the Forest tells the story of logging in the Philippines, focusing on the exercise of power, who wields it, who benefits from it, and how it affects the forests and the people who depend on them.

First published in 1993, the book highlights the dangerous intertwining of forests and politics, especially during the time of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who used the forests as a political tool by granting and revoking logging licenses. The insurgency war bred new logging interests, including rebels and the military, who made the forest their battleground and sources of income.  

Despite the gloomy foreboding, there are shafts of light in the book. Indigenous peoples and rural folks who have lived in or around these forests are starting to stir, as well as a growing number of non-governmental organizations and concerned individuals.

The revised edition of Power from the Forest includes annotations from Vitug that informs the readers of the most recent developments about the political actors she wrote about in the first edition of the book. In the foreword written by Antonio La Viña, he emphasizes not only the historical value of the book but also the policy lessons it imparts to those still involved in saving and enhancing our forests. He writes, “this new generation [of environmental and climate justice activists] needs to know the past, understand the power dynamics that led to the destruction of our forests, so they are more effective that those of us who fought these battles in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. This new edition of Power from the Forest should help them do that.”

According to Ruben Carranza, the former commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, "Power from the Forest: The Politics of Logging is a comprehensively researched book that served those of us in the Presidential Commission on Good Government. Its re-issuance comes at a vital time: the Marcoses have returned to power. Climate justice activists and anti-corruption and human rights advocates will need Vitug’s book as a resource for holding the Marcoses accountable for the damage they have done to Philippine forests."

Power from the Forest is a must-read for anyone interested in the environment, Philippine politics, and the complex relationships between them.

Power from the Forest: The Politics of Logging Revised Edition by Marites Dañguilan Vitug is published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press. The book retails at PHP 395 and is available at unipress.ateneo.edu and the Press’s official Lazada and Shopee stores.

Category: Politics & Society
Language: English
Price: P395.00
Get your copy in paperback: website | Lazada and Shopee stores

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About the Author

Marites Dañguilan Vitug is a multiawarded journalist and the bestselling author of numerous books, including her latest, Rock Solid: How the Philippines Won Its Maritime Case against China (2018). She is editor at large of the news website Rappler.