Mangroves are being destroyed both as a source of exporting hardwood, and also as a way for entrepreneurs to develop prawn farms. This type of venture will make few Filipinos extremely rich. But at the same time, other Filipinos starve as a result. Prawn farming replaced milkfish farming, milkfish being a basic food staple in the diets of many poor people. Displacement of indigenous peoples due to deforestation is of great concern.
Corruption plays a major role in deforestation.
An anti- logging task force named a province governor, Faustino Dy, as a culprit of illegal logging. The task force confiscated millions of pesos worth of logs and logging equipment. One solution to the problem of illegal logging was to deputize Catholic priests to apprehend thieves. The priests are deputized as forest officers, and they see the role of the church in the Philippines to be on the front line of the environmental battle that is occurring in the countryside. The church, as an institution, has been enlisted by the government to keep their parishioners informed of environmental issues, as well as to organize and advocate ecological causes.