by BusinessMirror - July 14, 2016
Just like mining and coal-fired
power projects, land-reclamation ventures will also have to go through the eye
of a needle under the watch of Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez.
In an interview with the Business-
Mirror, Lopez said she will consult with experts and environmental groups about
development projects that involve urban expansion through massive land
reclamation.
“The PRA [Philippine Reclamation
Authority] gave me a presentation on Tuesday. During the
presentation, they told me that they don’t do anything without addressing
environmental issues. But maybe I should talk to the other side also,” she
said, referring to those who oppose land reclamation.
Lopez had started to tighten the
screws on mining companies. Aside from a mining audit, Lopez had ordered
a moratorium on the approval of new mining projects and wants the Philippine
Mining Act amended to increase the government’s and communities’ share in
mining profits. She also expressed her disapproval to the open-pit mining
method, which is the preferred method of large-scale mining companies.
Massive land-reclamation projects
are being strongly opposed by some quarters, particularly environmental groups,
because—like mining—they cause massive environmental destruction. Aside from
destroying coastal and marine ecosystems, land-reclamation projects, they say,
also cause people, particularly fishermen, to suffer.
The PRA is an attached agency of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that regulates
land-reclamation projects.
As chief of the DENR, Lopez would
also be making hard decisions on land reclamation that would eventually fall
into her lap.
The PRA only flashes the green light
for any land-reclamation project upon the approval or clearance from concerned
government agencies, particularly the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau,
which issues the environmental compliance certificate, as well as the DENR’s
Biodiversity Management Bureau and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources of the Department of Agriculture.
There are currently eight massive
land-reclamation projects in the pipeline, some of which are being evaluated by
the PRA, while others are awaiting final approval either by the Office of the
President or the National Economic Development Authority.
Most of these land-reclamation
projects are public-private partnership ventures involving vast tracts of
coastal and marine areas, and would, most likely, happen within the next 10
years upon final approval.
In Cebu alone, a growth center in
Central Philippines, land reclamation has been happening, threatening the
integrity of marine ecosystem in the province, including the Tanon Strait
Protected Seascape, a major fishing ground and an important migratory pathway
of marine wildlife, like whale sharks, locally called butanding; dolphins; and
turtles, or pawikan.
Oceana Philippines, an international
ocean-conservation advocacy group, has appealed to President Duterte to stop
the “illegal” land-reclamation projects in the province.
According to Lopez, she will consult
experts and environmental groups to get inputs before coming up with a policy pronouncement
on land reclamation.
“I really have to find out why they
don’t like it [land reclamation], and then find out what the environmental
[groups have to say]. I am not really yet through with all the
facts. But I was assured by the PRA that they follow environmental
rules. Let me find out,” she said.
Clemente Bautista, national
coordinator of the Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment
(Kalikasan-PNE), said Lopez can consult several groups that could help her on
the issue of land reclamation.
These include the People’s Network
for the Integrity of Coastal Habitat and Ecosystems, or People’s NICHE; Save
Laguna Lake Movement; and Save Manila Bay Network.
“These groups have consistently and
successfully protected our coastal areas, particularly Manila Bay and Laguna
Bay, where the biggest reclamation projects are located,” Bautista said in an
interview.
“We are more than willing to help
the DENR Secretary and the Duterte administration in [crafting] their policies
and programs, as long as it work toward the protection of our water resources
and ecosystems while respecting the rights of our people and communities,”
Bautista said.
Kalikasan-PNE believes that there is
no need to reclaim coastal and lakeshore areas, noting that the country has
more idle lands to develop if the intention is to establish mass housing, or
new sites for commercial and industrial use.
“Reclamation is double-edge
environmental tragedy. First, you need to devastate mountains or land areas to
get landfill and reclamation materials and, second, devastate water ecosystem
by filling them with soil,” Bautista said.
For its part, the militant
Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya-Pilipinas)
is urging Lopez to include the rural people, including the fishermen and
farmers, in her planned public consultations on land and coastal reclamation.
Sought for reaction, Pamalakaya,
through Salvador France, its vice chairman, said farmers and fishermen are the
front-line casualties of land reclamation. The rural people are always at the
receiving end of negative effects of environmental degradation.
“Land- and coastal-based
reclamations jeopardize not only the environment, but primarily the lives of
the fishers and farmers,” France added.
He said land-reclamation projects
always lead to displacement of fishers and farmers from their main source of
livelihood.
“It fuels demolition of fishing and
farming communities to give way to money-making businesses at the expense of
rural people’s tranquil lives,” France said.
According to France, productive
fishing and farming zones are turned into money-making hub by businesses
pushing for land reclamation, benefiting only the rich.
“We want a propeople and genuine
environmental protection that will promote sustainable livelihood and
development to the people,” he said.
The group reminded Lopez to prohibit
not only wanton large-scale mining operations, but also other activities that
destroy the environment and the lives of the people.
Kalikasan-PNE and Pamalakaya have been
backing Lopez’s environmental advocacy, particularly her tough stance against
coal and mining.
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