By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Western Visayas has recommended the issuance of a cease and desist order (CDO) on the coal washing plant of the Semirara Mining Corp. for allegedly polluting Semirara Island's waters and mangroves.
In a memorandum issued by its Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) to the Pollution and Adjudication Board endorsing the complaint of residents against the alleged pollution, the DENR said there was “prima facie evidence” against the company on the “disposal of coal material and tailings into the Suja Creek and to the sea.”
The memorandum dated February 15 and issued by DENR-EMB Regional Director Bienvenido Lipayon also recommended that the company be required to institute interim and long-term measures to prevent a recurrence of the problem.
Residents of Sitio Bigo in Barangay Alegria, one of three villages of the island, had earlier filed a complaint alleging that coastal resources including mangroves have died or have been contaminated by wastes coming from the coal washing plant of SMC.
Semirara is one of the nine islands comprising Caluya town in Antique at the northern end of Panay Island. It is considered one of the richest fishing grounds in the area.
The residents alleged in their petition that silt has covered their coastline and mangroves as waste coming from the company's coal washing plant goes directly to the sea because the siltation pond has not been operational for a long time.
The company, which has been operating one of the biggest coal mines in Asia on the 5,500-hectare island, has repeatedly denied that the company's siltation pond has been non-functional.
It said that the siltation was caused by several typhoons that have affected the island which have triggered runoffs from old coal blending stockpiles.
The company also said that it has implemented corrective measures including the construction of a wall along the stockpile to prevent the erosion of coal towards the shoreline. It also said that its coal tailings pond has undergone maintenance and improvement to contain the tailings from the coal washing plant.
But the EMB said the discharged of coal materials from the coal blending stockpile and tailings from the coal washing plant violated Section 27 of the Clean Water Act (Republic Act 9275) which prohibits the discharging or depositing of materials into bodies of water that could cause pollution or obstruct the natural flow of water.
“The respondent (SMC) failed to provide the necessary barrier or catchment to prevent the coal blending stockpile from being washout by runoff to the receiving water body and likewise operating improperly the tailings pond serving the coal washing plant thereby discharging black silt materials to the water body,” Lipayon said in his memorandum.
The EMB has also recommended that DENR issue a fine of P45,000 against the SMC for violating three conditions of its environmental certificate of compliance (ECC).
The EMB said a study should be conducted to determine the extent of damage and destruction of seagrasses and aquatic resources. An inventory and rehabilitation of mangroves should also be conducted.
The Multi-Partite Monitoring Team (MMT), headed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is set hold a meeting and field investigation in Semirara on April 16-18 to further investigate the allegations.
A separate and parallel investigation will also be conducted by environmental groups and scientists upon the request of the complainants.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Semirara Disaster
Map of Semirara Island, Sitio Bigo, Brgy. Alegria is south of the shiploader. The Unong Pit was the 1st operated in the 1980s until 1998, the 2nd pit (Panian) is still in operation. Himalian is the proposed 3rd pit.
Backdrop is the 15 MW coal-fired power plant. The black-bottom of the fisherman’s banca indicates the coal residue in the waters.
Virtual reclamation caused by the refuse / tailings from the coal washing facility. Note the black color of the sea with coal-bits lining the shore.
Coal bits brought by the tide to the white coralline shore.
Seaweeds suffer from the coal residue.
Seaweeds is a major livelihood of the communities.
Even the fisherfolks suffer from the coal-residues with sore skins.
Dying mangroves cut, burned and bulldozed over.
Former mangrove areas that were bulldozed have been fenced-off and planted with coconut trees.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
A Statement on Coal Waste in Brgy.Alegria, Island Semirara
THE ANTIQUE OUTDOORS, INC.
2ND Floor Pedriña Nietes & Liu Chiang Law Offices
Business Park, San Jose de Buenavista 5700, Antique
Tel/Fax (036) 5405585 / (036) 3201980 email: taoincorporated@yahoo.com
2ND Floor Pedriña Nietes & Liu Chiang Law Offices
Business Park, San Jose de Buenavista 5700, Antique
Tel/Fax (036) 5405585 / (036) 3201980 email: taoincorporated@yahoo.com
A STATEMENT ON COAL WASTE IN BRGY. ALEGRIA, ISLAND OF SEMIRARA
After years of muffled grievance – amidst the haze of coal dust – a community finally has enough. A hundred or so residents of Sitio Bigo, Alegria in September 2008 signed a petition against coal mining pollution in their community. The petition, addressed to DENR Sec. Lito Atienza, bewails of the destruction of mangrove forest and the contamination of the beach coming from the coal washing plant of the Semirara Mining Co. (SMC). Their livelihoods of fishing and seaweed growing have been badly affected due to the contamination. It endangers their health.
Coal mining operations on Semirara Island over the years produce many unresolved issues on pollution, destruction of marine ecosystems, false promises and displacement of communities, and so on. Coal itself is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Reacting to the issue appearing in a major daily, SMC accuses complainants of maligning the company so that it would be pressured to give money to them. In effect, SMC tells us that it is falling prey from extortionist people of Alegria. The SMC really knows how to rub salt in the wound.
SMC went on to say that a typhoon destroyed the mangroves and that they have replanted them. Thanks but no thanks. Mangroves have withstood nature’s fury long before SMC started it operations on the island. On the contrary, mangroves stand to protect coastal communities from strong waves, winds and floods. Of course, mangroves and other marine ecosystems stand no chance against man’s greed and blatant disregard of law.
Questions arise from this issue. What did the Multi-partite Monitoring Team (MMT) do to this problem? The destruction caused by the SMC is a palpable violation of environmental laws. Inaction on the part of MMT constitutes neglect. This culpability warrants legal sanctions, both for SMC and the MMT.
In an interview over a radio station, Mayor Reynante Lim of Caluya is too fast to SMC’s defense. He said the complaints are fabricated. Why his hundred or so constituents would do such a fabrication, he did not explain. Perhaps the many pictures that show mangroves dying on black silt were fakes. Or the signatures in the petition are forged? Or perhaps his true constituency lies on SMC?
Only Barangay Captain Ronald Lavega of Alegria has the courage to raise an accusing finger. In an era of double faced politicians, and on an island where M-14-totting “security men” roam around, his is a rare display of true leadership. We know that not only guns mute the weeping on this island. Cash clinks loud to silence all – from the local government units and concerned government agencies.
If the government fails to uphold its mandate, the people hope the church to step in. Pope Benedict himself issued an edict deploring environmental pollution as one of the new seven (7) deadly sins. This is not to mention greed.
It is puzzling the SMC could not spend on putting up a working washing plant or rehabilitating the ecosystems. It is benevolent enough to donate for the construction of churches or other church projects. Are the parishioners puzzled too over the silence of the “moral force”?
To whom then the beleaguered residents of Sitio Bigo turn? The Sangguniang Panlalawigan so far listened. We commend them for passing a resolution indorsing the petition, thru its sponsor Hon. Bobot Santillan.
We hope that, in a discordant political landscape, the SP Members remain steadfast over this concern. Environmental protection transcends political affiliation. This is about climate change, the conservation of our natural heritage, the future of our children, even unborn. This is about justice long past due.
We call the attention of Governor Perez and Congressman Javier. The issue provides opportunity for both of them to prove their consistency on environmental protection. Or at least to prove that their lowly constituents enjoy their protection. Not of a pampered company.
Moreover, it is to prove that Antiquenos did not squander their struggle against the shameless waste-dumping proposal by the same polluters on the same island nine years ago. Despite of their leaders.
Let truth and justice prevail on Semirara Island. Environmental laws are the most violated and neglected of all laws. We call on the rehabilitation of the destroyed marine ecosystems and the compensation of the affected communities and let the violators, including government officials guilty of misfeasance, answer the full force of the law.
Friday, February 20, 2009
DMCI’s ‘CLEAN COAL’ a farce!
Upper right picture shows the typical shoreline of the Caluya group of islands (source: http://www.exploreiloilo.com/caluya-a-paradise-beyond-boracay.html).
The main source of livelihood of the people of Caluya, Antique are fishing and seaweeds production. In 1998, DMCI opened the second pit, Panian, in Brgy. Semirara (upper left picture) by open strip mining. Semirara coal are used mainly by power and cement plants. Because of the outcry on the environmental and health impacts of burning coal, DMCI adopted the marketing gimmick of ‘CLEAN COAL’ technology. Literally, DMCI started washing the coal of impurities in 2005.However, the wastes from the coal-washing facility were dumped to the sea turning the white beach into black (picture below) killing the mangroves and seagrasses and driving away all marine life including the Dugong. This illustrates there is no ‘CLEAN COAL’ – but blatant ‘green washing’ gimmicks to fool the public.
The residents petitioned DENR Secretary Atienza in September 2008 to compell DMCI to rehabilitate the area, provide alternative livelihood to the fisherfolks and compensate the affected communities for damages.
DENR issued DMCI a ‘Notice of Violation’ and scheduled an MMT (multipartite monitoring team) field investigation on March 16-18, 2009 and a hearing on the EGF (environmental guarantee fund) on March 19. DMCI is now trying to cover the area by bulldozing topsoil and planting coconut trees.
Expose DMCI’s environmental crimes!
Justice to the people of Semirara!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Semirara Mining Corp. Plans To Export 2.5 Mln Coal Mine This Year
Mining Exploration News
Semirara Mining Corp., owned by the Consunji family, plans to export 2.5 million metric tons of coal this year, company officials said.
Cesar Villanueva, marketing manager, told reporters that Semirara would export coal to India and Thailand.
Cesar Villanueva, marketing manager, told reporters that Semirara would export coal to India and Thailand.
He said Semirara Mining aimed to raise production to 5 million MT this year, with half of the output to be sold in the local market and the other half to be shipped out.
An official earlier said the company was focusing its attention on India, China and Hong Kong for the coal exports. Semirara had exported some 800,000 MT to the three markets.
Semirara’s local customers, meanwhile, include Global Power, a member of the Metrobank Group of Companies, Mindanao coal plant owned by STEAG State Power, Aboitiz Group Asia-Pacific Energy Corp., majority-owned by Formosa Heavy Industries Corp. of Taiwan, cement plants and other companies.
The company supplied the requirements of the 600-megawatt Calaca plant in Batangas until the deterioration of the power facility.
Suez Energy of France, the company that won and later forfeited the auction for the Calaca plant, claimed that the use of coal from Semirara to fire the facility contributed to the severe deterioration of power facility.
Villanueva said Semirara had started exporting coal to India by batches of around 50,000 MT per shipment.
Villanueva said the company “bought new equipment” to increase its production volume target this year, which is about 50 percent higher than 3 million MT in 2008.
He said declining oil prices in the world market had cut down local coal prices by 30 percent.
The Energy Department earlier extended Semirara Mining’s coal operating contract in Antique by another 15 years to 2027.
Semirara Mining incorporated on Feb. 26, 1980 and offered its shares to the public in 1983. On July 11, 1977, the government, through the Energy Development Board, now the Energy Department, awarded a 35-year coal operating contract to a consortium that subsequently assigned the coal operating agreement to Semirara.
The coal operating contract, which was amended by an agreement dated June 8, 1983, gave the company the exclusive right to conduct exploration, development and coal mining operations on Semirara Island until 2012.
The mining company is one of the four major subsidiaries of DMCI Holdings, the investment vehicle that consolidated all construction business, construction component companies and related interests of the Consunji family.
The other major subsidiaries of DMCI are D.M. Consunji Inc., DMCI Project Developers Inc. and Atlantic Gulf and Pacific Co. of Manila Inc.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Semirara to boost coal exports by 25%
The company, a unit of DMCI Holdings Inc., told the Philippine Stock Exchange it expects coal export sales to reach more than 2 million tons in 2009 from 1.6 million tons this year.
Semirara started exporting coal last year to reduce its dependence on local consumers, such as the country's largest power generation firm National Power Corp (Napocor).
In May, the company said it plans to spend P1.5 billion this year to acquire new equipment to help expand annual capacity by 500,000 tons starting this year to meet rising demand overseas.
Total Semirara coal sales for 2007 rose 72 percent to 3.575 million tons. Of this, 800,000 tons was exported to China, India and Hong Kong and the rest sold domestically.
Semirara intends to raise production by one million metric tons a year and double exports this year after it got an income tax holiday from the Board of Investments.Semirara vice chairman Isidro Consunji said in an interview yesterday that they have already spent $25 million to acquire more equipment to allow the company to raise production.He said production this year will be a little over 4 million MT from 3.5 million MT last year and up to over 5 million MT next year.Consunji explained that Semirara had been hesitant to raise production since the higher their profits are, the higher the rate of royalties and taxes they had to pay the government.He said this changed when the BoI granted them an income tax holiday for the next six years for production above 2.5 million metric tons.
Meanwhile, Semirara also expects to double export volume this year to 1.6 million MT from 800,000 MT in 2007. Consunji added that they may ship more than 2 million MT overseas next year.He said they have received proposals for coal supply agreements from Korea and Japan. Currently, Semirara's exports go to China and India which has strong demand and buyers there will absorb everything they can produce.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp.
COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale, Cengage Learning
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Navy, DMCI conduct search operation for MV Lake Paoay
By Maricar M. Calubiran
Presidential Assistant for Panay and Guimaras Raul Banias said the Philippine Navy and the DM Consunji Inc. (DMCI) are currently conducting search operation to locate M/V Lake Paoay after it capsized in the waters of Carles when Typhoon Frank hit Iloilo.
Banias said DMCI is exerting efforts to locate the sunken vessel being the one that chartered the cargo vessel. The cargo ship was chartered by the DMCI to transport coal from Semirara Island to Toledo in Cebu for its coal-fired power plant. The cargo ship left Semirara night of June 19.
DMCI has been chartering the service of Lake Paoay to ferry coal from Semirara to different point of destinations for almost 10 years. The cargo ship has a capacity of 500,000 tons. The DMCI has an emergency order of coal for the power plant in Cebu when the sea vessel went to Antique.
Banias did not elaborate on the manner of the search operation being undertaken in the town of Carles. Carles is 147.6 kilometers north of Iloilo. It is a coastal town with 33 barangays including island-barangays. The town has rich fishing grounds.
Banias said apart from the search operation effort, the DMCI assured the families of the fatalities of a financial assistance. He did not say on how much each family will receive as cash assistance. The cargo ship has some 24 crews.
Some of the bodies of the crews of MV Lake Paoay were recovered in the Masbate. It was not immediately known on how many of the crews were found dead.
Presidential Assistant for Panay and Guimaras Raul Banias said the Philippine Navy and the DM Consunji Inc. (DMCI) are currently conducting search operation to locate M/V Lake Paoay after it capsized in the waters of Carles when Typhoon Frank hit Iloilo.
Banias said DMCI is exerting efforts to locate the sunken vessel being the one that chartered the cargo vessel. The cargo ship was chartered by the DMCI to transport coal from Semirara Island to Toledo in Cebu for its coal-fired power plant. The cargo ship left Semirara night of June 19.
DMCI has been chartering the service of Lake Paoay to ferry coal from Semirara to different point of destinations for almost 10 years. The cargo ship has a capacity of 500,000 tons. The DMCI has an emergency order of coal for the power plant in Cebu when the sea vessel went to Antique.
Banias did not elaborate on the manner of the search operation being undertaken in the town of Carles. Carles is 147.6 kilometers north of Iloilo. It is a coastal town with 33 barangays including island-barangays. The town has rich fishing grounds.
Banias said apart from the search operation effort, the DMCI assured the families of the fatalities of a financial assistance. He did not say on how much each family will receive as cash assistance. The cargo ship has some 24 crews.
Some of the bodies of the crews of MV Lake Paoay were recovered in the Masbate. It was not immediately known on how many of the crews were found dead.
Monday, June 30, 2008
DMCI unit seeks to double coal production
GMA News
July 30, 2008 3:45pm
MANILA, Philippines - Semirara Mining Corp., a unit of Consunji-owned DMCI Holdings Inc. , is looking to boost its coal production and exports this year, following tax perks given to it by the government.
Isidro Consunji, DMCI president, told reporters on the sidelines of the company's annual stockholders' meeting Wednesday that the company is looking to increase its coal production and exports by 1 million tons this year to a total of 4.5 million tons, and more than 5 million tons in 2009.
Consunji added that it is allotting $25 million for the capital expenditure of the Semirara. The amount will be mainly used to purchase equipment.
The mining unit of DMCI has been granted by the Board of Investments of an income tax break for six years and other perks such as zero tariff on equipment acquisition.
“[We] have to take advantage of this government support, the company is more encouraged to spend more for the improvement of [our] production capacity," he said.
Last year, the company has exported almost 800, 000 tons of coal, with China and India gobbling up most of its products. The rest went to Hong Kong.
“Contrary to rumors that [our] coal is of poor quality, China, India and Hong Kong are very well satisfied with [our] product," Consunji said.
For this year, the company is eyeing to double its exports by two-folds or up to 1.6 million tons, and over 2 million tons next year.
“Anything [we] could produce, China and India would definitely buy, that is how in demand coal is right now following its historically high price in the world market," he said.
At present, Semirara coal are selling between $65 to $75 a ton, and is nearing its various contract where coal is being pegged at $50 per ton.
“For the second half, [we] are confident to meet if not to surpass this export goal since the winter in China further spikes up the demand for coal," Consunji said. GMANews.TV source
July 30, 2008 3:45pm
MANILA, Philippines - Semirara Mining Corp., a unit of Consunji-owned DMCI Holdings Inc. , is looking to boost its coal production and exports this year, following tax perks given to it by the government.
Isidro Consunji, DMCI president, told reporters on the sidelines of the company's annual stockholders' meeting Wednesday that the company is looking to increase its coal production and exports by 1 million tons this year to a total of 4.5 million tons, and more than 5 million tons in 2009.
Consunji added that it is allotting $25 million for the capital expenditure of the Semirara. The amount will be mainly used to purchase equipment.
The mining unit of DMCI has been granted by the Board of Investments of an income tax break for six years and other perks such as zero tariff on equipment acquisition.
“[We] have to take advantage of this government support, the company is more encouraged to spend more for the improvement of [our] production capacity," he said.
Last year, the company has exported almost 800, 000 tons of coal, with China and India gobbling up most of its products. The rest went to Hong Kong.
“Contrary to rumors that [our] coal is of poor quality, China, India and Hong Kong are very well satisfied with [our] product," Consunji said.
For this year, the company is eyeing to double its exports by two-folds or up to 1.6 million tons, and over 2 million tons next year.
“Anything [we] could produce, China and India would definitely buy, that is how in demand coal is right now following its historically high price in the world market," he said.
At present, Semirara coal are selling between $65 to $75 a ton, and is nearing its various contract where coal is being pegged at $50 per ton.
“For the second half, [we] are confident to meet if not to surpass this export goal since the winter in China further spikes up the demand for coal," Consunji said. GMANews.TV source
Friday, May 23, 2008
Semirara coal operating contract extended 15 yrs
MANILA, Philippines- Semirara Mining Corp. on Thursday informed the Philippine Stock Exchange extend its coal operating contract for 15 years.
In a statement to the PSE, Semirara said the contract involved an area in Semirara Island, Caluya, Antique.
The original contract was set to expire on July 13, 2012 but now was extended until July 14, 2027.
Early, Semirara said it would be increasing its coal production by half-a-million metric tons this year as it takes advantage of rising demand by doubling its exports.
The company added that it would boost production capacity to as much as 5 million metric tons per year.
The expansion is part of the P1.5 billion allotted by the company for its 2008 capital expenditure.
Semirara, a unit of conglomerate DMCI Holdings, Inc., also aims to grow its export capacity from 800,000 metric tons to 1.6 million metric tons this year given increasing demand from local and foreign buyers. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV
In a statement to the PSE, Semirara said the contract involved an area in Semirara Island, Caluya, Antique.
The original contract was set to expire on July 13, 2012 but now was extended until July 14, 2027.
Early, Semirara said it would be increasing its coal production by half-a-million metric tons this year as it takes advantage of rising demand by doubling its exports.
The company added that it would boost production capacity to as much as 5 million metric tons per year.
The expansion is part of the P1.5 billion allotted by the company for its 2008 capital expenditure.
Semirara, a unit of conglomerate DMCI Holdings, Inc., also aims to grow its export capacity from 800,000 metric tons to 1.6 million metric tons this year given increasing demand from local and foreign buyers. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV
Saturday, July 9, 2005
Slagging and fouling characteristics of seam 32/33, Panian coalfield, Semirara Island, Philippines
Received 1 March 2005;
revised 4 July 2005;
accepted 9 July 2005.
Available online 2 August 2005.
Abstract
Twenty samples of seam 32/33, the main seam of Panian coalfield in Semirara Island, Antique Province, Philippines, were collected from a borehole drilled at the northeastern edge of the coalfield. The samples were analyzed to characterize the coal geochemistry of the seam and understand why the coals of Semirara Island exhibit a high tendency for slagging and fouling despite its low average ash content. Analysis of the slagging and fouling characteristics of this seam is important because it supplies five electric power utilities and several cement plants in the Philippines. Proximate analyses and vitrinite reflectance measurements designate the rank of the seam as sub-bituminous C, based on ASTM coal classification. H/C versus O/C ratios indicate that the seam is made up largely of huminite, denoting early stages of coalification. Chemical analysis of the ash reveals high contents of Na, Mg, Fe, Ca, Ba and Sr. The strongly negative correlation of these elements with the ash content indicates an organic affinity of the chemical elements of the seam. Owing to enrichment in alkali and alkali-earth elements, slagging and fouling indices indicate that the seam has medium to high propensity for slagging and a severe tendency for fouling. The detrimental characteristics of coal feedstock from Panian mine is mitigated by modifications to the boiler design and operational conditions and by blending with coals imported from Indonesia, China and Australia.
Thursday, February 15, 2001
Firm Linked to Estrada Got Metro Manila Garbage Contract
by MARITES N. SISON
A CONSORTIUM associated with people close to former president Joseph Estrada allegedly enjoyed undue advantages that enabled it to corner a multibillion peso contract for the collection and disposal of some of Metro Manila's garbage.
The government may have changed but Metro Manila's garbage remains uncollected. Even as the stench of uncollected refuse fills the streets of the capital, it is unlikely that the garbage problem will be resolved soon.
The problem, essentially, is political. Over the years, patronage, corruption and the use of political connections have exacerbated the garbage problem, not only in Metro Manila but in other parts of the country.
Last Sept. 28, the Pro-Environment Consortium (PEC) snagged a 25-year landfill contract worth $1.1 million a month or a total of $330 million for the entire period covered by the deal. Even by using an exchange rate of P47 to $1, this translates to a whopping total of P155 billion.
Save for a foreign partner—Rethman Recycling, reputedly the largest recycling and privately owned waste management company in the world - none of those involved in the PEC have previous hands-on experience in operating a landfill site or in solid waste management in general. In fact, the individuals that formed PEC do not have a track record in operating a multibillion-peso business.
What they had, however, were sterling connections to the presidential palace. The awarding of the landfill contract is the latest example of how waste management policy is determined not by environmental or health considerations, but mainly by political and pecuniary considerations.
PEC has four main investors, including Rethman Recycling. Another investor is the Environmental Dynamics Corporation (EDC), which has among its incorporators Frank Puzon, the personal pilot and high school classmate of Estrada at the Ateneo de Manila, and sugar trader Raul V. Gamban, a cousin of Guia Gomez, the former president's mistress and mother of one of his sons, Joseph Victor or 'JV.'
Gomez herself is not included in the company's list of incorporators. But a former member of her inner circle says that about a week after the PEC won in a government bidding for a landfill contractor, she held a meeting with Puzon's nephew and co-EDC incorporator, John Gabriel Puzon, and Raul Roberto de Guzman, Estrada's nephew who was presidential consultant on the environment and water, at her Wynsum Tower office in Pasig, allegedly to finalize plans for the project.
According to a waste management company official, it was no surprise that PEC was declared the winner over eight other firms in the bid for the contractor that would collect 2,000 tons of Metro Manila's daily garbage and dump these in a sanitary landfill site. After all, says the businessman who wants to remain anonymous, PEC executives knew there would be such a bidding at least a year in advance, and were apparently privy to what would be required of the contractor.
The businessman says he knows this because he was approached by Gene Puzon, the councilor of Parañaque City who is Frank Puzon's brother, to join PEC long before the bidding was announced, boasting that it was already a "done deal." He also quotes Puzon as saying that they were assured of landing the contract since Gomez was involved with them in project. In fact, they had already gotten considerable help from officials of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in crafting their proposal, the businessman recalls Puzon as saying.
"They knew about the landfill project long before the Greater Metro Manila Solid Waste Management Committee was going to be created," says the waste management executive, whose company did not join either PEC or the bidding. "They were already floating the project before anyone said the word 'bidding' and at a time when the MMDA had no money for this."
Estrada created the Committee in August 1999 to formulate a solid waste management plan for Metro Manila and eight provinces surrounding it. The idea was to come up with concrete solutions on how to handle the 13,400 tons of trash generated each day by these areas. (Metro Manila, with its population of nearly 11 million, accounts for more than 6,000 tons of this total.)
Headed by former Presidential Committee on Flagship Programs and Projects chair Secretary Roberto Aventajado, the waste management committee came up with, among other things, the Metro Manila Solid Waste Management Project, which aimed to dump a third of the metropolis's daily trash into a sanitary landfill.
The Committee issued the terms of reference (TOR) for the project in August 1999. This was approved four months later by the Metro Manila Development Council. Estrada himself gave the project a go signal in January 2000, and solicitations for the proposals were first published on Feb. 13, 2000.
Yet the businessman notes that even during the first quarter of 1999, the Puzons were already busy inviting government officials and people involved in waste management to at least two elaborate presentations on landfills in a five-star hotel in Metro Manila. The executive remarks, "The presentations provided a great opportunity to pick the brains of officials involved in garbage and at the same time cement relationships with people who matter. Personal relationships are a factor in government contracts."
But he says that PEC had another ace up its sleeve: Early on, it knew how much it should bid because it had been given insider information on the government's ceiling on the tipping fee, or the amount paid for every ton of trash thrown in a designated dumping site.
"The key is to know what the baseline figure is so you can go a lot lower," says the executive, who is familiar with the inner workings of the MMDA. "They were also told about what proposal the government would be most interested in, what the desired time frame is, and what the expectations are in terms of system efficiency."
According to the project's TOR, each proponent had to submit its own proposed site and feasibility study for a sanitary landfill as part of the proposal. Evaluation of the proposal was also to be done in three stages: pre-qualification, technical and financial. But the Pre-qualification, Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) would evaluate the technical proposals only of pre-qualified proponents and the financial proposals only of the technically qualified ones.
The pre-qualification and technical qualification alone—done on a "pass-fail" basis—had very stringent requirements. They stipulated, among others, that proponents already have with them a certificate of willingness to host a landfill from the host province, a certificate of willingness to host transfer stations, certification of site suitability from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agrarian Refrom (DAR) exemption on conversion certificate, and an audited financial statement.
"These requirements certainly take time to accomplish so that anyone with no benefit of guidance would find it impossible to secure them right away,'' observes the businessman. In fact, the process proved so time-consuming that of the 17 companies that purchased proposal documents for the project, only nine actually submitted proposals.
Of these nine, only PEC and Dizon-CGEA passed the technical evaluation stage. Three others—R-II Builders, Celdex-DM Consunji and Eurasian Company for Waste and Environment Service, Phils Corp (ECWES)—failed in the technical evaluation for having no bid security, no technical description of the proposed interim sanitary landfill and "inadequate preliminary design drawings to support narrative descriptions on project components."
John Gabriel Puzon admits that his family arranged the landfill presentations that had government officials in attendance, saying that they started holding these as early as 1998. But he denies that the PEC executives had prior knowledge of the project or of having received help from the MMDA.
The younger Puzon also says his father Gene never said anything was a "done deal" because Gomez was part of the consortium. Although he says the PEC invited Gomez several times to join the group, she never did. He did have a meeting with Gomez and de Guzman, he admits, but it was because de Guzman had wanted to introduce a friend who was into the composting business. He says, though, that PEC wound up not working with de Guzman's friend because the price was too high.
According to Puzon, who considers Gomez's son JV a good friend, PEC tried to get Gomez involved not because of her connections to Malacañang but because she was into recycling and environment projects. He says, "She never lifted a finger to help us." But, he adds, almost all the bidders had backers. "Kanya-kanyang padrino. Mabibigat ang kalaban naming. Kami lang ang mahina (Each had its own backer. Our rivals were heavyweights. Our company was the only weak one)."
Committee head Aventajado says the PEC eventually bested Dizon-CGEA with its bid of $18.89 per ton tipping fee for a landfill to be set up in Bgy. Halayhayin, Pililla, Rizal. Dizon had offered a tipping fee of $32 per ton.
Aventajado does not deny that some of PEC's incorporators are close to him and the President. But he says this did not figure in the bidding, which he describes as being "above board." He also argues that Malacañang could not have played favorites since there were other similarly well-placed people whose companies participated in the landfill project.
The owner of R-II Builders, for instance, is construction mogul Reghis Romero, who was thrust in the limelight two years ago after he bought the Manila Times from the Gokongwei family. This was shortly after the newspaper got embroiled in a libel case filed by Estrada. It was later established that Romero, who has also been closely associated with Aventajado, had merely fronted for presidential pal Mark Jimenez.
Admittedly better-connected, however, was Jacinto Ng Sr., who, along with former Cavite Governor Juanito Remulla, is associated with ECWES, which proposed a landfill in Magallanes, Cavite. Ng is one of Estrada's longtime friends. He and one of his companies appear as owners of two mansions in Wack-Wack, Mandaluyong that have been linked to another presidential mistress, Laarni Enriquez.
"If you look at the ownership of the companies who lost, you can see there was really transparency because how would a Jack Ng lose in a situation like this?" says Aventajado.
Ironically enough, PEC itself is now dropping hints that there were irregularities in the awarding last December of two two-year contracts for interim controlled dumpsites, which differ from open dumpsites in that the trash is leveled and then covered with soil. One contract went to Waste Action Recycling (WAR), a group that PEC claims did not even bid for the planned dumpsite in Mariveles, Bataan. The other went to a consortium made up of R-II Builders, DM Consunji and Celdex, for a similar set-up in Semirara, Antique.
PEC says while it took the PBAC seven months to conduct the bidding for the sanitary landfill, it took only nine days for it to decide on these two contracts, which will cost the government a total of $51.1 million in the two years that they will be in effect.
Aventajado, however, denied that any irregularity took place. He and Flagships Undersecretary Manuel Gaite also deny allegations that some MMDA and Committee officials - including themselves - profited from any of the waste contracts awarded. Aventajado does admit having received calls from "persons" asking him to decide favorably on a certain company. He insisted, though, that he never acted on these requests.
He said PEC had even been given "first crack" at the contracts, having won the landfill bid. But Aventajado said it had proposed a tipping fee of $20.40 per ton for the interim dumpsite, while the others had offered $19 per ton. He also said the MMDA had no choice but to sign the contracts post-haste or else "we will all drown in garbage."
Part of this is because the PEC has yet to be formally awarded the landfill contract after a temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued by the Pasig Regional Trial Court. The TRO was requested by the Australia-based Jancom Environmental Corporation and Generale des Eaux of France, which claimed they had already been awarded a $350- million contract to build an incinerator by the administration of former President Fidel Ramos. The Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Jancom, but the MMDA, through the Solicitor General's Office, has filed a motion for reconsideration.
This impasse, said Aventajado, contributed to "an emergency situation" that had been brought about by the closure of the San Mateo landfill, as well as the shutdown of the two other dumpsites for Metro Manila trash. The Carmona dumpsite has been closed since 1998 while Payatas was shut down last July.
But the solution chosen by the Committee is proving hard to implement, with residents in Mariveles and Semirara opposing the setting up of dumpsites in their respective communities. The government has all but given up on dumping Manila's trash on Semirara, following a very public outcry over the plan.
Antiqueños point to the fragile ecosystem of Semirara island, which is is surrounded by coral reefs and is a sanctuary for tortoise, dolphins, tiger sharks and other rare and endangered species. They cited the danger of the garbage washing up and down the shores of surrounding islands,
Mariveles Mayor Angel Peligorio, meanwhile, has said that the MMDA's decision was "illegal" because his town had not issued a resolution showing it was willing to host the project.
Both Semirara and Mariveles have secured TROs preventing the trash contractors from dumping garbage in these areas. But Aventajado and Gaite insisted no public consultation or Environmental Compliance Certificate was needed for the two sites since these are not "protected or watershed areas."
There is no telling if the residents of Pililla, Rizal where PEC says it will be putting its sanitary landfill, would be more accommodating than the people of Mariveles and Semirara. Then again, Greenpeace Southeast Asia regional director Von Hernandez points out, "No province or community should be made as a toxics sacrifice zone for the disposal of garbage mainly generated in the country's urban centers."
Concern for profits and the preference for shortcuts, however, seem to be hindering contractors and officials from considering other alternatives. Says Hernandez: "(The government) has always relied on quick fixes and magic bullets. We're not saying that the problem can be solved overnight. The thing is, if we have to decide on what model we're going to adopt, let us think of one that will take us to the right direction."
A CONSORTIUM associated with people close to former president Joseph Estrada allegedly enjoyed undue advantages that enabled it to corner a multibillion peso contract for the collection and disposal of some of Metro Manila's garbage.
The government may have changed but Metro Manila's garbage remains uncollected. Even as the stench of uncollected refuse fills the streets of the capital, it is unlikely that the garbage problem will be resolved soon.
The problem, essentially, is political. Over the years, patronage, corruption and the use of political connections have exacerbated the garbage problem, not only in Metro Manila but in other parts of the country.
Last Sept. 28, the Pro-Environment Consortium (PEC) snagged a 25-year landfill contract worth $1.1 million a month or a total of $330 million for the entire period covered by the deal. Even by using an exchange rate of P47 to $1, this translates to a whopping total of P155 billion.
Save for a foreign partner—Rethman Recycling, reputedly the largest recycling and privately owned waste management company in the world - none of those involved in the PEC have previous hands-on experience in operating a landfill site or in solid waste management in general. In fact, the individuals that formed PEC do not have a track record in operating a multibillion-peso business.
What they had, however, were sterling connections to the presidential palace. The awarding of the landfill contract is the latest example of how waste management policy is determined not by environmental or health considerations, but mainly by political and pecuniary considerations.
PEC has four main investors, including Rethman Recycling. Another investor is the Environmental Dynamics Corporation (EDC), which has among its incorporators Frank Puzon, the personal pilot and high school classmate of Estrada at the Ateneo de Manila, and sugar trader Raul V. Gamban, a cousin of Guia Gomez, the former president's mistress and mother of one of his sons, Joseph Victor or 'JV.'
Gomez herself is not included in the company's list of incorporators. But a former member of her inner circle says that about a week after the PEC won in a government bidding for a landfill contractor, she held a meeting with Puzon's nephew and co-EDC incorporator, John Gabriel Puzon, and Raul Roberto de Guzman, Estrada's nephew who was presidential consultant on the environment and water, at her Wynsum Tower office in Pasig, allegedly to finalize plans for the project.
According to a waste management company official, it was no surprise that PEC was declared the winner over eight other firms in the bid for the contractor that would collect 2,000 tons of Metro Manila's daily garbage and dump these in a sanitary landfill site. After all, says the businessman who wants to remain anonymous, PEC executives knew there would be such a bidding at least a year in advance, and were apparently privy to what would be required of the contractor.
The businessman says he knows this because he was approached by Gene Puzon, the councilor of Parañaque City who is Frank Puzon's brother, to join PEC long before the bidding was announced, boasting that it was already a "done deal." He also quotes Puzon as saying that they were assured of landing the contract since Gomez was involved with them in project. In fact, they had already gotten considerable help from officials of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in crafting their proposal, the businessman recalls Puzon as saying.
"They knew about the landfill project long before the Greater Metro Manila Solid Waste Management Committee was going to be created," says the waste management executive, whose company did not join either PEC or the bidding. "They were already floating the project before anyone said the word 'bidding' and at a time when the MMDA had no money for this."
Estrada created the Committee in August 1999 to formulate a solid waste management plan for Metro Manila and eight provinces surrounding it. The idea was to come up with concrete solutions on how to handle the 13,400 tons of trash generated each day by these areas. (Metro Manila, with its population of nearly 11 million, accounts for more than 6,000 tons of this total.)
Headed by former Presidential Committee on Flagship Programs and Projects chair Secretary Roberto Aventajado, the waste management committee came up with, among other things, the Metro Manila Solid Waste Management Project, which aimed to dump a third of the metropolis's daily trash into a sanitary landfill.
The Committee issued the terms of reference (TOR) for the project in August 1999. This was approved four months later by the Metro Manila Development Council. Estrada himself gave the project a go signal in January 2000, and solicitations for the proposals were first published on Feb. 13, 2000.
Yet the businessman notes that even during the first quarter of 1999, the Puzons were already busy inviting government officials and people involved in waste management to at least two elaborate presentations on landfills in a five-star hotel in Metro Manila. The executive remarks, "The presentations provided a great opportunity to pick the brains of officials involved in garbage and at the same time cement relationships with people who matter. Personal relationships are a factor in government contracts."
But he says that PEC had another ace up its sleeve: Early on, it knew how much it should bid because it had been given insider information on the government's ceiling on the tipping fee, or the amount paid for every ton of trash thrown in a designated dumping site.
"The key is to know what the baseline figure is so you can go a lot lower," says the executive, who is familiar with the inner workings of the MMDA. "They were also told about what proposal the government would be most interested in, what the desired time frame is, and what the expectations are in terms of system efficiency."
According to the project's TOR, each proponent had to submit its own proposed site and feasibility study for a sanitary landfill as part of the proposal. Evaluation of the proposal was also to be done in three stages: pre-qualification, technical and financial. But the Pre-qualification, Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) would evaluate the technical proposals only of pre-qualified proponents and the financial proposals only of the technically qualified ones.
The pre-qualification and technical qualification alone—done on a "pass-fail" basis—had very stringent requirements. They stipulated, among others, that proponents already have with them a certificate of willingness to host a landfill from the host province, a certificate of willingness to host transfer stations, certification of site suitability from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agrarian Refrom (DAR) exemption on conversion certificate, and an audited financial statement.
"These requirements certainly take time to accomplish so that anyone with no benefit of guidance would find it impossible to secure them right away,'' observes the businessman. In fact, the process proved so time-consuming that of the 17 companies that purchased proposal documents for the project, only nine actually submitted proposals.
Of these nine, only PEC and Dizon-CGEA passed the technical evaluation stage. Three others—R-II Builders, Celdex-DM Consunji and Eurasian Company for Waste and Environment Service, Phils Corp (ECWES)—failed in the technical evaluation for having no bid security, no technical description of the proposed interim sanitary landfill and "inadequate preliminary design drawings to support narrative descriptions on project components."
John Gabriel Puzon admits that his family arranged the landfill presentations that had government officials in attendance, saying that they started holding these as early as 1998. But he denies that the PEC executives had prior knowledge of the project or of having received help from the MMDA.
The younger Puzon also says his father Gene never said anything was a "done deal" because Gomez was part of the consortium. Although he says the PEC invited Gomez several times to join the group, she never did. He did have a meeting with Gomez and de Guzman, he admits, but it was because de Guzman had wanted to introduce a friend who was into the composting business. He says, though, that PEC wound up not working with de Guzman's friend because the price was too high.
According to Puzon, who considers Gomez's son JV a good friend, PEC tried to get Gomez involved not because of her connections to Malacañang but because she was into recycling and environment projects. He says, "She never lifted a finger to help us." But, he adds, almost all the bidders had backers. "Kanya-kanyang padrino. Mabibigat ang kalaban naming. Kami lang ang mahina (Each had its own backer. Our rivals were heavyweights. Our company was the only weak one)."
Committee head Aventajado says the PEC eventually bested Dizon-CGEA with its bid of $18.89 per ton tipping fee for a landfill to be set up in Bgy. Halayhayin, Pililla, Rizal. Dizon had offered a tipping fee of $32 per ton.
Aventajado does not deny that some of PEC's incorporators are close to him and the President. But he says this did not figure in the bidding, which he describes as being "above board." He also argues that Malacañang could not have played favorites since there were other similarly well-placed people whose companies participated in the landfill project.
The owner of R-II Builders, for instance, is construction mogul Reghis Romero, who was thrust in the limelight two years ago after he bought the Manila Times from the Gokongwei family. This was shortly after the newspaper got embroiled in a libel case filed by Estrada. It was later established that Romero, who has also been closely associated with Aventajado, had merely fronted for presidential pal Mark Jimenez.
Admittedly better-connected, however, was Jacinto Ng Sr., who, along with former Cavite Governor Juanito Remulla, is associated with ECWES, which proposed a landfill in Magallanes, Cavite. Ng is one of Estrada's longtime friends. He and one of his companies appear as owners of two mansions in Wack-Wack, Mandaluyong that have been linked to another presidential mistress, Laarni Enriquez.
"If you look at the ownership of the companies who lost, you can see there was really transparency because how would a Jack Ng lose in a situation like this?" says Aventajado.
Ironically enough, PEC itself is now dropping hints that there were irregularities in the awarding last December of two two-year contracts for interim controlled dumpsites, which differ from open dumpsites in that the trash is leveled and then covered with soil. One contract went to Waste Action Recycling (WAR), a group that PEC claims did not even bid for the planned dumpsite in Mariveles, Bataan. The other went to a consortium made up of R-II Builders, DM Consunji and Celdex, for a similar set-up in Semirara, Antique.
PEC says while it took the PBAC seven months to conduct the bidding for the sanitary landfill, it took only nine days for it to decide on these two contracts, which will cost the government a total of $51.1 million in the two years that they will be in effect.
Aventajado, however, denied that any irregularity took place. He and Flagships Undersecretary Manuel Gaite also deny allegations that some MMDA and Committee officials - including themselves - profited from any of the waste contracts awarded. Aventajado does admit having received calls from "persons" asking him to decide favorably on a certain company. He insisted, though, that he never acted on these requests.
He said PEC had even been given "first crack" at the contracts, having won the landfill bid. But Aventajado said it had proposed a tipping fee of $20.40 per ton for the interim dumpsite, while the others had offered $19 per ton. He also said the MMDA had no choice but to sign the contracts post-haste or else "we will all drown in garbage."
Part of this is because the PEC has yet to be formally awarded the landfill contract after a temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued by the Pasig Regional Trial Court. The TRO was requested by the Australia-based Jancom Environmental Corporation and Generale des Eaux of France, which claimed they had already been awarded a $350- million contract to build an incinerator by the administration of former President Fidel Ramos. The Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Jancom, but the MMDA, through the Solicitor General's Office, has filed a motion for reconsideration.
This impasse, said Aventajado, contributed to "an emergency situation" that had been brought about by the closure of the San Mateo landfill, as well as the shutdown of the two other dumpsites for Metro Manila trash. The Carmona dumpsite has been closed since 1998 while Payatas was shut down last July.
But the solution chosen by the Committee is proving hard to implement, with residents in Mariveles and Semirara opposing the setting up of dumpsites in their respective communities. The government has all but given up on dumping Manila's trash on Semirara, following a very public outcry over the plan.
Antiqueños point to the fragile ecosystem of Semirara island, which is is surrounded by coral reefs and is a sanctuary for tortoise, dolphins, tiger sharks and other rare and endangered species. They cited the danger of the garbage washing up and down the shores of surrounding islands,
Mariveles Mayor Angel Peligorio, meanwhile, has said that the MMDA's decision was "illegal" because his town had not issued a resolution showing it was willing to host the project.
Both Semirara and Mariveles have secured TROs preventing the trash contractors from dumping garbage in these areas. But Aventajado and Gaite insisted no public consultation or Environmental Compliance Certificate was needed for the two sites since these are not "protected or watershed areas."
There is no telling if the residents of Pililla, Rizal where PEC says it will be putting its sanitary landfill, would be more accommodating than the people of Mariveles and Semirara. Then again, Greenpeace Southeast Asia regional director Von Hernandez points out, "No province or community should be made as a toxics sacrifice zone for the disposal of garbage mainly generated in the country's urban centers."
Concern for profits and the preference for shortcuts, however, seem to be hindering contractors and officials from considering other alternatives. Says Hernandez: "(The government) has always relied on quick fixes and magic bullets. We're not saying that the problem can be solved overnight. The thing is, if we have to decide on what model we're going to adopt, let us think of one that will take us to the right direction."
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