A reclamation project in Cebu affecting 11 hectares of the Tanon Strait is being questioned by the Philippine Reclamation Authority after they revealed that the project has no approval from their office.
The Philippine Reclamation Authority is inspecting the proposed 11-hectare reclamation site in Toledo City, following Oceana Philippines’ objection to the project due to its potentially negative impact on marine ecosystems.
Tañon Strait, the body of water separating Negros and Cebu, is an important migration corridor and habitat for marine mammals, with at least 14 species found in its waters.
A narrow body of water between Negros and Cebu, the strait also harbors some 70 species of fish, 20 species of crustaceans, 26 species of mangroves, and 18,830 hectares of coral reefs.
The protected area is also the source of food and livelihood for 43,000 fishers in the two islands.
In a letter addressed to Toledo City Mayor Sonny Osmeña, the PRA said three of its staff are conducting a site visit on June 16-18, 2015 in Barangay Poblacion after they discovered that the reclamation project had no permit.
“Please be informed that records of this Office show that there had neither been an application to reclaim filed with this Office nor an approval to an application to reclaim in Toledo City,” the letter read, which was signed by PRA General Manager Peter Anthony Abaya.
During the presentation of the project to the site management unit of the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape in May, Osmeña said commercial and residential buildings, sports and cultural centers, and a playground would be built in the proposed reclamation area.
Local newspapers in Cebu reported that Osmeña had issued a “notice of award” and “notice to proceed” to a contractor in January 2013, despite the lack of a permit from the TSPS and other government agencies.
Last May, Oceana Philippines questioned the non-compliance of Toledo City to environmental laws in pursuing the project, in letter interrogatories sent to the Department of Environment & Natural Resources, Department of Interior & Local Government, National Economic Development Authority, Department of Justice, and the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources.
“This filling and dumping project in Toledo violates existing laws such as the Environmental Impact Assessment and, under the Local Government Code, for any substantial alteration in the territorial boundaries of the LGUs, it is required to have a national law and a plebiscite for such an undertaking,” said lawyer Gloria Estenzo Ramos, vice president for Oceana Philippines, in a presentation to the NEDA Region 7 board meeting last June 15.
The PRA said they are conducting the site visit in response to the letter sent by Oceana to NEDA, which has the authority to approve reclamation projects in the country.
Ramos pointed out that Toledo City should comply with environment laws governing protected seascapes because it is part of Tañon Strait, the largest marine protected area in the Philippines.
Last month, the DENR and Philippine Coast Guard conducted a marine assessment in the proposed reclamation area together with Sea Knights and Oceana Philippines. Among the species they found in the area are a rare variety of seagrass, a seahorse, and lionfish.
“The filling and dumping project destroys our vital interconnected life support systems: the corals, the seagrass and the mangroves and the species that need them for survival, including us,” Ramos said in her presentation to NEDA-7 board members in Cebu City.
Danny Ocampo, campaigns manager for Oceana Philippines who joined the marine assessment in Toledo last May, said local government units should focus on efforts to develop ecosystems and resources instead of projects that will lead to further degradation.
“Clearly, the Philippines has more to lose if these reclamation projects will push through because they will be causing irreversible damage to productive ecosystems that will help sustain our fisheries in the future,” Ocampo said.
In response to the letter from Oceana, BFAR Director Asis Perez instructed its regional offices to find out if a cost-benefit analysis was done for all reclamation projects in their area.
“Kindly conduct an investigation on the matter to substantiate how extensive the damage of these activities has affected the fishing grounds in your region and the marine ecosystems that support it. Determine if a cost-benefit analysis was made to show that the development project/s would outweigh the value of ecosystem services, and that the projects will not in any way jeopardize food security in terms of fish production in the area,” he wrote. (Yasmin Arquiza)
