Transcript of interviews by ANC’s Karen Davila

Dr. Abesamis: They have yet to sign the MOU but definitely, there’s a lot of opposition.

On the issue of transparency
Dr. Abesamis: I guess the outrage comes from a perceived lack of consultation. So I won’t judge the issue based on legal matters because that’s not my expertise, but I can talk about ecological destruction.

Davila: Did the Mayor even speak to the stakeholders?
Dr. Abesamis: For the most part, I guess no. I only heard about it in the news on July 8 [after the City Council voted to allow the Mayor sign an MOU with EM Cuerpo] but there has been some talk that this is known to a few people. As far as I was concerned, I was not consulted, nor some of my colleagues.

On the ecological damage
Dr. Abesamis: We have to understand first how big this is. According to the press release, this is 174 hectares. That’s equivalent to maybe 4,000 basketball courts or 10 Luneta Parks. The image that the public information office released suggests that it’s about seven kilometers — that’s roughly the distance from Cubao to Guadalupe on EDSA. That’s huge! And Dumaguete is not a very big City. It does not have a very big coastline–it’s about 8.5 kilometers long, and this massive project will occupy about 85 percent of that — if we follow, you know, what they call “vision”. And [they will reclaim] a relatively-intact marine ecosystem just offshore of Dumaguete, so there will be plenty of local damage. And just around the corner, you have the Tañon Strait which is a national marine protected area. And of course, there are other islands out there, so we have to consider those things.

Davila: Former DENR Sec. Angel C. Alcala said there are over 200 fish species that thrive in the area, and that it will be affected by the reclamation.
Dr. Abesamis: Yes, definitely. As I said, Dumaguete City is lucky to have these marine ecosystems, its rich biodiversity. We’re talking about 1,000 basketball courts of coral reefs, seagrass beds, and we’re talking about at least 150 coral species, more than 200 species of fish, most of those are important to local fisheries.You have turtles, you have seagrass species, mangrove species, quite a lot.

Davila: And is it correct that under the reclamation plan, matatabunan lahat nito at mamamatay lahat?
Dr. Abesamis: Based on the information they released, yes, because in some places, the potential reclamation will extend up to 300 meters from shore. In fact, it will be offset by 30 meters from shore — there’s going to be this canal. And if you’re talking about that distance, it might reach to depths of about 15 or 30 meters, and there’s a lot of biodiversity there. We know that because we’ve done studies there.

Davila: Let’s talk about the coral reefs as well. The coral reef is where the fish feed, where the corals spawn, that’s where the fish lay their eggs, and that’s really the reef of the ocean. Would a lot of coral reefs be affected if the reclamation project pushes through?
Dr. Abesamis: Definitely, yes!

Davila: …at the heart of Dumaguete’s seafront in terms of the coverage of the reefs?
Dr. Abesamis: Not only that, it’s really a special interconnected ecosystem. You have the coral reefs, and you also have the seagrass beds. And you also have soft sediment areas there that have some level of biodiversity. So it’s a well-interconnected system.

And if you talk about corals themselves, contrary to some reports, they’re not dead! The coral reefs of Dumaguete are quite alive, and supporting local fisheries. The City government even said we should protect them by establishing four marine protected areas.

Davila: I was wondering because for those who are not familiar, the Tañon Strait is a marine protected area. I went to the Tañon about 20 years ago. And it has a lot of dolphins. Do we still have a lot of dolphins in Tañon Strait today?
Dr. Abesamis: Oh yes, definitely. I think the experts have counted 13 or 14 species, that includes the blue whale, which is known to pass off the waters of Dumaguete, less than a kilometer away. That was well documented in 2016. It’s really a special place when you talk about the Tanon Strait. So a project like this might impact that as well.

Davila: As an environmentalist, how would a reclamation of this massive size affect the travel and route of dolphins and whales?
Dr. Abesamis: I really don’t know because there are no studies yet but the Tañon is a narrow strait. The potential reclamation is not very far from that. So if you disrupt that, you might affect the movement patterns [of dolphins and whales]. But if shipping traffic increases, you might see greater frequencies of ship strikes on whales, for example. So it’s anybody’s guess at the moment, but that’s in the realm of possibilities, especially in this special place.

Davila: If reclamation pushes through, where were they planning to get, frankly speaking, the soil? You have environment groups saying that they were planning to source it from your local mountains?
Dr. Abesamis: There’s no specific information about that yet, that’s for sure, but what I’ve seen is some concerned engineers, for example, making rough estimates, and the number is something like 18 million cubic meters to create that. I’m not an engineer but that’s probably 1.8 million trips of the dumptruck. I can’t imagine sourcing that from land, and if they do, that’s going to be a huge environmental impact on land because you have to mine that.

There’s also the possibility that whoever is going to build this might dredge the ocean, and dump that on the shallow areas, the same way as how those Chinese military bases were created in the West Philippine Sea. That’s probably one way to do it. I don’t know what they’ll do but those are two potential routes.

Davila: But if they get the soil from the local mountains, we’re talking about severe flooding…
Dr. Abesamis: Yes, which is currently already a problem. In fact, yesterday, there was big bout of rain here in Dumaguete, and there was flooding in these barangays which will also be affected by the reclamation. Somebody raised that as well, which is, if you were to build those islands in front of the coast, wouldn’t you impede the flow of water, and worsen the flooding? It might be a sandwich of an ecological disaster as people are sandwiched between the mountain and the coast.

Davila: The Mayor claims that the site is meant to be 5G-ready, a mini city complete with shopping malls, condominiums, an esplanade, and other business establishments. Does Dumaguete need that?
Dr. Abesamis: I really don’t know if Dumaguete needs that. You’ll have to ask the people about that. That’s probably the starting point of public consultation. But if you were to ask me, if you were to develop a sustainable city, the last choice would be to bury marine ecosystems. It creates so many other problems.

Davila: You also have fisherfolk who have started to join the protest, and who say their livelihood would be affected. How many fishermen would be affected?
Dr. Abesamis: The data from the Bureau of Fisheries suggest that there may be up to a thousand fishers who would be affected, and that doesn’t count the number of people who are not professional fishers, who are not doing this full time. If you were to walk along the coast of Dumaguete during low tide in the afternoons, you can see people walking along the shorelines gleaning, picking up invertebrates like sea urchins. So it’s really an important food source on so many levels. It’s not just going to be professional fisheries, it’s also going to be household level subsistence.

On DENR granting a permit.
Dr. Abesamis: It deserves scrutiny because it’s huge. It’s going to create this massive ecological damage, and it’s irreversible. No one in this world has been able to rebuild coral ecosystems at that scale. The average is at 100 square meters, according to science. In current science, the most that people have done is about one hectare. On average, it’s about a hundred. You’re talking about thorough reef restoration. And it’s very expensive. Scientists in the Philippines, including National Scientist the late Dr. Ed Gomez, was part of that group that studied that, and it can be quite costly if you’re going to rebuild these ecosystems. No one has been able to do that.

Davila: Silliman University is known to be at the forefront of marine conservation for the last 40 years. How would this affect the whole stand and conviction, and the statement you are giving out to the rest of the world?
Dr. Abesamis: Exactly! You hit it right on the head. Forty years of marine scientific studies in a City that prides itself as a University Town, and it will forever change that coastal ecosystem. And there are professional scientists who can give proper advice on what to do to make things quite sustainable. You even have Dr. Angel Alcala, National Scientist, who started all that.

At the end of the day, I think there needs to be dialogue about this to flush out the issues, and say that look, as scientists, this is what we think, and if you listen to us, we could give you a very good idea of what is sustainable.

We really need to avoid this [reclamation] because there is no doubt in my mind this is going to be a monumental ecological disaster. It’s going to be this tomb for marine ecosystems. It’s going to be this underwater tomb — libingan.

Mayor Remollo: The agreement is an MOU for the proposed project, and I have not yet signed it. In fact, we have not yet applied with the Philippine Reclamation Authority. Let me correct you when you said it already has the imprimatur of the DENR. Without signing the MOU — which is only an enabling document that will trigger the application. It will support the Letter of Intent that will follow.

Davila: The report is that DENR Sec. Roy Cimatu gave an area clearance permit for the project last Dec. 16, 2019 valid for five years. Is this correct?
Mayor: That is not true, Karen. How can it happen when the City has not yet applied for reclamation?

Davila: So walang Area Clearance Permit?
Mayor: Nothing whatsoever. We have to apply for that. And the clearances will come from the PPA, DPWH, the tourism sector, fisheries sector. That’s the intial step. But step 1 is to have an enabling document. This is a long process. It may probably take six months, one year to two years, depends on the approvals or the requirements of the DENR.

Davila: Let’s not debate on that anymore because that came out in a major daily (which I will not mention). Are you still going to continue the project given the fact there is so much opposition against it?
Mayor: You see, Karen, I am not only mayor for the environmentalists or a particular institution or for the rich people living along the boulevard. I am Mayor of 150,000 residents, 70 percent of those are the poor, jobless, part of whom are OFWs because they could not find jobs elsewhere. Dumaguete is a third class city, and a lot of people are migrating and going out of Dumaguete, and especially at this time of the pandemic. Even the country is economically-affected. The businessmen….

Davila: But why would reclamation be the solution?
Mayor: That’s correct, Karen. By the way, there are two phases of the proposed project. The first phase is the wastewater treatment facility or two facilities for that matter, that will be built. Let me give you a short background. When Boracay was locked down in April 2018, then followed Manila Bay, I had the Dumaguete City Water District take a sampling of the seawater condition along the coastline of Dumaguete, and lo and behold, we found that there were fecal coliform that was 800 percent above the tolerable 200 MPN, or most probable number — that was most alarming for me! That’s why I welcomed the idea of putting up a wastewater treatment facility.

But the wastewater facility would have to be constructed on a six-hectare property. And you cannot find a six-hectare property in the boulevard because it’s very expensive there. Dumaguete, by the way, is the smallest in land area — about 3,400 hectares only — the smallest LGU in the whole of Negros Oriental. There is no more space to put that [wastewater facility]. By the way….

Davila: I agree with you, [there’s] no debate on the wastewater facility. But why do you need…the wastewater facility is one thing, but then why is a reclamation [needed] of the size of — is this correct? — 88.7 hectares plus 25.6 hectares, so a total of roughly a 170 hectares reclaimed, is that correct?
Mayor: Water treatment is related… because the effluents that come out into the sea have destroyed the corals of Dumaguete, okay? It’s a fact that a….

Davila: But corals…dead forever. Corals cannot be rehabilitated.
Mayor: Correct, precisely! The area in front of Silliman University–the beach [there] has no corals anymore! The area along the boulevard has no more corals! Why? Because the corals have been bleached!

By the way, there’s a misconception that the boulevard will be obstructed. No Karen, we made it a point that the Silliman Beach will not be obstructed, the boulevard will not be obstructed.

The reclamation cannot go beyond 250 [meters] from the shoreline because the area is a shipping route to Mindanao. After 250 meters, there’s already a steep precipice that is no longer viable for reclamation.

It’s a relative thing to say it’s a “huge project” because compared to the Manila reclamation or the Cebu reclamation… By the way, it was the Cebu south reclamation which is now the SRP [South Road Properties], about 339 hectares, whose ECC [environmental compliance certificate] was granted sometime in 1995. The point here is that it is too premature to judge whether the project will destroy, or the impacts on the environment will be tremendous. Because wala pang plano, eh. [There’s] No plan to discuss.

Davila: Did you consult with the stakeholders? Silliman? The fisherfolk? The people of Dumaguete?
Mayor: Karen, this is what I did: Two years ago, there’s this video that I had been showing the City officials, barangay officials, people from the rural areas. We committed, and it is in the MOU, that there will be consultations, and the consultations would only happen if the project proponent would have detailed engineering plans so that we could discuss if the impact on the environment would be tremendous or if it is just tolerable, it can be solved or met by engineering intervention. My point there, Karen, is…

Davila: But did you speak with Silliman University? It can only be answered by a yes or no.
Mayor: I can only give you…I cannot discuss this with …because there are opposing views on the impacts of the environment. Unless and until we see the actual detailed engineering plans, and it will only happen if the applicant goes to the DENR for the ECC. So I committed in the MOU that all the position papers and concerns will be brought to the concerned PRA and the DENR for open public discussion.

If it will not be approved by the PRA and the DENR, I don’t really care if it does not push through. I am from Dumaguete, and I am as concerned for the environment, so let it be a healthy discussion, or a debate with concerned government agencies. There’s nothing to discuss here because there are no plans yet. That’s my point.

Davila: Okay, but then you can’t say there are no plans yet because there are details that have already come out. Let me read them to you: It’s a P23 billion project and there’s a construction company already, EM Cuerpo Inc. So it doesn’t mean there are no plans — the fact that there’s a construction company. And then in the draft agreement, this Cuerpo Inc. is going to operate the businesses of the reclaimed area, kumbaga pagyayamanin pa ang construction company na ‘to. Sila pa magpapatakbo nung fish port, ferry station, yacht club, and then the businesses will be jointly-owned: 75 percent will go to the private firm, 25 percent to the City government.

I mean, I’m sorry, Mayor, but if you read this, you’ll have to be brilliant to be in shock. Number 1, why EM Cuerpo Inc. Did they bid for it? Who chose them? How did they get the contract?
Mayor: YOUR HONOR!…Miss Karen, they [EM Cuerpo] have not gotten the contract yet because the PPP contract would have been executed only after the processes from the DENR and the PRA would have been completed…

Davila: Okay, but why this construction firm? Who are they?
Mayor: The construction firm, the development firm is the one who presented an unsolicited proposal for a PPP [public-private partnership]. And let me give you the full picture. You see, Karen…

Davila: But why did the proposal come from a private entity that will earn big-time from a project like this? I mean, it’s not a holistic plan coming from the City itself?
Mayor: No, the process of an unsolicited proposal is that they propose. In the second phase the City sits down with them and negotiates. That’s the second point.

Now, after the negotiation, this is the full picture: Once the land is being formed, 51 percent of the total land area will go to the government–city government and the national government. Only 49 percent goes to the project proponent.

In addition to that, [from] all the businesses — that is our concession–that will be put up or initiated by the proponent, the City will have a share.

Now mind you, Karen, the City has no capital here. All businesses should earn, but the City earns more because we have no capital [input]. We solve the unemployment and poverty problems of the City with the P23 billion; we are not even asking for a sovereign guarantee.

If the private entity fails in their mathematical computation, if they do not earn from this, it’s their loss. Dumaguete does not guarantee that.

The bottom line is, we submit all these objections to the proper agency.

And I myself would want to know, and want to require the proponent to prove to us, even to the City officials that this is viable.

And I thank the environmentalists for coming out because they can give us their inputs, and they can give us their opposition. And if their opposition is valid, the DENR will not approve of it. That’s the end of the project.

Davila: Mayor, very quickly: I understand that as local government chief, you want to solve the poverty problem, you want business to flourish. I agree with you. That is the goal of every single mayor. But may viewer na nagtatanong: why not put up condominums, shopping malls, esplanades, business establishments in the empty lands in Dumaguete? This viewer is from Dumaguete, and said there is so much inner land in Dumaguete. Why not develop there [instead]?
Mayor: You know, Karen, Dumaguete, as I said, is the smallest in land area [in Negros Oriental]. Most of the land, if not all, are already owned by five or six families. If I have to use the present dry land, I have to expropriate or buy this land. I have no money. The City has no money to buy this land, and that would be a burden to the City.

With the reclamation, in other words, walang puhunan ang City government. By the way, if I have to expropriate, it will take years. And I don’t think the landowners will agree to [selling] 174 hectares. The single largest landowner in Dumaguete is probably 20 hectares. Do you think the landowner will sell to me at P4,000 per square meter? Of course, not! They will file cases in court. So it is impossible to have a mini BGC in Dumaguete with that proposal.

[BGC is the glitzy commercial hub Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City filled with upscale restaurants, cocktail bars, hip cafes, and nightclubs.]

Davila: And that is your goal, no? (Just between us, so we know.) It’s understandable that every city mayor would want a “mini BGC”. The issue is, it should not be in exchange for marine life and the ecosystem suffering. It should not be an either-or [proposition].
Mayor: Thank you, Karen, I agree with you, Karen, 100 percent. Yes, there should be a reasonable, equitable balance between economic growth and the preservation of the environment. It can only be threshed out if the proponent would come out with its plans. And we will criticize, we will oppose those plans. Because it is my opinion that a reclamation per se is not harmful. It can be mitigated. For example, the mitigation can go this way: the DENR can require the proponent to build artificial coral reefs or put up environmental funds…

Davila: Okay, but you and I are not experts on this. Let’s move on to the contract itself, because that’s where you have the purview and the power. For transparency purposes, were you ever affiliated with this construction firm, EM Cuerpo Inc.?
Mayor: Of course not, Karen! I knew about them when we issued…when they proposed to the City an unsolicited proposal to the City sometime in November 2019. I have had no dealings with them previously.

Contrary to those coming out on Facebook, not a single government official has benefitted from this personally. But we honestly believe the project will be sustainable, and a solution to the poverty of the people of Dumaguete and Negros Oriental. We won’t have to rely on the national government.

Davila: Mayor, just to set the records straight: your best friend does not own this construction firm, you don’t know the owner, your relative does not own this — because this will come out if you do.
Mayor: Oh yes, of course, I can look at you with a straight face that I have no financial interest either directly or indirectly. It is just an academic thing, you know.

Davila: You also have stakeholders asking, “Why the rush?” The timing is also questionable. Let’s face it, the filing for candidacy is already in October. Are you running again? I’m guessing…you’re running again for mayor!
Mayor: I may not run, Karen, I may not run. When you say, “[Why the] rush”, that is a product of a malicious mind.

Davila: If you are about to leave office, why go into an agreement of this size? This could be described as a midnight deal….
Mayor: This is not a midnight deal. Some people would look at it that way, especially those with malicious minds. By the way, Karen, the proposal was lodged with the City in November 2019. In fact, I am even guilty the Selection Committee only decided [on this] two to three months ago. It’s even late. So the unsolicited proposal should take its course. The project will have to go through.

By the way, there’s a lot of misconception, misinterpretation that the MOU is already the contract. The MOU will simply trigger the Letter of Intent, and that MOU — a particular provision I’d like to point out to you, Karen — states that should it be disapproved by the PRA and the DENR, then the parties release each other of any claims, any obligation. So it all depends upon the national government agencies.

Davila: You need to understand that more than the [decision of] national agencies, there’s also a lot of trust; it’s civil society, it’s stakeholders. It’s not just what you said the rich in Dumaguete. I’m gonna read them to you…Right now, you have the Kabataan para sa Karapatan in Negros Oriental, Mangrove Matters PH, the Association of Young Environmental Journalists…they gathered 4,400 signatures as of Sunday, they are against this [reclamation]. You also have a fishermen’s group, you have ordinary citizens who are against this. So ang tanong ko nga is, to be fair to you, people will not be against this [reclamation] if the City has come clean, and shown them the possible project and explained [to them the supposed benefits].
Mayor: Yes, Karen, that’s why we are now in the process of application. When the detailed plans are firmed up so that we have something to discuss, especially on the scientific side, the vision is [made] clear.

But they are environmental side. Me, not being an environmentalist, I want to hear from both sides, the Dumaguete-based environmentalists, the proponent’s environmentalists, the DENR, and the PRA officials.

Now, Karen, because of this pandemic, it’s impossible to gather 4,000 signatures. Those signatures were gathered electronically all over the world without, unfairly, knowing the plans of the City.

So can we just wait for the plans to be laid out, and for us to apply, so that the process will continue? The process will go on. The process is that consult phase na tayo. Every step of the way, from the plans, from the geological findings, we will give to them for discussion.

Davila: But Mayor Remollo, this is what’s different. I’ve moderated forums on urban planning and building around the city, so I understand ‘reclamation’. I’ve been to many countries where islands have been reclaimed, like the Maldives. But this is the difference: The planning of reclamation comes from the city, and they look for the partner. What happened in Dumaguete is it’s the private sector that proposed the reclamation plan. If the city plans it, the city then comes with the intention of protecting what the stakeholders believe need to be protected. But you see, what’s strange about this, as you said it is a private business that gave the unsolicited reclamation advice, and you as Mayor were about to get into an MOA July 12. Let’s face it, if people did not oppose, you would have signed that!
Mayor: No! No! No! No! Why? Because this is a PPP scheme, like a Joint Venture, which is allowed by law, and is being encouraged. The City has no capital here! It’s being encouraged [by national government], and the City will put its inputs, and it is not too late for the private sector to put its inputs because this is not a done deal, as what you’re saying. We are putting the plans [out] to the public for discussion. If it is not approved, there is no reclamation to talk about. It is the process.

I am even glad we are talking about it. The discussion will probably take two years. So at least, I will leave office without being said that I did not try my best to uplift the lives of the poor.

So if it will be disapproved, it’s not my fault. I still have 10 months to go, Karen. I have already accomplished [many things]: I have closed the dumpsite of Dumaguete; I have an MRF and a pyrolysis machine that will solve the garbage problem of the City; I have preserved the heritage of the City by converting our City Hall into a museum.

But with the CoViD pandemic, I cannot just lie low, but do something that might, I believe, solve sustainably the economic problem of the City and the Province. This is not a done deal.

I just hope that you are right, that the environmentalists are right. When they gave me their opposition [statements], I inputted the suggestions in the MOU — that it is not final, that it is different from the PPP contract. So it is a matter of them waiting for the right time for the plans to be ready, and I will present the plans to them for criticism.

Davila: I don’t mean to cut you…what would you like to assure your stakeholders?
Mayor: Correct, that’s true, Karen, thank you. The assurance is that no reclamation, or even the wastewater treatment facilities will be built, no structures unless all the clearances would come from PRA, DENR, even NEDA, the DOF, every step of the way, we will discuss this. Whatever plans the proponent will have and presented to the DENR, I will give to them [the oppositionists], and even promise that all their opposition, as thick as that, I will hand over to the DENR and the PRA. That is how I will show my transparency. [I will say] “Okay, while I am applying, sir, I have also the opposition. So please decide on it.”

Davila: On that note, Dumaguete Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo, thank you so much for your time this morning.
Mayor: Thank you for giving me time to clear the air because there are a lot of wrong information coming out. And especially, I think your video of the corals…I don’t think that was taken in Dumaguete. Please tell your people there that is not [taken in] Dumaguete.

Davila: Let me ask them, okay?
Mayor: Yes, please, please! Because that is not Dumaguete! And I am sure of that. Probably, that is in Apo Island [in Dauin] because there’s no such corals in Dumaguete! It might mislead the public. Not to cast aspersions but it’s not fair if that will be documented as [coral reefs in] Dumaguete.

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