Ecology lawyers question Naga ash waste deal

Ecology lawyers question Naga ash waste deal
By Ma. Bernadette A. Parco, Editorial Assistant

Why did the province of Cebu pay P100 million to buy land in Naga town that is partly submerged in water? And what are the health safeguards of using it as a dumping site for ash from coal-fired power plants to be built in Naga?

These questions were raised by environmental lawyers following the Cebu provincial government's announced plan to install a coal ash waste facility there and to reclaim five hectares of the 25-hectare Balili beach resort using the waste ash of Kepco’s power plants once they operate in 2011.

“Only alienable land of public domain may be conveyed into private ownership,” said lawyer Benjamin Cabrido in a press conference. He was referring to the beach resort bought from the late Engr. Luis Balili last year.

Cabrido said they were informed that 40 percent of the property is submerged in water.

“That property which includes a mangrove area cannot be titled at all. Why did the province pay P100 million when this is land in the public domain?” he asked.

The health risks of coal-fired plants were also raised by the lawyers.
“This is not ordinary ash that you get when you burn firewood. This is a fossil-based fuel coal,” said Cabrido.

Vince Cinches, Center for Fisherfolk Development executive director, said they measured the volume of heavy metals found in coal ash in Toledo City and Naga town in Cebu.

The coal ash contained 1.70 ppm (parts per million) of arsenic, 1.00ppm of chromium, 2.30 ppm of lead and 0.07 ppm of mercury.

Arsenic, lead and mercury are toxic heavy metals.

Lawyers Cabrido and Gloria Estenzo-Ramos sent a letter of complaint to Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez and Provincial Board members yesterday.
PB Majority Floor Leader Victor Maambong said they received the “open letter” before yesterday's session and will hold a caucus to discuss its concerns.

In the letter, the lawyers sought a copy of the signed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Cebu provincial government and Kepco and all pertinent documents in the agreement.

Cabrido said they asked for a copy of the Environmental Compliance Certificate or ECC, the Deed of Sale and a copy of the Statements of Income and Expenditures of the province for the past three years.

The lawyers also asked Cebu officials to disclose what programs they implemented to protect the environment in accordance with such laws as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the Fisheries Code of the Philippines.

Under the Local Government Code, LGUs should prioritize funds for health, sanitation and environment, said Ramos.

“People living near coal-fired power plants have a very high incidence of cancer. The plants produce carbon and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The water is contaminated with heavy metals,” she said.

“Has the government purchased equipment to measure the quality of air, water and sea where coal power plants and polluting activities are located?” Ramos asked.

With Reporter Doris C. Bongcac

Fishermen send rotten fish to protest oil explorations

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=482412&publicationSubCategoryId=107

Fishermen send rotten fish to protest oil explorations
Updated June 30, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines – A group of fishermen yesterday delivered rotten fish to Department of Energy Regional Director Antonio Labios to protest the oil explorations in the waters of Cebu and Bohol, which they said is the cause of the deteriorating catch in recent days.

Labios reportedly received the fish, which was placed in a brown envelope.

Isaias Angco, Vice Chairman of Pamana Sugbo, said the rotten fish symbolizes how the department is “slowly killing” the fishes and fishermen after it allowed the oil explorations in Tañon Strait and in the seas of Argao and Sibonga towns.

“Sila man unta ang naa sa authority nga mu-protektar sa kinaiyahan, sila naman hinuon ang nag-daot,” Angco said.

The fishermen who joined yesterday’s rally at DOE said their catch has reportedly decreased since the oil explorations commenced.

The group will also hold a lightning rally to cap the observance of environment month this June.

“Ang amo lang kay dili lang ta nila hilabtan ang panginabuhi sa mga mangingisda,” Angco said, adding, that they hope authorities will realize the damage the oil explorations are giving the environment and the people.

Angco said the protests will continue until the government stops the explorations.

Angco said they already sent position papers to the office of the Ombudsman and the Commission on Human Rights on the issue. — AJ A. de la Torre/JMO (THE FREEMAN)

Legal petitions to mark Env’t Day today

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Legal petitions to mark Env’t Day today 6/5


By Ma. Bernadette Parco, Editorial Assistant



THE CELEBRATION of the United Nations’ World Environment Day today will be marked by the announcement of pro-environment legal petitions filed in different parts of the country.

An umbrella group of environmentalists, Global Legal Action against Climate Change (GLACC), aims to check the extent of the implementation of environmental laws by government agencies, local government units and public officials.

“This (kind of celebration) is an opportunity for communities suffering from environmental problems to stand up and do something. This is a commitment of Cebuanos in coordination with lawyers,” said Vince Cinches, executive director of the Central Visaysas Fisherfolk Development Center, a member of GLACC.

“We would like to start to put an end to environmental problems experienced by Cebuanos,” he added.

Cinches said that in Cebu, environmental issues include the rehabilitation of the Lagundi Reef in Talisay City, pollution caused by coal-fired power plants, reclamation projects in Cordova and Lapu-Lapu City, privatization of water bodies, off-shore mining and deforestation.

He also said there is an urgent need to curtail the effects of climate change by promoting an environment-friendly lifestyle among Cebuanos as well as ensure proper implementation of environmental laws.

Cinches said the inconsistent weather is one result of bad environmental care.

“In other parts of the country, people are experiencing the rainy season but in the Visayas it seems like it is still summer,” he said.

“We have classified the petitions under five areas of concern: land, air, water, energy and sea. These are our basic life support system that we are also destroying,” he said.

FISHERFOLKS AND CLIMATE ACTIVISTS TO DEMAND MORE ACTIONS AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

Philippine Climate Watch Alliance
#26 Matulungin St. Central District, Diliman, Quezon City
Tel.: +63 2 9248756 fax: +63 2 9209099 email:philclimatewatch@gmail.com


FISHERFOLKS AND CLIMATE ACTIVISTS TO DEMAND MORE ACTIONS AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
UP Dilliman, Quezon City - A few days after the Supreme Court concluded their forum on environmental justice, fisherfolks from all over the Philippines who attended the 1st National Grassroots Conference on Climate Change organized by Philippine Climate Watch Alliance (PCWA) are worried about the accelerating impacts of warming planet.

Vince Cinches the Executive Director of Central Visayas Fisherfolk Development Inc. (FIDEC INC.) one of the many convenors of Philippine Climate Watch alliance in their paper presented during one of the workshops in the conference on the impacts of climate change to coastal communities, fisheries and fisherfolks, said that “Climate Change becomes an additional and more sustained burden of poor fisherfolks nationwide. Even before we felt the impacts of climate change, we have been marginalized by off-shore mining, commercial fishing, privatization of sea waters, reclamation projects, and fishery laws among others. We should remember that such projects are carbon intensive that contributes to increase in global warming gasses”

“Climate change has further marginalized the poor coastal people, through massive decline of fish catch, rising cost of fishing, and collapse of ecosystem among others, being poor diminishes capacity to respond to the impacts of climate change, the change in climate is accelerating, the community cannot keep up with the pace.”

“What is alarming on the other hand is that the warming planet has opened up new fronts of vulnerability in the community, we have stronger and frequent storm surges, seas are inundating our homes because of rising sea level, breeding grounds of marine species are collapsing because of acidity and warm waters. We no longer have potable waters to drink because of salt water intrusion.”

Fernando Hicap, the National Chairperson of the activist fishers group PAMALAKAYA said“Governments and their cohorts in big monopoly businesses are the main culprits why the planet is ailing and we the poor are paying dearly since we don’t have the capacity to adopt and respond to climate change. The poor should rely on each other to rescind anti-people and anti-environment policies.”

“This grassroots meeting is an important venue for us not just to strongly register the position of community people in the current discourse regarding global warming but to consolidate our ranks and turned it into a decisive force in making culprits accountable while dramatically reducing our carbon footprint”

Mr. Vince Cinches, executive director of FIDEC and convenor of PCWA said that the conference is not just first in the country but in the whole Southeast Asia as well.

He added that the conference is an important contribution of the Filipinos in the ongoing global initiatives against climate change especially that the Kyoto Protocol will soon end and will undergo renegotiation. “We wanted to ensure that the provisions of international policies regarding climate change should have more teeth against polluters, have more binding policies and responsive to the needs of the poor people around the world.”

On April 22, Earth Day, the group will hold a protest action to demand accountability from government and corporations and to demand real actions against the specter of climate change.##

Released by: Ghianne Rada ,
Program Officer,
FIDEC inc.
09069048009

LGUs urged to endorse sustainable investments

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleid=68294


LGUs urged to endorse sustainable investments
Updated June 18, 2008 12:00 AM

With the influx of high net worth investments in the province posing high social impacts to the immediate locality, civil groups call for the local government units to enhance their evaluation process to only approve sustainable investments amenable to the community.

“It will be much more responsible for LGUs in the province to seek out sustainable investments, environmentally sound projects and at the same time responsive to the community’s needs,” said Vince Cinches, Executive Director of the Central Visayas Fisherfolks Development Center Inc. and one of the advocates of the Save Tañon Strait Citizens Movement.

He said that non-government organizations (NGOs) and civil groups in Cebu are very much active because the local government still has several things to improve especially in addressing the basic needs of the community and in their evaluation process of projects.

“There should be a change of mindset for government officials so they can adopt a more appropriate concept of sustainable development. Development is not only physical infrastructure but social and political infrastructure should first be in place,” he stressed.

Cinches argued that the local government sector has seemingly adopted a backward concept for progress because of its continued pursuit for destructive projects, which is rather opposite to that of the public’s increasing understanding and awareness on sustainable development.

He said that example of destructive project recently pursued by the government include the contested Tañon Strait Oil exploration by the Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (JAPEX). After constant vigilance from some social and environmental organizations which was led by the Save Tañon Strait Citizens Movement, the JAPEX operation has been successfully blocked.

However Cinches’ group is now lamenting over another possible threat in the face of a new potential investor called as NorAsia, an Australian oil and gas explorer.

He said that if NorAsia will be given required endorsements by the provincial board to operate in Argao, it will surely pose possible threat to our natural environment.

“We hope the provincial board will not endorse the project. We should learn from the Japex experience. There should be clear-cut feasibility studies to come up with an objective and informed decision so to avoid gray areas in its implementation,” he further added.

He also stressed that participation of people in policy making is very important to empower communities.

At the moment, social organizations still have very limited engagements with the public sector. But he argued that if both parties will be able to renew their processes, engagements could take place even outside the Regional and Provincial Development Council, Cinches said.

The development council is a decision-making body for different economic development undertakings composed of the government sector as well as representatives from multi-segmented stakeholders in the community.

“We are very willing to sit down and help the public sector become a model of “responsive development.” Partnership could be a very effective means to bridge agreement and there are a lot of social organizations that can be tapped to draft guidelines in projects and identify inherent problems within our locality,” underscored Cinches.

— Rhia de Pablo

Cebu gov hit over oil, gas exploration pact

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20090424-201202/Cebu_gov_hit_over_oil,_gas_exploration_pact

Cebu gov hit over oil, gas exploration pact
By Alcuin Papa
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 12:39:00 04/24/2009

Filed Under: Mining and quarrying, Protest, Agreement (general)
MANILA, Philippines—Militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya, National Forces of the Fishers’ Movement of the Philippines) has questioned an agreement between the Cebu local government and an Australian mining firm to explore the Cebu-Bohol Strait for oil and gas.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said on Thursday the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by officials of the Australian offshore mining group NorAsia Limited and Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia last April 15 was “a recipe for tragedy and a memorandum for destruction of Cebu-Bohol Strait.”

He added that the agreement went against the livelihood and interest of Cebuano and Boholano fisherfolk and that Garcia committed “a heinous crime against the environment and against the fisherfolk.

“This is totally revolting and extremely reprehensible. The MOU is a recipe for an across-the-strait destruction of people’s environment and livelihood in Cebu-Bohol Strait. The Governor of Cebu, her bosses in Malacañang and the Department of Energy, including NorAsia should be held responsible and accountable for whatever damage and destruction their offshore mining stint would create,” the Pamalakaya leader said.

Pamalakaya said the far-reaching effects of oil and gas explorations even during its exploratory or prospecting stage prior to production and extraction would be detrimental to the marine environment and to the fisherfolk’s livelihood.

The group said many studies showed that offshore mining could cause a significant amount of air pollution. Each offshore oil platform generates approximately 214,000 pounds of air pollutants each year. An average exploration well for natural gascould generate 50 tons of nitrogen oxides, 13 tons of carbon monoxide, six tons of sulfur dioxide and five tons of volatile organic hydrocarbons, according to studies cited by Pamalakaya.

In addition, oil and gas drilling operations produce huge amounts of water waste ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 metric tons of highly toxic water waste materials per drilling. The seismic tests, which are part of the exploration stage, damage the hearing organs of marine species, cause hemorrhage in body tissues, and damage their reproductive organs.

Pamalakaya said seismic blasting could cause behavioral modifications and reduce or eliminate available habitat for breeding, spawning, foraging and migration. Seismic noises can alter fish distribution by tens of kilometers and can elicit physiological stress on neural-immune responses in marine organisms.

“Recent findings also revealed that oil and gas exploration activities could lead to massive production of other toxic waste materials such as cadmium which causes lung cancer; lead which causes gastrointestinal diseases, blood and kidney disorders, mental retardation and affects the nervous system; chromium which causes lung and liver cancers, kidney and other respiratory illness,” the militant group added.

The group also said the offshore mining in Cebu-Bohol Strait and other parts of the Visayan basin would affect the livelihood of not less than 100,000 small fishermen and 500,000 dependents.

Hicap said they have been consulting with lawyers on available legal remedies to nullify the agreement.

The agreement allows the Australian company to explore 7,400 square kilometers of marine waters encompassing the Cebu-Bohol Strait, a narrow sea strait separating the island provinces of Cebu and Bohol, and parts of Leyte in the East Visayan basin.

The group’s leader also scoffed at the P500,000 assistance fund provided by NorAsia for the fisherfolk and residents of Argao and Sibonga, two of the affected municipalities in Cebu, where the exploration has been set to take place.

In 2008, leaders of Pamalakaya wrote Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd requesting the Australian prime minister to persuade its’ offshore mining company—NorAsia Energy Limited to back off from oil and gas exploration project in Cebu-Bohol Strait. But the premier did not act on the matter, the group said.

A whale of a difference

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/whale-difference
A whale of a difference



A PETITION filed on behalf of sea mammals before the Supreme Court, in relation to the 2007 search for oil in the Tañon Strait, will stretch the limits of the law.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno said so himself, in a speech at the University of the Cordilleras in Baguio City last April 16. The forum focused on environmental justice.

In Puno’s speech, a copy of which was sent toSun.Star Cebu, the chief justice discussed the implications of the novel case involving the “resident sea mammals of the Tañon Strait, which include toothed whales, dolphins, porpoises and other cetacean species,” suing a Japanese company and government agencies in relation to the oil exploration off the shores of Pinamungajan town.

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“The intriguing issue is whether a dolphin or whale can sue an oil exploration firm. If I cite this case, it is only to stress the ongoing attempts to further open the doors of courts to plaintiffs who are non-humans alleged to be entitled to a healthy environment,” Puno said in his speech.

The forum, “Upholding the Right to a Balanced and Healthful Ecology,” aimed to draft recommendations for better actions on environmental issues brought before the Supreme Court.

This gave Puno, the keynote speaker of the event, a chance to talk about locus standi, or standing, in terms of filing cases.

He recalled the “benchmark” case of Oposa versus Factoran, where unborn children and “future generations” were given a locus standi to sue, especially in cases involving the environment.

“We recognized the budding principle of inter-generational equity, which assures each generation the right to receive the planet in no worse a condition than received by the previous generation, and views the environmental and resource conservation obligations of the present generation from that perspective,” said Puno.

In the case of the mammals, it is still ongoing.

The petition was for certiorari with mandamus and injunction, filed in a bid to stop offshore explorations by the Japan Petroleum Exploration Company Ltd. (Japex).

How far?

Japex ended the oil exploration by early 2008. They never made it to a full-blown oil drill, with the company saying the available oil was not of commercially viable volumes.

Government agencies were impleaded in the Supreme Court petition for allowing the exploration to happen in the first place.

Oil explorations, said the petitioners, would damage their habitat. The mammals were represented by lawyers Gloria Estenzo-Ramos and Rose-Liza Eisma Osorio, acting as their guardians.

“Exactly how far the rule on standing is to be liberalized is the question,” Puno said in Thursday’s speech.

The chief justice noted, though, that relaxing the rule on locus standi has its disadvantages.

“Fears are expressed that this will open the floodgates to environmental litigation, many of which may be groundless, especially those filed by bounty hunters. They can drive away investment companies and they can contribute to the overclogging of our green court dockets,” Puno also said.

Environmental champions may even be sued for damages for initiating complaints to discourage them from pursuing it.

“Our task is to craft a rule that will strike the proper balance between the need to encourage citizens’ suits and the danger that unregulated citizen’s suits may bring about nuisance cases,” Puno said.

Some environmentalist-lawyers who attended a related forum in Iloilo City expressed optimism in the Tañon Strait mammals’ case.

They attended the “Forum on Environmental Justice: Upholding the Right to a Balanced and Healthful Ecology” in Iloilo City, an event the Supreme Court organized.

“This activity encourages us to actively pursue more actions to protect our environment. Truly the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Puno now remains as the only institution who stood by the people, under attack by oppressive anti-environment policies of the government,” said Vince Cinches, executive director of the Fisherfolks’ Development Center (Fidec) Inc.

In a press statement released by Ghianne Rada, Fidec described the forum as “most welcome in a time where global climate change is wreaking havoc on our lives.” (JGA/EOB)