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LAGUNA
Lake Development Authority (LLDA) general manager Edgar
Manda on Thursday welcomed the decision of Environment
Secretary Lito Atienza to recall the agency’s authority
in overseeing the implementation of environmental impact
statement (EIS) system and in the issuance of
environmental clearance certificates (ECCs) for
development activities within Laguna de Bay.
After
virtually clipping the powers of the LLDA by
transferring the authority to issue ECCs from LLDA to
the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), “as part of
the continuing effort of the DENR [Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources] to rationalize and
streamline the implementation of the Philippine [EIS],”
Atienza admitted that his decision was partly due to
reports of alleged graft and corruption committed by
some LLDA officials.
“We are
deluged with reports from persons, families and
companies being deprived of their rights. Corruption was
even persistently reported,” Atienza told reporters in
his regular press conference on Thursday.
In an
interview with the BusinessMirror, Manda said Atienza
merely took back the job of the DENR.
“There’s
no truth that the order clipped the powers of the LLDA.
[It] merely recalled the authority that is theirs [DENR]
all along,” he said.
By
operation of law, the DENR is supposed to oversee the
implementation of the EIS system, as well as issuing
ECCs, Manda said.
He
explained that the task of overseeing the EIS system and
the power to issue ECCs was environment transferred to
the LLDA in 2004 when Mike Defensor was environment
secretary following President Arroyo’s directive to
create a “one-stop shop” to hasten development within
Laguna de Bay.
On the
graft issue, Manda challenged the DENR chief to identify
the LLDA officials or employees involved, “so that I can
file appropriate charges.”
Atienza
signed Tuesday Administrative Order 2008-11,
transferring the authority to issue ECCs from LLDA to
the EMB; and designated OIC assistant secretary for
legal Juan Miguel Cuna to supervise and examine the
process of issuing ECCs. He directed Cuna to cut the red
tape.
Besides
the ECC, Atienza also transferred to the EMB regional
offices the authority to process and issue certificates
of noncoverage to projects that are exempted from EIS
system coverage.
The EIS
system was established by law to facilitate the
attainment and maintenance of a rational and orderly
balance between socioeconomic growth and environmental
protection.
Under
the system, the ECC is required for all environmentally
critical projects and projects within environmentally
critical areas.
Before
the issuance of an ECC, project proponents are required
to undertake an environmental-impact assessment to
determine the possible adverse environmental impacts of
their proposed projects or activities and to come up
with measures or strategies to reduce such impacts on
the environment.
Meanwhile, the militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang
Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya)
branded Atienza’s order as nothing but “a turf war”
between the two government officials.
“Secretary Atienza wants to remind LLDA general manager
Edgar Manda that he is still the boss on matters
concerning the development of the lake, and his decision
to eliminate the powers of the lake authority in issuing
[ECCs] is part of the ongoing power struggle between two
of Malacañang’s fair-haired boys,” Pamalakaya national
chairman Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.
According to Pamalakaya, more than 80,000 coastal and
urban-poor families will be evicted to pave the way for
foreign-funded development projects in Laguna de Bay.
Manda
said the dismantling of illegal structures in Laguna de
Bay was delayed by the agency’s lack of funds.
Manda,
however, was quick to add that President Arroyo gave P3
million to the LLDA so that the dismantling of the
illegal fish pens and fish cages could resume in the
next two to three weeks. He added that the relocation of
squatters in the danger zone in Laguna de Bay would also
start when that happens.
Initially, he said, around 2,000 families living in
Lupang Arenda Area in Taytay, Rizal, outside the road
dike will be relocated.
Manda
said he will propose the creation of a local interagency
committee to handle the problem of relocating the
squatters, considering that those living in danger zones
are not entitled to relocation under the law.
The
Laguna de Bay encompasses nine municipalities of Rizal,
18 towns of Laguna and parts of the National Capital
Region, including Pasig, Taguig, Pateros and Muntinlupa. |
