The fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) is blaming the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and a large-scale mining firm over what the group termed as “environmental degradation” in Alcoy, Cebu.
In a news statement issued on Monday, Pamalakaya National Chairman Fernando Hicap said the extraction of dolomite, part of which were used as dumping material to produce a Boracay beach-like appearance at the Manila Baywalk area are to be blamed for the dwindling marine life in the coastal town of Alcoy.
He said the fact that the DENR allowed this to happen can be considered an abandonment of its mandate of environmental protection.
“The Mineral Production Sharing Agreement between the government and the mining firm involved in quarrying must be revoked, and hold these environmental plunderers accountable,” Hicap, a former lawmaker, said.
Citing reports, Hicap said corals within the 500 meters of seawater in Barangay Pugalo, Alcoy, Cebu may have perished because of heavy siltation from the dolomite mines.
The dolomites were used as overlay materials to fill the 500-meter stretch of the Manila Baywalk for the controversial “beach nourishment” project.
Pamalakaya, along with other environmental groups, assailed the project, which they described as an “artificial rehabilitation focusing on aesthetics.”
The fisherfolk group is demanding an assessment on the environmental damage the extraction operation has caused and to hold those behind it accountable.
“Both the DENR and the Dolomite Mining Corp. should be held liable over the environmental disaster they have caused. We call for a rapid assessment on the damage inflicted to the corals and how much fine should be imposed to the mining firm and the DENR,” added Hicap. “The damage caused by the dolomite extraction could be bigger, far more reaching and strategically fatal to the livelihood of the local fishers and to the fishing environment directly linked to the depleted marine life. It will take one year for a millimeter of coral to go back to its sound condition and it will take 250 years for a meter of coral to mature,” Hicap said.