OCEAN conservation advocate Oceana has urged national and local officials to protect marine habitats and coastal communities against the environmental impact of massive land reclamation projects and climate change.
In a news statement, Oceana particularly called on local government units (LGU) to prioritize fisheries management, ecological protection, promotion of food and nutritional security, and ensure the resiliency of marine habitats and coastal communities.
“The local governments have a shared responsibility with national agencies in the maintenance of ecological balance and thus should take the overall responsibility in their jurisdiction that proposed projects do not harm coastal and marine resources and the livelihoods of their constituents, including those residing along the coasts,” said the nongovernment Oceana’s vice president Gloria Estenzo Ramos.
Ramos, an environmental lawyer and advocate of ocean conservation, said allowing ecologically disastrous projects such as land reclamation, also called dump-and-fill, is inconsistent with such LGU mandate.
Strong policy action
RAMOS also commended the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), led by Secretary Eduardo Año, for what she described as the strong policy action “to deter these projects which violate the right of the people to a healthful and balanced ecology by reminding the local authorities to prioritize ecological protection.”
According to Ramos, deterring destructive development projects such as dump-and-fill should be in accord with the local development plan, coastal resource management plan, land use plan, climate change action plan, among others, which local governments are tasked to perform.
On Tuesday, Oceana unveiled its Citizen Scorecard to strengthen the aforesaid policy issuance by the DILG and provide a guiding tool for citizens on the environmental impact assessment and legal safeguards.
The DILG, meanwhile handed down Memorandum Circular 2022-018, which reiterates the responsibility of all LGUs over projects covered by the Philippine Environmental Impact Assessment Statement System (PEISS) and provides the necessary guidelines for them.
Under the PEISS Act and several environmental laws, proposed projects such as dump-and-fill have to be thoroughly assessed on their environmental, climate, cultural, social and health impacts. Violators of the various laws face administrative, civil, or criminal liability.
“The scorecard will enable constituents to assess compliance with the existing environmental, fisheries, and other related laws in processing application and approval of reclamation projects. Citizens have the most to lose if destructive dump-and-fill projects and other unwarranted developments of coastlines continue to persist. The proponents of these projects, including local governments, must not be allowed to circumvent relevant rules and regulations, and cause us to be more vulnerable to the continuing loss and damages on our coasts and oceans amid the declining state of fisheries, biodiversity degradation, and climate vulnerability,” Ramos said.
Irreversible damage
DUMP-AND-FILL activities all over the country are causing massive and irreversible impacts on coastal and marine ecosystems, Ramos reiterated.
“We must protect these resources from which we derive food, livelihood, nutritional security, and climate resiliency. We urge our fellow Filipinos to use this scorecard as this is an empowering tool for participatory and accountable governance and preventing further environmental impacts of these projects,” she added.
Oceana devised the scorecard for citizens and stakeholders to rate the compliance by proponents of dump-and-fill activities with their impacts on coasts and marine habitats, which are covered by the PEISS and related laws.
It will enable citizens and stakeholder communities to check if all the required steps are fulfilled in processing the proposals for dump-and-fill and other similar projects.
Among the questions asked are whether genuine public consultations and public hearings were conducted on the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) of the project.
Roberto Ballon, 2021 Ramon Magsaysay and Ocean Heroes awardee and president of Katipunan ng mga Kilusan ng Artisanong Mangingisda sa Pilipinas (KKAMPi), a newly established national coalition of fisherfolk federations and organizations in the country, underscored the importance of LGU commitment to ensure marine habitat and coastal communities’ defense against destructive development projects. He reiterated that as fishermen, they depend on a healthy and balanced marine ecology for their income and livelihood.
As such, Ramos said, the national agencies and LGUs must ensure the protection of the coastal and marine environment. Coastal cities and municipalities have primary jurisdiction over the sustainable management of municipal waters; thus, they must be accountable since it is in their purview.
“The Philippines has the fifth-longest coastline in the world. About 60 percent of its municipalities and cities are coastal, with 10 of the largest cities located along the coast. We ranked second in the world…as having the most number of people highly dependent on a healthy marine ecosystem, next to Indonesia. It is incumbent upon LGUs of these municipalities and cities to strictly follow the safeguards in the Philippine EIS System and related rules and regulations,” she said.
“We urge the local governments to exercise great care and caution when they deliberate on dump-and-fill proposals. Oceana’s scorecard is a valuable tool to help them in handling projects that can potentially harm the marine environment. Dump-and-fill projects cause permanent and irreversible damage to coastal habitats and estuaries which serve as spawning grounds of many economically important fishes and are important in securing food security,” Ramos added.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes