Environmentalist raises alarm over commercial extraction of natural gas, oil in Alegria

CEBUANO lawyer and environmental activist Gloria Estenzo Ramos described as “sad and alarming” the latest development on the commercial availability of natural gas and oil at the Alegria Oil Field in southern Cebu.

“Natural gas is still fossil fuel. Why are our authorities still crazy about fossil fuels when we have to reduce carbon emission?” said Ramos, vice president of Oceana Philippines.

On March 14, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi declared that commercial quantities of natural gas and oil resources are now available in Alegria, 115.8 kilometers south of Cebu City.

In a news release published on DOE’s website, a Joint Declaration of Commerciality (JDC) was signed between the DOE and the service contractor China International Mining Petroleum Company Limited (CIMP Co. Ltd.) last March 14 at the Hyatt Hotel in Taguig City.

CIMP Co. Ltd. holds Petroleum Service Contract (SC) No. 49, which covers the Alegria Oil Field, the statement said.

Ramos, however, said that Alegria is part of the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape and since it is a protected area, any exploration in the town should go through rigorous environmental impact assessment.

Tañon Strait is an important habitat and migratory route for 14 species of marine mammals, including spinner dolphins, dwarf sperm whales, pygmy killer whales and spotted dolphins. It is also one of the country’s major fishing grounds, sustaining 43,000 fishers.

Seven years after oil exploration and drilling happened in Alegria, which started in 2009, the DOE and CIMP Co. Ltd. established that the oil field “contained commercial quantities of natural gas upon its discovery of oil accumulation in the adjacent hydrocarbon traps within the Alegria underground area.”

The DOE said CIMP Co. Ltd. discovered an estimated 27.93 million barrels of oil, which once mined, were projected to last until 2037.

Ramos said she was hoping that despite the JDC between DOE and CIMP, the Philippines’ strong environmental laws and jurisprudence would prevail.

In 2015, Ramos said they won the Resident Marine Mammals case when the Supreme Court declared that the offshore drilling in Tañon Strait was unconstitutional.

“Anything which is ecologically destructive has no place in a protected area. It will impact biodiversity, fisheries, water resources, livelihoods that depend on a healthy and functioning ecosystem,” Ramos told Cebu Daily News.

Ramos said there is an existing General Management Plan of Tañon Strait which should be a road map for any development within the area.