President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement that Alegria town in southwestern Cebu is already rich after the inauguration of the Hong Kong-run oil and gas drilling facility there must be received with studied sobriety.
The prospect of a monthly income of P82 million from oil and gas for Alegria is most welcome to residents.
Mayor Verna Magallon is already looking to use the money to fund expanded electrification and access to drinking water for her constituents.
Using the impending added town income, the mayor also plans to raise pensions for the elderly and the differently challenged, buy medicine for free distribution, and build infrastructure to turn Alegria into the “organic vegetable basket of Cebu.”
But Alegria locals, the environment department, and environmental advocacy organizations should be vigilant.
Implicit in the slogan of economic richness crafted by no less than the President is a belittling of the town’s natural richness that is expected to more and more be the opportunity cost to progress.
“When oil and gas operators clear a site to build a well pad, pipelines, and access roads, the construction process can cause erosion of dirt, minerals, and other harmful pollutants into nearby streams,” said the Massachusetts-based Union of Concerned Scientists, citing previous studies.
Potential environmental impacts include “increased erosion and sedimentation, increased risk of aquatic contamination from chemical spills or equipment runoff, habitat fragmentation, and reduction of surface waters as a result of the lowering of groundwater levels.”
What measures will the government take to protect Mother Earth and residents from the externalities of oil and gas drilling in Alegria?
The President himself predicted that economic boom there will lead to an influx of new as well as informal settlers.
On May 2, the Energy Resource Development Bureau ordered the suspension of work on the plant’s Well P8 that was a emitting foul odor.
Experts know that stench is not the only problem that might arise from oil and gas drills. More dangerous are gases — beyond the detection of the human nose — that could be toxic.
The agencies that benefit from the operations of the China International Mining Petroleum firm should prioritize protection of Alegria’s ecology, promotion of its people’s health, and coping with coming boom-spurred change.
For what profits townsfolk if they gain P82 million monthly but lose their hills, dales, springs, brooks, air, and wellbeing?
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