Lapu-Lapu Council approves moratorium on foreshore leases

THE Lapu-Lapu City Council has taken steps to protect its natural resources by approving an ordinance that imposes an indefinite moratorium on the issuance of foreshore lease and other miscellaneous lease in all the coastal areas in the city.

The council, voting 9-2, approved on Wednesday the ordinance authored by Councilor Ricardo Amores, chairman of the Council’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

“The city would just want to be proactive; we do not want to wait that the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) will do (to Lapu-Lapu City) what they did in Boracay,” Amores explained on Friday.

Amores said this means that no new businesses, including hotels and dive shops, will be allowed to set up structures within the coastal areas of the city. Even expansion by existing businesses along coastal areas will no longer be allowed.

Amores said that in effect, the moratorium would prohibit establishments from having exclusive rights over the city’s coastal waters and would also prohibit these establishments from refusing water sampling and inspection by the city government.

He also clarified that while the ordinance would have no effect on approved foreshore leases, the holders of these leases would no longer be allowed to expand their business outside of the approved leased areas.

The ordinance will be transmitted to Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza next week for her approval, said Amores.

Lapu-Lapu City, at 58.1 square kilometers, occupies most of the 65-square kilometer Mactan Island and is host to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), Mactan Export Processing Zones and some of Cebu’s top resort facilities. The rest of the island is under the jurisdiction of the town of Cordova, which also hosts a number of resorts.

Expanded coverage

The ordinance expanded the coverage of Resolution No. 13-0448-2013, which earlier imposed a moratorium on the issuance of foreshore lease and other miscellaneous lease on only three barangays in Lapu-Lapu City.

In 2013, the city declared a moratorium on the issuance of foreshore leases including public land applications over areas within Barangays Looc, Canjulao and Calawisan due to the implementation of socialized housing and urban development in these barangays.

The measure was then intended to protect and secure the foreshore areas of the three barangays from any possible claimants or users through foreshore lease applications or patent applications.

Amores said the indefinite moratorium aims to preserve the city’s natural resources and maintain the cleanliness of its municipal and coastal water.

“We know very well that tourism businesses are substantial means of living for the Oponganon (note: Opon is the old name of Lapu-Lapu City). If we will not implement moratorium, we cannot control them. We don’t know after Boracay (closure), next could be Panglao (Island in Bohol) or Mactan. This is the time to clean our seawater,” Amores said.

To recall, on April 26, the government closed the resort-island of Boracay in Aklan (Western Visayas) due to water pollution and high presence of fecal coliform contamination.

Amores said he would not want Mactan to share the fate of Boracay, which was why they would rather implement protective measures this early.

In the case of Boracay, the failure to implement proper water discharges system and sewage treatment plant were blamed for its pollution, wherein pipes were discovered along the coastal area of the island discharging waste directly to the sea.

“Prevention is better than medication. The moratorium will stay, until the city would see the need to lift the moratorium,” said Amores, even as they were already well aware that the DENR in Central Visayas has already started inspecting hotels and dive shops in the city.

Dissenting voices

The two dissenting councilors, Jeannify Tan-Dungog and Neslon Yap, however believed there was no need to impose a moratorium.

Dungog said the city government does not need to implement a moratorium if it only strictly requires establishments, especially near the coastal area, to comply with the proper implementation of waste water and sewage treatment facilities.

“If you are a responsible hotel, then you’re responsible in your area. Because if you release untreated water in the sea, then the government can close your business,” Dungog said.

Yap also believed that the measure would only discourage business expansion in the city when the city’s marine environment could still be protected by way of strict implementation of the requirement for waste water facilities and sewage treatment, instead of imposing a moratorium on foreshore leases.