Toledo City Mayor John H. “Sonny” Osmeña leads mayors in pushing for approval of an 11-hectare reclamation project in a meeting of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) at Casino Español. (CDN PHOTO/ MARIAN Z. CODILLA)
Officials yesterday unveiled plans to reclaim 11 hectares of “muddy” and “polluted” foreshore lands in Toledo City.
But since it falls in the Tañon Strait, a biodiversity-rich seascape between Cebu and Negros islands, that is protected by national law, what impact will the reclamation have?
Toledo City Mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña led about 12 Cebu mayors in presenting plans to reclaim and develop foreshore land into a mixed-use complex with a shopping mall, commercial spaces, condotel, a promenade, sports and cultural center.
“There are no mangroves or corals in the project site,” said Luterhan Hernando, assistant Protected Area Superintendent (Pasu), in a meeting of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) held at Casino Español.
“I assure you, 100 percent, that there is not a single mangrove in that area. If there is a mangrove there, I will resign. For corals, none at all,” he said.
Mayor Osmeña said he has the support of all local governments but lacks a resolution of barangay Poblacion, because the barangay captain would not cooperate.
The project site is located between the Toledo public market and the Cebu Energy Development Corp. power plant in barangay Poblacion.
Hernando recommended the project for approval by the PAMB but the board, headed by DENR Regional Executive Director Isabelo Montejo said public consultation and a barangay resolution are necessary in applying for a recalamtion project.
“We can’t do away (with this requirement) because this is part of the process. The barangay is the cutting edge of all LGUs. We should get away from politics because our purpose is to address all issues, be it envionmental or economic, so there will be harmony. The moment we force the issue and approve this, an aggrieved party will come up to us and complain and we need to address it,” he said.
The project is estimated to cost P186.4 million, City Planning and Development Coordinator Caroline Labrador said in her presentation before the two Cebu Site Management Unit (SMU) of Tañon Strait yesterday.
The project will be further discussed during a PAMB executive committee meeting it was conditionally approved by the two SMUs.
The two SMUs are composed of 28 members of town and city mayors surrounding Tañon Strait, the Cebu governor and DENR officials, including Protected Area Superintendent (PASu) and Regional Director Montejo.
Hernando recommended approval of the project “pending submission of the environment compliance certificate by the EMB”
His letter dated May 7, which was read by Samboan Mayor Raymond Joseph Calderon, stated that “all requirements have been complied (by the Toledo City government) except for a barangay resolution.”
Toledo City submitted instead a 2014 City Development Council (CDC) resolution recommending e approval of the reclamation project and providing a fund of P4 million..
Hernando said this is the first time a reclamation project within a protected seascape was being proposed without the barangay resolution.
But he said the CDC resolution was “enough”.
“The area is polluted, filled with mud, silt, all dirt from the market. You cannot see a single mangrove planted, not a single coral. There is sand, mud, plastics, all pollutants. Name it, you have it,” Hernando said.
OBJECTION
Objections to the reclamation are being posed by Oceana, an international organization focused on marine conservation, headed by vice president Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, a Cebu lawyer.
“Under the laws, reclamation projects are non-negotiable because they are very destructive to the environment. We will really oppose this project because Tanon Strait has been degraded. We know there is a vanishing baseline of marine species in the area and now they want to destroy it further,” she said in an interview.
She reminded officials that a citizen’s lawsuit can be filed against anyone who will cause the destruction of a marine habitat.
In a letter to Mayor Osmena, the DENR Secretary and Cebu governor, Oceana listed 14 questions asking about the impact on the Tañon Strait.
She urged Governor o Davide III to convene the two SMUs of the Tanon Strait for a dialogue to assess the project.
“I hope local government officials have learned their lesson after the Supreme Court affirmed that the rule of law must be followed especially in the protected areas,” Ramos said.
Mayor Osmeña asked: “Who is Oceana? Are they a registered NGO?”
Montejo told the mayor that Ramos was among those who filed a case in behalf of dolphins and marine life in the Tañon Strait, and won in the Supreme Court, which declared oil drilling operations by Japex “unconstitutional”.
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