The approval by the provincial government of a memorandum allowing the entry of Energy Development Corporation, formerly PNOC-EDC, into the 169-hectare buffer zone of Mt. Kanlaon National Park, poses a danger to the people of Negros. If such activities are not stopped, Negros might experience the same kind of devastation as that of Iloilo and Aklan during typhoon Frank.
BY KARL G. OMBION
(Bulatlat.com)
Vol. VIII, No. 24, July 20-26, 2008
BACOLOD CITY – Negros Occidental Governor Isidro Zayco has recently signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) allowing the expansion of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) inside the Mt. Kanlaon National Park (MKNP).
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza earlier granted EDC a tree cutting permit within the 169-hectare buffer zone.
The MoA of EDC and the provincial government purportedly intends to address the Negros Occidental’s power needs but at the same time commits to preserve and protect the environment and the resources in MKNP. It also requires the EDC to sell power at a price lower than or equal to that of the alternative power projects and to give priority in the sale of its electricity to the electric cooperatives in Negros island.
The MoA also reiterated the conditions set in the governor’s Executive Order creating an Oversight, Monitoring and Compliance Committee, to which the EDC will have to submit a detailed work program and a stand and stock table covering its activities in the 169-hectare MKNP buffer zone.
The MoA also includes a stipulation that the EDC must confine its geothermal development activities within the perimeters duly delineated and established by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in coordination with the Park Board and the Oversight committee; that the EDC must ensure that the cutting of trees with a diameter of 100 centimeters and beyond shall be limited to only 34 trees, and that it should exert all efforts to minimize the cutting of trees to a number lower than 34.
The MoA further required the EDC to institute and implement a Comprehensive Environmental and Reforestation Program to mitigate the effects of the exploration inside the buffer zone, and states that its reforestation activity at the MKNP shall involve 160,000 trees planted and grown over a span of five years to cover an area of 400 hectares; and provided that the cutting of trees by the EDC shall be done in the presence of the Oversight, Monitoring and Compliance Committee, and the company should give preference to the people residing in the locality for its unskilled labor requirement in its exploration activities.
EDC President and CEO Paul Aquino told local media that he was grateful to Zayco and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Council), saying that they have stood up for what is right and legal.
Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, on the other hand, welcomed the decision by the provincial government, saying, “With the signing of the memorandum of agreement, EDC can now tap additional geothermal power to generate the province’s much needed power,” and added that “those who oppose the project should respect the decision of the local government and the desire of majority of Negrenses to support the project in answer to the power shortfall of the province.”
The decision, however, was scored by progressive organizations and various environmental groups in the region, who said that it will open the floodgate for further deforestation of MKNP and thus complete the process of destroying the remaining frontiers of the region.
Bayan Muna (People First) Provincial Chairperson Alejandro Deoma slammed the signing of the MoA allowing EDC to conduct exploration in MKNP, saying that it poses great risks to the people of Negros, considering the already critical state of the island’s forests.
“If such activities are not stopped,” Deoma said, “Negros will likely experience the same kind of devastation that struck Iloilo and Aklan recently.”
MKNP is a protected area
Mt. Kanlaon has been categorized by Republic Act No. 9154 as a natural park because it is an important watershed of Northern and Central Negros. It serves as headwater catchment of three major river systems in the island, namely: Bago, Nahatin and Binalbagan, which supply irrigation water to 158,500 hectares or one-fifth of the Negros Occidental’s entire land area.
Mt. Kanlaon is a protected area included in the Top Ten Priority Sites for Conservation of the Philippine government, which is why RA 9154 or the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park (MKNP) Act of 2001 was enacted to protect and conserve it.
Based on 1989 Swedish Space Agency satellite data, Negros has only 39,630 hectares (4.77 percent) forest cover left. Since then, incidence of deforestration and denudation continue unabated throughout the island, causing local environmental advocates to assert that the remaining forest cover of the island may now only be between 3.5 percent and four percent.
The current rate is already alarmingly below the 40-percent forest cover needed to maintain a balanced ecosystem on the island.
“The 169 hectares is a very a huge area, a home to diverse flora and fauna species. Cutting more trees in MKNP or elsewhere in Negros will certainly imperil the Negrense’s water supply, agriculture and will entail irreparable damage to whatever biodiversity,” Deoma said
Deoma also clarified that Section 5 of RA 9154 provides that “any geothermal exploration for or development of energy or mineral resources within the MNKP shall not be allowed except by an Act of Congress. This provision shows clearly that any geothermal exploration can only be done only through an act of Congress. Gloria [Macapagal-Arroyo] and her environment chief Atienza should not jump the gun on the public as this is clearly illegal.”
He added that the government’s decision to pursue this project is illegal as it violates the many of our nation’s laws and international environment covenants that the Philippines is a party to.
