Verde Island Passage threatened by plans to conduct mining ops in a nearby town.

[Joe Cool]

I have just read this bit of news from The Philippine Star Newspaper the other day. I thought I would share that story here so fellow divers (and even non-divers) would be aware of what is going on behind the scenes that pose a threat to this protected marine sanctuary where popular dive destinations such as Anilao and Puerto Galera (among others) are located.

FYI, I started a similar thread found here (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/go...erde-island-passage-batangas-philippines.html )for those interested in signing an existing petition in Change.org. There is also a link to the petition at the end of the story below.

Here is an excerpt from a story by Mr. Jarius Bondoc that was published in the Philippine Star Newspaper concerning this threat to the Verde Island Passage:

Expect the government to do wrong, as always. Look at what the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is up to at Lobo, Batangas, fronting the world-famous Verde Island Passage. The agency is rushing to grant open-pit gold mining on the hillsides. Such extraction will ruin the area that is hailed as the “center of the center” of Asia-Pacific natural biodiversity. Forests would be denuded, rivers poisoned, and adjacent seas muddied. That would defy the very declaration of the Passage as a national protected site. Worse, it would leave for centuries to come a swath of wasteland and waters, affecting southern Luzon, Palawan, western Mindanao, even Malaysia and Indonesia. Yet that’s what government is for, right?

The DENR pretended to consult the people of Lobo town last week. But it didn’t give them ample notice of meetings, or time to peruse the mining plan. Pleas for rescheduling, by Catholic Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, were ignored. Local officials unhelpfully were silent. When it comes to invasions of quiet communities by giant miners, it’s money that does the talking.

Unopposed, “surface-contour” or open-pit mining soon will start. Hilltops will be lopped off. Kilometer-wide holes will be blasted in the ground, visible from outer space. Tailings from processing plants would make the land infertile and the seas unfishable. Residents would sicken from hunger, noise, and dirty air. Open-pit mining creates 20 tons of toxic waste to produce a 0.333-ounce gold ring. By then it would be too late to stop the destruction. The DENR typically is feeble in dealing with pollutive miners. That’s what stricken folk in Zambales and Palawan are learning the hard way. There, conservationists are vilified, if not killed.

The DENR need not have called for consultations with residents to begin with. Verde Passage is a national protected site, so declared by Malacañang nine years ago (seewww.gov.ph/2006/11/08/executive-order-no-578). That made the seaway and surrounding coasts off limits to mining. The agency should have rejected outright the application by a Canadian-Australian venture to mine 262 hectares in three barangays.

Nevertheless the DENR set the consultations for last May 20 and 21 as alibi. Hardly anyone attended. It would then claim to have asked for but heard no objections. A group of concerned residents saw the Notice of Public Hearing only by chance posted at the municipio on May 15. By then, the deadline had lapsed the day before for submission of opinions and intentions to attend.

The DENR couldn’t have picked a more idyllic site for destructive mining. Verde Passage is the sea channel between Batangas in mainland Luzon, and Mindoro, Marinduque, and Romblon islands. International scientists carefully had combed it in 2005, as part of studies on the “center of Asia-Pacific biodiversity,” that is, the coral triangle of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. They found the Passage to host the greatest number of Philippine shore fish and most of the world’s endangered species, plus 319 species and 74 genera of hard corals. Dolphins and sea cows abound in the waters, while monkeys, geckos, rare insects and newly discovered flora thrive in the forests of Lobo. The scientists hailed the Passage as “the center of the center” of the region’s biodiversity. Malacañang set policies for national agencies and local officials to protect the area. Sen. Loren Legarda of Batangas and Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Mindoro Oriental filed bills in 2013 to bolster the executive order with legislative protection of Verde Passage.

All that will come to naught as the DENR rushes to destroy Lobo, for a fistful of pesos. Thinking townsfolk are calling for worldwide help. One way is to sign the online petition:https://www.change.org/p/denr-unite...orld-s-marine-bio-diversity?just_created=true.

 

[xrcjdx]

bad gateway to link

 

[Joe Cool]

bad gateway to link

The link worked when I tried it just now. Anyway, I tweaked it. See how it goes.

 

[Joe Cool]

I am hoping Scubaboard member dive operators based in Anilao or the Philippines would chime in and give us a status update concerning this matter.

 

[StefinSB]

One thing I learnt is that scuba operators, at least in the Phillipines, tend to I) ignore everything outside of their own little resort sphere and ii) avoid working together like the devil touching holy water. Sad but unfortunately true. No idea how to change that either at this point.

 

[Joe Cool]

One thing I learnt is that scuba operators, at least in the Phillipines, tend to I) ignore everything outside of their own little resort sphere and ii) avoid working together like the devil touching holy water. Sad but unfortunately true. No idea how to change that either at this point.

Sad indeed! I would have expected them to be part of some kind of association or group. I believe in competitors learning how to work together for the benefit of the industry and community (not only individual interests). I do know first hand that this is common practice (i.e., competing firms are suspicious and distrust each other) in the business community in the Philippines. It does happen in my line of work (not diving related) here in Canada. Whenever I promote partnerships between competing firms when I conduct tenders for large projects, they give me a look thinking I've lost a screw in my head.

 

[eagerbeaver]

One thing I learnt is that scuba operators, at least in the Phillipines, tend to I) ignore everything outside of their own little resort sphere and ii) avoid working together like the devil touching holy water. Sad but unfortunately true. No idea how to change that either at this point.

Possibly and over generalisation that could be offensive to some. The issue is clearly much larger than just a few scuba operators.

 

[Hintermann]

Possibly and over generalisation that could be offensive to some. The issue is clearly much larger than just a few scuba operators.

I do not know much about this Philipiine issue but there ARE places where Scuba Operators look after Number One and pretend certain things are not happeneing. Phuket area in Thailand and illegal fishing practices are an example.

 

[JoeTravels]

That's sad to hear, I work in Alona and that is definitely not the case here, A lot of us look out for each other. Anyways I will take this article and share it with the other shop owners and we have a monthly meeting I go to I will bring it there as well!

Thanks for the heads up JoeCool...