Alliance: Stop recla projects

CEBU, Philippines — Claiming that the lives of Cebuanos and its marine resources are put to risk, a new alliance, dubbed as Save Cebu Movement, is calling for the stoppage of all forms of reclamation projects in Cebu.

The group further said that 65 out of 461 illegal and unauthorized reclamation projects and without special registration are found in Cebu; 18 out of 104 illegal/unauthorized reclamation projects with special registration are in Cebu; 2 out 5 illegal/unauthorized reclamation projects for titling are in Cebu; and 50 of the 138 illegal/unauthorized reclamation projects for forfeiture are in Cebu.

“Cebu is one of the islands with the most number of massive reclamation projects at various stages of development, placing the Sugbuanons in grave danger, including its marine and fishing resources that provide food and livelihood to many Filipinos,” the alliance said.

The alliance, international advocacy organization Oceana, together with the Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC), fisherfolk and community leaders, civil society organizations, environmental advocacy groups, faith-based organizations, and partners in the academe, legal aid, youth groups, lawyers and businesses, was formed to protect the people’s rights to a healthy environment against environmentally destructive projects.

Tagging these as dump-and-fill activities, the coalition said these illegal and destructive projects brazenly convert coastlines into permanent land by dumping and filling materials dredged from other parts of the ocean or quarried from mountains to build permanent structures and fossil-gas facilities thereby irreversibly damaging and threatening mangroves, seagrass beds, corals and fisheries.

Harmful to people

Sanlakas Cebu Secretary General Teodorico Navea said that the launching of the movement is a welcome move to thwart the aggressive reclamation projects confronting Cebu.

“There is enough reason to build such a movement for this is a major concern that is harmful to the people and the environment. These projects will exacerbate the impacts of climate change,” Navea said.

In particular, he said it will aggravate sea level rise that in the next decade will wipe out low lying coastal communities and not to mention that our food security will be threatened by the diminishing marine resources and worst, the displacement of our poor fisherfolks.

“The impacts of climate change are irreversible and for us to respond to the call for a climate emergency is to pursue projects beneficial to the people and ensure the protection and sustainability of our environment,” Navea added.

Oceana Vice President Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos also calls on the government to stop these activities for the sake of the Filipino people and the environment.

Sea-level rising

With the Philippine sea level rising three times faster than the global average, illegal coastal development projects would reportedly further increase the island’s vulnerability to environmental hazards and extreme weather events, such as flooding, storm surges, land subsidence, and liquefaction.

“Therefore, we, the affected communities and concerned citizens, civil society organizations, fisherfolk, academe, youth, faith-based organizations, business sector, and special interest groups hereby declare our strong opposition against reclamation and other coastal development projects. These destructive projects are incompatible with the people’s fundamental right to a balanced and healthful ecology, a right which carries with it the correlative duty not to impair the environment,” read the alliance’s manifesto.

It added that these projects also violate laws which guarantee subsistence fisherfolk the right to the preferential use of local marine and fishing resources, both inland and offshore.

“It is time to mend distorted priorities. It is high time to listen to science and to the voices on the ground. Time to uphold the rule of law. Stop these reclamation projects to minimize massive quarry activities that carve our mountains and decrease the need for more fossil-based energy sources that emit greenhouse gases,” it added.

The alliance further calls for full transparency of government projects and meaningful consultations for protecting our coasts.

Bike for-a-cause

As this developed, Cebuano pedal-pushers and some environmental advocates join the rest of the climate campaigners from different countries for bike for-a-cause in time for the opening of the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt today.

About 50 coordinated biking events are done in nine Asian countries with the Cebu group also hoping to get their message across.

Around a hundred bikers are expected to join the bike event in Cebu from Plaza Independencia to Fuente Osme?a starting at 9:30 a.m.

The event is organized by the Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) with Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Sanlakas, Oriang, and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP).

The Cebu group, in particular, is “calling on governments of rich, industrialized countries to immediately deliver climate reparations for developing countries that are bearing the brunt of climate change.”  - Caecent No-ot Magsumbol, GAN (FREEMAN)