MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will review the authority given to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to issue environmental compliance certificates (ECC) inside the freeport.
Environment Undersecretary Manuel Gerochi said the department is already discussing with SBMA and other stakeholders the proposed review of the agreement between the DENR and freeport officials.
The authority of SBMA to issue ECCs inside the area was criticized recently with the construction of apartment buildings for executives and employees of the South Korean shipbuilding firm Hanjin inside the freeport’s rainforest.
“Though some functions have already been delegated to the SBMA, the DENR still retains its oversight functions and will exercise its authority when necessary,” Gerochi said.
He confirmed that the area where the 184-unit apartment complex of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction is being built was a former ammunition storage area of the former US naval base in Subic.
Gerochi said the construction of an apartment complex inside SBMA is permitted provided that it is within the framework of sustainable development.
He cited Republic Act 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992, which allows construction of a building in an area which is set aside as a “multiple-use zone.”
“The construction of an apartment complex inside Subic is allowed as long as it strictly adheres to the master development plan of the area,” Gerochi pointed out.
Under the NIPAS Act of 1992, a multiple-use zone is an area where settlement, traditional and sustainable land use, including agriculture, agro-forestry, extraction activities, and other income-generating or livelihood activities may be allowed to the extent prescribed in the management plan.
The law likewise stated that land tenure in these areas may be granted to residents, whether indigenous cultural community members or migrants.
Environmentalists protested the construction of the Hanjin complex inside the SBMA rainforest and urged the DENR to review its memorandum of agreement (MOA) with SBMA wherein the environment department delegated some of its functions to freeport officials, including the issuance of the ECC to companies inside SBMA.
The Senate committee on environment and natural resources has set an inspection next week of the Hanjin construction site.
Hanjin has invested some $1.2 billion in a shipyard project at SBMA as well as the construction of an apartment complex for its workers.
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said there is no legal basis to stop the construction of the Hanjin complex at this time.