Petition seeks to compel DENR to address pollution in Verde Island Passage
MANILA, Philippines — Green groups and fishers filed a petition Tuesday seeking to compel the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to issue guidelines designating parts of the Verde Island Passage (VIP) as non-attainment areas to prevent the further degradation of the marine corridor.
Protect VIP, Center for Energy, Environment and Development, and fishers’ organizations in Batangas and Mindoro filed a petition for a writ of continuing mandamus with the Court of Appeals against the DENR.
The petition seeks to compel the DENR and its Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) to perform their duties under the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004.
It calls for the designation of Batangas Bay and several coastal waters of Mindoro provinces, Palawan and Antique as non-attainment areas for pollutants such as lead, chromium and zinc as well as oil and grease.
The petition also aims to pressure the environment department to issue guidelines for the designation on non-attainment areas, and implement a program preventing new sources of exceeded water pollutants in non-attainment areas in the VIP.
The National Water Resources Board, Department of Health and Department of Agriculture were also named as respondents in the petition.
‘Irreparable damage’
VIP is located between the provinces of Batangas, Oriental and Occidental Mindoro, Romblon and Marinduque. Home to 60% of all known shore fish species and over 300 coral species, it is dubbed by scientists as the “center of the center” of the world’s marine biodiversity.
Despite its significance, VIP is under threat from pollution originating from gas plants and liquefied natural gas terminals in its vicinity, the oil spill off Mindoro, and the impacts of the climate crisis.
Water quality tests in July revealed five of six marine protected areas (MPAs) in oil spill-hit Pola and Pinamalayan towns in Mindoro exceeding water quality standards for oil and grease. A follow-up test in September found all six MPAs failed to meet the standards.
An MPA in Brgy. Ilijan in Batangas City, the site of gas plants and terminals, also exceeded oil and grease, and ammonia limits.
Ivan Andres, CEED’s deputy head for research and policy, said that high concentrations of pollutants, such as oil and grease, in coastal waters can affect fish, corals and other aquatic organisms and can pose health risks to humans exposed directly or through contaminated fish.
“The longer the subject waters remain unprotected and exposed to pollution, the more likely the damage and deterioration to these areas may be irreparable,” Andres said.
Cancel permits, ECCs
Under the law, the DENR shall designate water bodies where specific pollutants from either natural or man-made sources have already exceeded water quality guidelines as non-attainment areas for exceeded pollutants.
The department, in coordination with NWRB, DOH and DA, shall also take measures to upgrade the water quality in non-attainment areas to meet the standards under which it has been classified.
Fr. Edwin Gariguez, lead convenor of Protect VIP, said that the coalition and other stakeholders have repeatedly requested the DENR to declare as non-attainment areas the waters of the marine corridor that have failed water quality tests.
“However, DENR has failed to respond to our entreaties, only giving empty assurances that we will be provided copies of such guidelines once they have been issued,” Gariguez said.
The petition asked the Court of Appeals to issue a temporary environmental protection order urging DENR and DENR-EMB to prohibit the issuance of new discharge permits and environmental compliance certificates to gas projects and LNG terminals, and suspend existing permits of facilities along VIP and other areas affected by the oil spill.
It also asked the court to urge DENR to take other measures as may be necessary to prevent the further degradation of water quality in the VIP and other oil spill-affected areas, and to protect, preserve and rehabilitate the environment.
Sanny Tayco, a fisher from Oriental Mindoro, said the oil spill and the proliferation of gas facilities in the vicinity have led to a decline in fish catch.
“We are appealing to the DENR to help us… Fishing is all we know. We hope that you will address our plea,” he said.
The DENR has called for the declaration of VIP as a legislated protected area, with Environment chief Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga saying in May the protected area status “will keep VIP a sanctuary to thousands of marine species and off limits to business activities that will threaten its pristine ecosystems.”
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