Environmentalists mark Save Mt. Kanlaon Day

Various groups of Negrenses and environmentalists are set to stage different forms of protest today, as they declared Aug. 11 the Save Mt. Kanlaon Day amid continued cutting of trees within the buffer zone of the dormant volcano, which is a protected area.

The Save Mt. Kanlaon Coalition and support groups like Greenwatch Philippines Inc. and Task Force Kanlaon will gather at the provincial capitol lagoon as early as 7 a.m. to kick off demonstrations, which include the submission of their petition asking the provincial government of Negros Occidental to immediately stop the cutting of trees in the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park by the Lopez-owned Energy Development Corp. (EDC).

The petition bearing the signatures of supporters and sympathizers will be presented to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and the office of Negros Occidental Gov. Isidro Zayco.

At almost the same time, the Green Alert will stage a “wake” in front of the provincial office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to “mourn the death” of the trees already cut at the natural park’s buffer zone since the EDC expanded its geothermal exploration there last July 28.

Don Flordeliza Jr., chairman of the Manila-based Greenwatch and head of Negros-based Task Force Kanlaon, said the court should urgently grant their petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the EDC expansion project to save the remaining trees in the buffer zone.

The EDC project will reportedly affect 4,213 trees in the protected area.

As of Aug. 5, Flordeliza said the EDC has cut 907 trees in the area, “opening” 2.7 kilometers of the road there.

At this rate, Flordeliza said the EDC is expected to be able to cut all 4,213 trees, which consist of 80-year-old, fully grown trees, in a matter of only two months, thus effectively “destroying the ecosystem of the virgin forest.”

“We urge that the cutting of trees be stopped immediately while the legal action is going on,” said Flordeliza, whose group filed an amended case and petition for a TRO before Bacolod City’s Regional Trial Court Branch 44 last July 31. 

“We also hope that the court would grant us the TRO very, very soon before it’s too late… before all 4,213 trees are cut,” he said.

“We urge the DENR to review its policy and for the DOE (Department of Energy) to look for other alternative sources of energy (than push through with this geothermal project),” he added. 

The EDC’s geothermal development project will cover 169 hectares of the natural park’s buffer zone. 

The constitutionality of a provision in Republic Act 9154, or the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act, which allots the buffer zone to the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) for the geothermal exploration of the EDC, is the main contention of the pending case filed by the Save Mt. Kanlaon Coalition.

Last July 24, the coalition filed a case against the EDC and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza over the geothermal development project. The DENR has given the EDC the permit to cut trees in the area.

On July 31, the group filed its amended complaint, including Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, Zayco, Mayors Ramon Torres and Esteban Coscolluela of Bago and Murcia towns, respectively, and the natural park’s Protected Areas Management Board as additional respondents. The hearing on the petition is set on Aug. 12. 

“We are in grave urgency to have the court approve our prayer for the TRO because if the court decision will take more than a month, the buffer zone will be almost 80 percent denuded,” Flordeliza said.