EDITORIAL - Hidden agenda

Just days after the announcement of the discovery of an oil deposit in the town of Aloguinsan, some cause-oriented groups wanted any drilling stopped, claiming it would only affect the environment.

In a three-page petition, the Philippine Earth Justice Center, Inc., Freedom from Debt Coalition-Cebu and the Central Visayas Farmers Development Center appealed to the Cebu provincial government to stop any oil exploration in the town.

Claiming the town is part of Tañon Strait Protected Seascape, the groups said they "call for a stop to the ongoing oil exploration in Aloguinsan on legal, social, health, climate and ecological grounds."

Going through the list of the petitioners, one can only suspect that there is a hidden agenda behind the petition. For this is not the first time they opposed any development in Cebu. These are the same groups which also opposed the construction of coal power plants and other developments across the province. 

Although the Cebuanos understand their crusade to protect the environment, these groups sometimes fail to accept the other side, refusing to buy the bigger picture that would have enlightened them.

A case in point is the Aloguinsan oil drilling. While the groups' environmental concerns are valid, the government and the Cebuanos would have never approved any move that would only destroy the environment.

But with the advent of modern technology, we believe the company doing the exploration is fully aware not to harm the environment. The fact that its drilling has been approved by the environment department would only make the company more careful not to affect the environment.

The oil discovery in the province is definitely a welcome development. A full-scale drilling would not only generate more employment but would lessen the country's dependence on oil from abroad as well.

And the only thing the government should need is to assure that the project will not affect the environment.