Save Dumaguete

If you’ve been to Dumaguete even just once, you will understand why the gentle people – as the people of this place are called – are against any reclamation plan in this city on Negros Island.

Reclamation projects promise jobs, urbanization and economic development. But the gentle people are rejecting such promises.

Instead, they ask: development for whom?

I understand them perfectly well because I’ve been to their city once before. I’ve seen how beautiful and bountiful Dumaguete can be; yet I was only visiting. Imagine how protective residents can be of their coastal community, which has been listed as one of the “7 Best Places to Retire Around the World” by Forbes magazine.

The city isn’t just a university town which includes the famed Silliman University; it is also famous for its lush waterfront Rizal Boulevard.

It is also known worldwide for its abundance of vividly colorful fish and marine life and jaw-dropping coral gardens over at Apo Island, 30 kilometers south of Dumaguete.

In fact, the marine habitat surrounding the island is a marine reserve and is home to over 400 coral species and 650 documented species of fish.

Against this backdrop, it’s a puzzle why local officials themselves are the ones spearheading plans to destroy the city through reclamation.

For sure, there are successful reclamation stories in many parts of the globe. I’ve written about enduring reclamation projects in the Netherlands, Singapore and even in Metro Manila. In some instances, reclamation has provided solutions to land problems.

‘Smart City’

But what is the need for reclamation in Dumaguete? Why fix it when it ain’t broke or, more appropriately, why destroy it when it ain’t broke?

As members of the community themselves say, reclamation will not be good for Dumaguete or for its people. And yet it’s a puzzle why no less than the local government, specifically City Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo, is the one pushing for such reclamation to happen.

Calling it the “Smart City,” this was how the mayor described his plan:

“The Smart City will transform Dumaguete into a highly-urbanized city with a mixed-use central business district equipped with earth-friendly building systems, green energy sources and modern information technologies.”

But a Philippine STAR article published last Oct. 21 says:

Reclamation has been the buzzword in the city of Dumaguete since 2016, starting off with a thousand-square-meter land mass christened ‘Pantawan’ on the northern end of Dumaguete’s main avenue, Rizal Blvd. Perhaps because of the no-fuss reaction of the community to this reclamation, the City Council then decided to embark on a more ambitious reclamation on the south side of the boulevard in 2019, which was labeled ‘Pantawan 2,‘ destined to be the size of 10 basketball courts or so, definitely outsizing the meaning of the term  ‘pantawan,’ which in the dialect and in Tagalog means porch or veranda in this case, an oversized one.

“This time, the community posed an active legal protest, and in March 2019, a Cease and Desist Order from the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was sent to the mayor and his associates for no approval issued in favor of the city for any reclamation project. This was blatantly ignored, and the illegal work continued.”

Ombudsman

Dumaguete’s Dr. Frances Hope Yap, whom I met before in a forum on sustainability organized by the Masungi Georeserve Foundation, said the proposed Pantawan 2 extension is destructive and illegal and will cause the displacement of a coastal community in Purok Ubos, Brgy. Tinago.

The community’s opposition goes beyond loud protests. There’s also the Save Tinago Alliance composed of residents of Brgy. Tinago, the community directly affected by the ongoing reclamation project.

Last month, two environmental groups, Kahugpungan para sa Kinabuhi ug Kinaiyahan and Friends of the Environment in Negros Oriental (FENOr), along with five coastal community members in Brgy. Tinago, have submitted a 44-page complaint before the City/Provincial Fiscal’s Office, asking the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Pantawan 2 project.

In summary, petitioners want the government to stop the reclamation projects and instead invest in sustainable initiatives that would protect and improve the city and its precious marine ecosystem.

Impunity

Lawyer Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II shared the following details about the case in a BusinessMirror column last month:

The Pantawan 2 Extension reclamation project started in the first quarter of last year. The area in question is a 1.9-hectare reclamation site facing the coastal community of Brgy. Tinago in Dumaguete City.

It can be recalled that the PRA had issued a Cease and Desist Order against the project because it lacked the necessary PRA approvals.

An Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) was granted to the Pantawan 2 reclamation on June 18, 2019. However, this ECC was suspended by the Environmental Management Bureau in September 2019 due to project implementation sans a Notice to Proceed.

The Complainants say that the Pantawan 2 Extension project is, therefore, an illegal reclamation.

The project is worth P74 million funded by the local government through an appropriation ordinance.

Clearly, the project is a testament to impunity and illegal use of taxpayers’ money. We cannot allow our local government officials to act as if they own the people’s land and the people’s money.

Dumaguete is known as a City of Gentle People but behind the gentleness is a people’s struggle against reclamation. We all must help this community save its beautiful city. It is, after all, one of the few remaining marine sanctuaries in the Philippines.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen (Iris Gonzales) on Facebook.