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A green umbrella group on Wednesday expressed opposition to the
construction of the $20-million condominium inside the protected
Subic forest.
In a letter, Kalikasan People’s Network for
the Environment said that the construction of the two high-rise
structures, which is 90 percent complete, should never have
materialized since it was within the Subic Watershed Forest Reserve.
“The area is clearly protected under the
current environment laws. The project will also result to
dislocation of Aetas living in the area,” the group said in a
statement.
The group said that they see three culprits
responsible for such a “fraudulent scheme of circumventing
existing environmental laws,” citing how the Korean company Hanjin
Heavy Industries and Construction Ltd conducted itself in managing
to get all the papers ready, including an environmental compliance
certificate (ECC).
First, the Arroyo administration’s concept of
economic development, which they claimed focused on the outright
sale of our national patrimony and sovereignty, is engaging in
economic transactions deemed unfair for the country, and the
continuous neglect of the people’s concerns in exchange for
foreign capital and investment
“To strongly support the Hanjin project in
Subic forest, President Gloria Arroyo issued Executive Order No. 701
directing all heads of departments, bureaus, offices, agencies, and
the instrumentality of the government to support the power
infrastructure requirements and the investment of Hanjin Heavy
Industries and Construction-Philippines Inc. in Subic and Mindanao,”
the statement added.
Second, the group said that the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is merely echoing the
policies of its chief executive.
“While its mandate was to oversee activities
that might endanger the environment and has jurisdiction all over
the country, it seems that in Subic, the DENR has given up that
responsibility and that right by entering into a memorandum of
agreement granting the SBMA self-regulatory powers on environmental
matters including the issuance of ECCs,” the group said.
They said that the agreement should be scrapped,
saying that such a project defeats the purpose of the DENR and
erodes whatever standards they have in environmental compliance.
“Lastly, SBMA’s ecology center was the one
which approved the plan for the condo project despite the area being
off-limits to construction. The center defends itself of conducting
an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before approving the plan.
However, having an EIA doesn’t change the fact that it is a
protected area. The general rule would be that if it’s off-limits
as prescribed by law, then there would be no need for conducting the
rigorous process of EIA,” said the group.
-- James Konstantin Galvez
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