CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Non-government organizations (NGOs) and the academe have issued their annual State of the Philippine Environment (SPE), saying three years of the Duterte government have “resulted in the wholesale of at least P773 billion worth of the Philippines’ sovereign mineral, water, wildlife, and marine resources.”
The estimate was based on a study conducted by the UP Marine Science Institute (MSI) which said that annually, China has been causing P33-billion worth of damages through destruction of coral reefs in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), or about P99 billion from years 2016 to 2018.
The SPE was issued during a forum attended by some 600 participants from various schools, universities, NGOs, and institutions, based on “updates on the status of the country’s state of ecosystems and natural resources.”
The forum, which concluded the other day at the Ateneo de Manila University, was organized by the Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC Phils.), in cooperation with the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE), the Ateneo de Manila Development Studies Program, and the Ateneo Environmental Science Society.
The SPE also said that “a whopping P23-billion worth of our lands and waters were promised as sovereign guarantees to pay in full should the country default on its onerous loans that Duterte entered into with China for the New Centennial Water System – Kaliwa Dam projects and the Chico River Pump irrigation project.”
It also said that “the Biodiversity Management Bureau estimates that roughly P50 billion worth of illegal wildlife trade per year, or P150 billion from 2016 to 2018, has poached and smuggled out endangered flora and fauna out of the country.”
“Foreign-dominated and export-oriented large-scale mining has cost the Filipino people the most. Data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau showed that P501.4-billion worth of minerals have been virtually exported to other countries by large-scale mining operations in the same timeframe,” the SPE said.
It noted that “the P773 billion does not even take into account all other environmental costs lost to other projects and future damages it may bring. Studies have to be done to ascertain how much opportunity costs have been lost, and how much other consequential damages down the line may be incurred because of this wholesale.”
It added that “there has been a short supply of the political will that President Rodrigo Duterte promised. The promise of an independent foreign policy has devolved into a policy of subservience to China and other foreign, corporate interests. The promise to close down big mines have resulted in the reversal of 9 out of 13 mines originally up for suspension or closure.”
“The Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement of Oceanagold Mining, an Australian- Canadian mining firm, has been endorsed for renewal by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu despite its economic and development contributions amounting only to 5.4% of the mineral value it has plundered in Nueva Vizcaya province,” the annual statement also said.
“Despite this, we believe there is hope for our environment and natural patrimony. Hope lies in the indigenous communities in Nueva Vizcaya currently barricading against Oceanagold. It lies in the para enforcers of Palawan apprehending chainsaw users and poachers through citizens’ arrests. It lies in the upcoming thousands upon thousands of people expected to converge in the United People’s Action, where the real state of the nation will be demonstrated,” the SPE also said.
