STATEMENT: Aquino's Emergency Powers: more power to steal from the people and destroy the environment

Press Statement
December 14, 2014
Panalipdan Southern Mindanao

On the Emergency Powers of Pres. BS Aquino
More power to steal from the people and destroy the environment

Panalipdan-SMR, an environmental advocacy group in Davao City, declares its opposition to the Joint House Resolution 21 giving emergency powers to the President supposedly to address the so-called energy crisis in the summer months of 2015. There is no energy crisis looming. Instead, this move by the House of Representatives may only lead to greater opportunities for corruption in the Aquino administration and to speeding up of environmental destruction in the country.

On further inspection, it is the energy reserves, not the supply, that will be affected. Plus, there are several projects underway to address this problem without resorting to an emergency power. To grant the president emergency powers therefore is not only unnecessary, it is unscrupulous. It gives the President further control over energy-related projects, including the financial aspects of such, even in the midst of his involvement in the corruption with pork barrel funds.

According to reports, the DOE estimates a 782-MW shortage for 2015, but projects are already underway to provide 1,600 MW of power for the next year, more than what is needed to provide for the reserve needs. With the suspension of environmental laws under the emergency powers, the construction of privately-owned power plants in the country can be hastened, which means greater environmental destruction. Aquino is truly an enemy of the environment; it puts privatized power industry’s profit first regardless of their impacts to the ecology and communities which will be affected.

It is likely that the funds that come out of these projects funnel directly to those who supported this bill, as the election period looms near. Why can the government subsidize the owners of SGFs or backup generators and not give financial support to the setting-up of community-based electrification projects?

The power crisis is a hocus, one that is destructive to the environment and provident for corrupt lawmakers of opportunities for misuse of public funds most likely for the upcoming election season. The continued privatization of the power industry through EPIRA will continue to result to increasing prices for electricity.

It is true that there is an energy problem in the country, but the problem does not lie in the lack of electric power itself but on how the additional generated power will benefit the Filipino people. Many barangays are still up to now not electrified. The emergency powers given to Aquino only shows whose interests his government is serving, that of foreign power industry and their local business partners, and not to the Filipino people.

STATEMENT: On the 2nd Anniversary of Typhoon Pablo Disaster

Statement of Panalipdan Southern Mindanao
On the 2nd Anniversary of Typhoon Pablo Disaster
December 4, 2014

Two years after the disaster that was Pablo, survivors are yet to recover from its economic and environmental impacts. Many communities in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental haven't felt the P10 billion rehabilitation project supposedly implemented by the BS Aquino government.

Worse, many pabahay residents have to suffer from poor housing conditions; many houses were built without proper foundation which thus spells further disaster. In Cateel, people have to shell out some amount to avail of the pabahay project.

Many families in New Bataan, Compostela Valley were forced to be dislocated from their farms just to avail of the housing project. In short, the rehabilitation effort of the Aquino government were effectively used as a tool to drive away residents from their communities.

Without the much needed help from the government, many Pablo survivors have realized their collective potential to rise up from the rubbles of Pablo. With the aid of disaster response and rehabilitation NGOs and concerned individuals and organizations, they were able to establish farms for their food security. They also adopted Rainforestation projects which aim to restore the forest and rehabillitate the environment that was damaged due to cash-oriented illegal logging. Aside from that, they found their strength in uniting against the entry of foreign large-scale mining.

Pablo survivors under Barug Katawhan together with support groups in Davao City stormed the DSWD once again on the 2nd anniversary of Typhoon Pablo. They also held protest in front of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to call for the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995 and the end to the foreign-owned large-scale mining operations in Pablo-stricken areas.

They are joining the kampuhan in Davao City towards the International Human Rights Day on December 10 in order to highlight the various human rights violations they suffer under intensified militarization, which was a reaction to their opposition to the large-scale mining operations and their persistent move to expose the criminal negligence of the Aquino government towards disaster survivors.

More photos here.

Coal mines polluting half of South Kalimantan’s rivers, lakes

Jakarta Globe
Indonesia
December 4, 2014

Nearly half of all the bodies of water in South Kalimantan is at risk of being contaminated by waste from coal mines, claims a report released by Greenpeace on Wednesday.

“Revealed: Coal Mines Polluting South Kalimantan’s Water” details the findings of a nine-month Greenpeace investigation that shows hazardous waste from intensive and largely unregulated coal mining activities is contaminating the province’s streams and rivers — and in many cases breaching national standards for mining wastewater.

One third of South Kalimantan has been allocated to coal mining, posing a clear threat to the province’s water quality. Greenpeace found that hazardous discharges of acid mine waste containing iron, manganese and aluminum, among others, are reaching bodies of water and their surrounding environment.

Around 3,000 kilometers of South Kalimantan’s rivers — almost 45 percent — are located downstream from coal mines.

“People in neighboring and downstream communities are using potentially contaminated water to bathe, wash and farm. They face unacceptable risks from coal mining activities. The government must act to safeguard their health and livelihood,” said Arif Fiyanto, Greenpeace Indonesia Climate and Energy campaigner.

Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of thermal coal and the second largest coal exporter overall. Over the last decade, more than 90 percent of the archipelago’s coal production and exports have come from Kalimantan.

In addition to causing environmental problems, the province’s coal export boom could add 460 million metric tons to global annual carbon emissions by 2020, which would make a mockery of Indonesia’s 2009 pledge to cut emissions by up to 41 percent by 2020.

In recent years, coal production has grown the fastest in South Kalimantan, which produced 33 percent of Indonesia’s coal in 2011. As coal production has increased, so have the negative impacts on the people and environment.

Of the 29 wastewater samples taken by Greenpeace from five coal mining concessions in South Kalimantan, 22 were found to be acidic (low pH), well below the standards set by the government. Discharges, leaks and spills from contaminated ponds in coal concessions pose grave dangers to nearby creeks, swamps and rivers.

According to Greenpeace, mining companies profiting from these dirty — and in some cases illegal operations — have the responsibility to stop polluting water resources communities depend on. Companies found to be breaking the law should pay for clean-up operations even if their mining licenses expire or cancelled, since acid mine drainage (AMD) problems typically persist for many decades, the organization added.

“The new government of Indonesia and the provincial government of South Kalimantan can and must do more to hold polluters accountable to protect the people and the environment,” said Arif. “We expect a thorough investigation by government agencies, as well as tougher regulatory control. We look forward to working with the authorities to tackle and solve the problems highlighted in our report.”

Commemorating Typhoon Pablo

NEWS: Envi group to present alternatives to proposed oil palm project in Davao

Source: MindaNews

By Lorie Ann Cascaro on June 29 2014 6:16 pm

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 29 June) — Environmental group Panalipdan Southern Mindanao said Saturday it is poised to present to the City Council alternatives to proposed oil palm plantations in Paquibato and Marilog districts here.

Malaysian and Thai companies had earlier expressed interest in planting oil palm in these areas.

Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte criticized the group’s opposition to the project saying they did not suggest anything to alleviate poverty in the area. His father, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, also a staunch supporter of the project, said the opposition should suggest alternatives.

“We considered the suggestion to present alternatives to the city council,” said Belen Galleto, Panalipdan-SMR spokesperson. “In fact, we urge the government to review the perils such as what we mentioned in our (previous) statement,” she added.

In its statement, Panalipdan-SMR said that based on local and international experiences, foreign corporate-controlled palm oil plantations became drivers of social conflicts aside from causing environment degradation.

“So, it’s not likely that it’s an end-all and be-all in addressing poverty and insurgency. Indeed, it is not,” Galleto told Mindanews.

She said the group will present their alternatives to palm oil industry as soon as the City Council invites them.

Vice Mayor Duterte earlier asked why Panalipdan voiced out its objection when this was a “possible remedy” to poverty in the areas.

In response to the younger Duterte, Galleto said, “actually, the people’s movement has presented alternatives a long time ago.”

“The roadmap to address poverty and armed conflict is to address their root causes, which are mainly foreign corporate control, landlessness and agrarian injustices, and bureaucratic corruption. Instituting basic reforms such as genuine and thorough going agrarian reform and nationalist industrialization are among the alternatives presented by the people’s movement,” she said.

Such alternatives, she added are also the people’s peace agenda on peace talks between the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front. Mayor Duterte has been urging the resumption of the talks.

“Panalipdan-SMR wants to have a dialogue with the Dutertes and members of the City Council to convey our position and suggestions,” Galleto said.

The group cited workers strikes against Malaysian-controlled Agusan Plantation, Inc. (API), Filipinas Palm Oil Plantation, Inc. (FPOPI), and Agumil in Agusan del Sur in November 2012 due to poor working conditions, lack of health and other benefits, and low wages.

Panalipdan said palm oil plantation expansion “has resulted to land grabbing such as the case in Opol, Misamis Oriental wherein A. Brown Company, Inc. started to establish 2,000 hectares of oil palm farms encroaching the Higaonon’s ancestral lands.”

In addition, oil palm plantation expansion has led to land use conversion resulting to a sharp decline in food production, which according to the group is “one of the factors of rice price hikes other than the hoarding of cartels and corruption of government’s agriculture agencies.”

“In fact, Davao City is one of the major rice importers in the country due to the continuous decline of 40% of local rice production since the expansion of pesticides-dependent monocrop farms in watershed areas,” Galleto said. (Lorie Ann A. Cascaro / MindaNews)

NEWS: Envi group opposes fish cages in Lasang

Source: Sunstar Davao

May 31, 2013

An environmental group warned Friday that allowing commercial fish pens in the sea off Lasang, Davao City may harm the ecosystem in the area.

Reacting to City Agriculturist Office (CAO) chief Valente Turtur's statement that fish cage operators are now allowed to operate, Juland Suazo, spokesperson of the Panalipdan Southern Mindanao, said Lasang has been declared as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and the presence of fish cages may pose a threat to the local species of fish and coral reefs.

"We want to know CAO's basis. No haste in decision should be made because Lasang is identified as MPA due to sightings of critically endangered species whale sharks and marine turtles and relatively good conditions of coral reefs, sea grass beds, and mangroves based on Participatory Coastal Resource Assessment (PCRA)," Suazo said in text message.

He said this may also have a bearing on the local fisherfolk who help enforce the "fishery laws" and in the protection of mangroves.

"We want clarifications on its (CAO) decision. We warn that commercial fish pens could compete with and displace poor fisherfolk," he said.

In a phone interview, Turtur admitted that there are indeed parts from Bunawan to Lasang seas that have been declared as Marine Protected Area.

However, he said the actual site where the planned mariculture park will be put up is far from where the protected area is based on the recommendation made by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

"Tama gyud na ang ilang giingon nila. Naay portion sa Lasang nga marine protected pero layo ra (They are right about what they said. There's a portion in Lasang that is a marine protected, but it's still far)," he said.

Turtur said they will also be putting up a buffer zone that will try to contain whatever wastes the fish cages may produce in order to maintain the cleanliness of the sea.

"Pero tan-awon pud nato ang carrying capacity sa dagat para ma-avoid ang fish kills tungod sa grabe nga input sa chemicals (We also need to look into the sea's carrying capacity to avoid fish kills caused by excessive input of chemicals)," Suazo said.

The environmental group maintained that it wants to educate the public that there are sightings of endangered sea creatures that may be gone, unless their natural habitat is well taken care of.

Suazo said they are willing to sit down with the CAO official to discuss the matter, adding they would also like to know how the buffer zone is done.

"It's for the future, it must not be compromised," he said, adding that a consultation meeting with the locals in Lasang must also be done.

In a previous report, Turtur said operators who want to put up fish cages in Lasang must secure prior documents such as Environmental Compliance Certificate from Department of Environment and Natural Resources, barangay clearance, and license to operate from CAO.

He said the closure order issued by the City Government last year on the fish cages in Punta Dumalag stays.

Big Issues in Small Mining: Assessing the Mt. Diwalwal Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Communities

In November of 2012, Ateneo de Davao University, along with partner organizations Panalipdan-SMR and AFIRM hosted “Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in Mindanao: Issues, Opportunities and Future Options”, an international conference on artisanal mining. Read the conference report and the synopsis of metallurgist Adrian Daniel's presentation.