PETITION VS. 'RECLAMATION' PROJECT. Students sign a petition launched by environmental groups to stop the ongoing "reclamation" project at the Rizal Boulevard in Dumaguete City on Saturday (June 22, 2019). The petition, addressed to Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo, calls for transparency on the multi-million-peso project amid a supposed Cease and Desist Order issued by the Philippine Reclamation Authority. (PNA photo by Judy Flores Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Environmental groups here and in the province of Negros Oriental are spearheading a signature campaign petitioning city Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo to stop the ongoing multi-million pesos “reclamation” project at the Rizal Boulevard here.
"At the same time, the groups are calling for transparency as there is no point on going back and forth on things related to the project,” said Merci Ferrer, co-convenor of the War on Waste (WOW)-Negros Oriental and who heads the Zero Waste Cities-Dumaguete on Monday.
She said that the petition is now being circulated to gather as many signatures before this will be forwarded to the mayor, and perhaps an audience with him by the end of the week.
“We don’t actually need so many signatures, but what is important is that we will bring the voices of the people to the mayor,” she said.
The petition, launched during an environmental forum held over the weekend here, reads in part: “We demand that the project be halted, that the city conduct stakeholder consultations and a transparent process, a full environmental impact assessment, and the fulfillment of the city’s obligation to protect the environment under the Amended Fisheries Code, Local Government Code, Clean Water Act, Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, Climate Change Act, and other relevant laws.”
It also cites concerns on the environmental impact of the project, such as possible pollution of municipal waters, local fisheries, biodiversity of marine ecosystems, wastewater flow, and the scouring of shores, among others.
Further, the environmental groups decried the alleged "lack of transparency and public consultation” with regard the project.
Ferrer lamented that despite the Cease and Desist Order issued by the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) addressed to Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo dated March 18, 2019, work continues at the 1.7-hectare “reclamation” area at the boulevard.
Dems Rey Demecillo, City Hall Information Officer, has reiterated that the city government has not received a copy of the said PRA letter, but Ferrer believes otherwise.
“I find it funny and ridiculous that they keep on saying that they do not have a copy of it. I have reason to believe that someone at City Hall has received the PRA document,” but she declined to elaborate.
“It is the mayor’s responsibility to report to us, the citizens, of what is happening and with all the controversy, he has the position and the power to clarify all these things,” Ferrer stressed.
Demecillo said Mayor Remollo is set to issue a statement soon on the “controversy” behind the ongoing development project at the Rizal Boulevard.
Originally intended for beach volleyball use and other purposes, the 1.7-hectare area in the southern portion of the boulevard which juts out to sea, the mayor and other city officials are saying this is not a reclamation project but a rehabilitation instead.
The War on Waste (WOW), Kinaiyahan, Inc., and Friends of the Environment in Negros Oriental (FENOr) are spearheading the petition, with support coming from various sectors and even similar advocacy groups from other places. (PNA)
