SBMA defends ECC power
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Administrator Armand Arreza Thursday said the SBMA was empowered by law to issue environmental clearance certificates (ECCs) to investors inside the special economic zone.
Arreza said that aside from a memorandum of agreement between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the SBMA, the SBMA was also mandated by Republic Act No. 7227 to issue such clearances.
“The idea of the law is to make the special economic zone a one-stop shop for (business) locators,” Arreza said at a news forum.
He said the law would have to be amended if the SBMA was to stop issuing environmental clearances to investors.
Sen. Richard Gordon said there was “really no violation” by South Korea’s Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Ltd. which is building two high-rise condominiums in the Subic rainforest for its employees.
“I have checked it. There were no trees cut, the area had been cleared in the 1960s by the Americans,” Gordon said in a press conference.
Gordon said he considered Arreza a protégé and “I don’t think he is going to be involved in any shenanigans of this nature.”
Arreza said he recognized that the DENR could revoke the ECCs which the SBMA’s ecology center had issued to business establishments.
“They can overturn them but that is unlikely because we also conduct environmental impact assessments. There is a technical group that conducts studies to make sure the establishments are up to our environmental standards,” Arreza said. With a report from Gil Cabacungan - By Norman Bordadora - Philippine Daily Inquirer
Arreza said that aside from a memorandum of agreement between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the SBMA, the SBMA was also mandated by Republic Act No. 7227 to issue such clearances.
“The idea of the law is to make the special economic zone a one-stop shop for (business) locators,” Arreza said at a news forum.
He said the law would have to be amended if the SBMA was to stop issuing environmental clearances to investors.
Sen. Richard Gordon said there was “really no violation” by South Korea’s Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Ltd. which is building two high-rise condominiums in the Subic rainforest for its employees.
“I have checked it. There were no trees cut, the area had been cleared in the 1960s by the Americans,” Gordon said in a press conference.
Gordon said he considered Arreza a protégé and “I don’t think he is going to be involved in any shenanigans of this nature.”
Arreza said he recognized that the DENR could revoke the ECCs which the SBMA’s ecology center had issued to business establishments.
“They can overturn them but that is unlikely because we also conduct environmental impact assessments. There is a technical group that conducts studies to make sure the establishments are up to our environmental standards,” Arreza said. With a report from Gil Cabacungan - By Norman Bordadora - Philippine Daily Inquirer
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
7:39 AM
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