Atienza, DepEd asked to probe cutting of trees on ‘Gapo campus

OLONGAPO CITY – Environmentalists here are up in arms over the cutting of several trees including centuries-old narra and mahogany on a public high school campus and called on Department on Environment and natural resources (DENR) Secretary Lito Atienza to order an investigation and go after the culprits.

They also asked the Region 3 Department of Education (DepEd) Director Tony Princepe to slap the school principal, Ellen Agabao, with Administrative charges.

City Councilor Jong Cortez, Committee on Environmental Protection chair, slammed school authorities after the environmental group Protect and Preserve to Prosper (PPP) reported about the fate of trees at the Olongapo City National High School (OCNHS).

The trees were felled for unknown reasons. The group blamed Agabao for the total disregard of the environment by authorizing the removal of the trees without first getting permission from the DENR.

“We have a law that estates the cutting requires permission from the DENR. Obviously no permit was obtained. The DENR should now therefore go after the violators,” the PPP said in a statement.

The local environmental watchdog believes Atienza is serious in protecting the environment and urged him to apply the long arm of the law in this particular case to serve as warning to those who would attempt to do the same on their respective campuses.

“Teachers, should be teaching our children to care for the environment and not destroy it. They should serve as role models in nature preservation. But Agabao showed OCNHS students the very opposite,” said Dr. Art Mendoza, Director of the James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital and an officer of the OCNHS Alumni Association.

Mendoza said the trees had been part and parcel of the daily campus life of past and present students. Those trees, he said, had stood there for as long as he could remember.

Cesar Santiago, board of director of OCNHS Batch ’85, said DepEd officials should not let those responsible for the misdeed to go unpunished.

“The area where the trees were was our watering hole. It is sad that future students of OCNHS will no longer enjoy the experience,” Santiago lamented.

--Tempo

Atienza vs Zambales gov

A RIFT between Environment Secretary Lito Atienza and Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso is brewing after the latter filed a case questioning the authority of Atienza to implement a memorandum on the issuance of mineral ore export permit.

Atienza maintained that he issued Memorandum Order 2008-04 in November 2008 to reaffirm his commitment to responsible mining and sustainable development.

Deloso ahs questioned the order before the Court of Appeals.

Atienza said he welcomed the governor’s move so that all issues will be cleared in the proper forum.

“Governor Deloso’s move to question our actions pertaining to the MOEP is welcome since this would give us an opportunity to make our position on the issue clearer and enlighten all sectors, particularly the public at large. Our overriding concern is to make sure that smuggling of mineral resources is addressed effectively. We would like to make sure that each and every mining company, big or small, understands the need to be transparent in their operations,” Atienza said.

Deloso claimed that Atienza’s memorandum in “unconstitutional” since it was not contained in the Philippine Mining Act that regulates the mining industry.

He said that because of the MOEP order, the income of the Zambales government from mining operations dropped.

But Atienza said that his office is empowered by the Constitution with the authority to protect the environment and natural resources.

--By Joel dela Torre – People’s Journal

Is Arroyo being misled by SBMA?

Is President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo being misled by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on the mini-forest that a South Korean company wanted to cut to give way to a casino-hotel? When shown pictures of the forest showing big trees, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza said the President had been told the trees were “small.” But pictures don’t lie. They showed some really big trees, with bulldozers and cranes standing nearby ready to massacre them.

“I will show this to the President,” Atienza said of the pictures. The other day, Atienza revoked the permits granted to the contractor of the Koreans to cut the trees. He also revoked the agreement with the SBMA giving the latter authority to issue clearances for tree cutting. Hallelujah!

The SBMA had said that the trees would be “balled” and transferred to another place. It also said that the Korean firm would plant tree seedlings on several hectares of denuded land. This is the usual ploy of people who want to remove trees to assuage the protests of environmentalists. But the survival rate of trees balled and replanted is very low, especially if the trees are already big. The trees die within a few weeks. The balling is usually only for show.

Even if seedlings are planted, how many years will it take for them to grow as big as the trees that are to be cut? Besides, many of the seedlings will die. That is what happens to all the reforestation projects of government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). After the pictures of officials planting seedlings are taken, the seedlings are forgotten and they die.

Worse, the few that survive never grow to adulthood. Charcoal makers cut the saplings. Charcoal-making is worse than logging. In logging, only trees big enough to yield lumber are cut, but in charcoal-making even small trees are cut. That is why most hills and mountains are denuded. We are now reaping the whirlwind because of this. At the slightest rain, the plains are flooded and landslides from the hills and mountains bury the houses and people at their feet.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) should strictly regulate charcoal-making. But how do we supply the “ihaw-ihaw” [grill] restaurants and barbecue stands with charcoal? Teach the people to make charcoal out of farm wastes. The rice hulls (“ipa”) that farmers just burn along the roadsides can be compressed into charcoal bricks. Coconut choir and dust, of which we have millions of tons, can also be made into charcoal. So with cogon and “talahib,” sugar cane fronds, twigs and leaves from tree cuttings, waste paper, etc. We don’t have to cut any trees for charcoal; there are many other materials that can be converted into charcoal.

Former congressman Gonzalo Catan has invented a process and machine that makes charcoal from farm wastes and he is already selling charcoal bricks. The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) should buy the patent from him and propagate the charcoal-from-farm-wastes technology. Aside from saving our trees, it would give farmers an additional source of income. That is recycling, wouldn’t it

By. Neal Cruz - Inquirer

Atienza vows to review coal plant proposal

By:Ira Karen Apanay - Manila Times

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Monday assured the residents of Iloilo City that it would study all the matters and issues related to the proposed coal-fired power plant before issuing an environmental clearance certificate.

I assure everyone that we are always on the side of sustainable development and lower cost of power and electricity for Iloilo, DENR Secretary Lito Atienza said.

Atienza also stressed that before the DENR would issue an environmental clearance certificate, it would make sure that the project would conform to the highest standards of sound environmental performance, economic advantage to the country and its acceptability to stakeholders.

We are weighing all options very carefully and scrutinizing any and all related issues to the setting up of a coal plant, Atienza said.

Environmental groups like Greenpeace have expressed objections to the setting up of the coal-fired plant and have been asking the government to be serious about exploiting the renewable energy sources that are abundant in the country like sun, wind and geothermal energy.

International climate experts said coal was a major contributor to destructive global warming because aside from it being the dirtiest, it also happened to be the most carbon intensive of all fossil fuels.

Greenpeace said coal emits 29 percent more carbon per unit of energy than oil and 80 percent more than gas. It is also one of the leading contributors to climate change, it added.

Burning coal also releases massive amounts of substances such as mercury and arsenic that are toxic to human health and create acutely detrimental effects on developing economies and hosting communities.

Aside from the 165 MW plant in Iloilo City, the government currently has at least eight coal-fired plants lined up for construction or expansion in the country: the 300 MW expansion in Pagbilao, Quezon Province; the 200 MW each in Naga and in Cebu; the 300 MW expansion in Masinloc, Zambales; the 100 MW in Concepcion, Iloilo; the 300 MW in Olongapo, Zambales; and the 150 MW in Sultan Kudarat.

While we are satisfying all the environmental questions, I want to emphasize that as far as protecting the environment is concerned, we are one with all the advocates of environmental protection, even as we listen to the arguments of those who are against this project, Atienza said.

Atienza explained that the matter of granting or turning down the environmental compliance certificate for the project remains pending because of careful studies being undertaken.

Responding to charges of anti- coal-fire plants, Atienza said that the plant to be set up in Iloilo is reportedly similar to that of a plant operating in Taipei.

I went to Taipei along with independent experts to assess the technology. I would like to tell you that what I saw was impressive, Atienza said.

Atienza explained that the coal-fired power plant in Taipei was located inside an industrial zone producing microchips. This required a pollution-free environment since the production of microchips was very sensitive.

In other words, there is such a thing as a pollution-free coal-fired power plant. If that is the technology that will be used in Iloilo, definitely I am impressed. But if the technology does not pass our judgment, we should not approve it, Atienza said.