By Kit BagaipoA court order sought by oppositors of the seismic oil exploration at the Bohol-Cebu Strait is still pending at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) as fishermen opposing the survey junked negotiations to compensate for their loss of income offered by the Department of Energy (DoE) and NorAsian Energy Ltd.
The petition for injunction and temporary restraining order (TRO) filed by City Mayor Dan Lim and 30 representatives of non-government organizations and fisherfolks was filed Tuesday but was raffled off to RTC Branch 4 only last Thursday after Executive Judge Fernando Fuentes was in Manila for a conference last week.
The fishermen's group has threatened to hold a fluvial blockade between Maribojoc Bay and Loon starting tomorrow to obstruct the vessel M/V Pacific Sword from gathering data in the survey area.
According to Conservation-Watch (C-Watch is an alliance of NGOs and fisherfolks) spokesman Ira Pamat, some 2,236 fishermen, fishing workers and lab-aseras (fish vendors) from the towns of Panglao, Dauis, Tagbilaran City, Cortes, Maribojoc and Loon have signed a manifesto opposing the oil seismic survey.
In fact, copies of the signature campaign were endorsed to Gov. Erico Aumentado and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) yesterday.
Copies were also mailed to the Department of Energy (DoE).
"Fishermen would not go into negotiations for compensation," Pamat stresed.
According to fishermen, who comprise majority of the alliance, "compensation is not the main point of [our] opposition, it is the negative livelihood and environmental impact over the vague economic benefits."
Last Wednesday, while the seismic survey started at the Cebu waters, a group of fishermen in Loon reported that their payaos (fish pens) disappeared from their fishing areas.
The Loon municipal waters is just a few kilometers away from the seismic exploration in the waters of Sibonga and Argao towns in Cebu.
Moreover, there have been reports from fishermen in the province that fish catch since the start of the oil seismic survey last Monday have gone down.
According to lawyer Raul Barbarona, chair of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC), the fishermen reported the loss of their payaos to him and to the Loon PNP station.
Barbarona likewise informed the RTC regarding the disappearance of fish pens since NorAsia have issued an advisory last week of a clearing operation before the start of the seismic survey.
The project, which has cordoned off an area with a 15-km radius, prevents access to fishing grounds.
The petition of Mayor Lim et al, named respondents Allan Arranguez, Department of Environment and Natural Resources acting regional director; Energy Secretary Rafael Lotilla; and Rufino Bomasang, chair of NorAsian Energy Ltd., the firm that is conducting the exploration.
The complainants said conducting seismic surveys in the strait will bring "irreparable harm" to marine life, citing previous studies.
They said documents explaining the project failed to mention its effects on fishing grounds in the area.
The process requires the use of machines that send out loud noise under the sea. The complainants said some fish species in the area could be harmed by noise of less than 100 decibels.
They said the project proponents also failed to secure first an environmental impact statement that was needed before such an exploration could begin.
NorAsian and DoE, the complainants said, also failed to hold consultations with fishermen and other groups near the project site.
Barbarona said a court order would stop the exploration even in the Cebu side.
Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado has formed a group to study the effects of the seismic survey on marine life and compute compensation for the fishermen, but Barbarona said the process would take too long.
Barbarona said 4,000 to 5,000 fishermen from the towns of Loon, Maribojoc, Cortes, Dauis, Panglao and Tagbilaran City have to be compensated for loss of income.
In Cebu, some fishermen have received compensation of P7,000 (for those from Argao) and P8,000 (for those from Sibonga town).
Fishermen from the towns of Dalaguete, Alcoy and Bolhoon have yet to receive any compensation.
The militant fishermen's group, Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya (Pamalakaya), warned that a shortage in fish could occur as a result of the seismic survey in the Bohol-Cebu Strait.
(The Bohol Chronicle, June 24, 2007)Linkback:
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