Gov asked to take down 3-km wall in 3 villages

A former village councilor of Lingayen town in Pangasinan province asked the provincial government to stop a project in the coastal areas of the villages of Sabangan, Estanza, Malimpuec and Capandanan that became sites of illegal black sand mining.

In a statement, former Malimpuec village councilor Leo Lopez said the entire project is questionable.

“They have already abandoned the project. They have stopped the construction of the golf course after their magnetite mining operation was exposed. Only a concrete wall was left standing,” Lopez said.

Contrary to the claims made by Gov. Amado Espino that the structure is not really blocking residents from venturing into the sea, Lopez said the 3-kilometer long wall covers the entire stretch of coastal areas from Barangay (village) Sabangan to Malimpuec to Estanza.

“There are only gates where trucks and vehicles from the provincial government could enter. And there are rotating guards manning the gates,” he said.

“Residents have been asking why there are still guards when there is no activity for the said ecotourism project. We want to know why this wall has been erected, and who really owns the long stretch of coastal area that they have blocked with the concrete wall,” Lopez said.

He said while residents are allowed to enter the gate, what used to be a short walk to the sea has become a 2-km ordeal for some of them.

Espino said protests against the project are an example of the province’s progress being slowed down by “destructive politics.”

He described claims being made that the wall protects black sand mining as all lies. “This is a big deception,” he said.

He said the province, under him, had an inflation rate of

1.5 percent lower than the regional average of 1.9 percent. Poverty incidence, he added, fell by 6.9 percent compared to the national rate of 1.3 percent.