DENR exec says 3-km wall in Lingayen ‘natural’

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—An official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) defended a golf course project of the provincial government, saying the presence of a 3-kilometer (km) long wall in the project site spanning three villages in the town of Lingayen is “natural.”

“It’s natural for the fence to be there,” said lawyer Drake Matias, head of the DENR’s environmental impact assessment and management division, describing his statements as his observations.

“It’s just natural to protect the area because of the golf course development project there,” said Matias.

Matias was here on Thursday with a group of DENR personnel to inspect the provincial government’s eco-tourism site after a Lingayen resident, Rolando Rea, asked the DENR to revoke the environment compliance certificate (ECC) of the golf course project and to dismantle the fence.

The 184-hectare eco-tourism zone, which spans the coastal villages of Sabangan, Estanza, Malimpuec and Capandanan here, is site of an 18-hole golf course being built by the provincial government.

The DENR issued an ECC for the project in January 2013.

In his letter to Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, Rea sought the fence’s removal, saying the ECC did not include its construction and it had denied residents access to the sea, their source of livelihood.

On Feb. 17, a team of technical personnel from the DENR Ilocos region’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) inspected the site, acting on Rea’s earlier claim that black sand mining was taking place there, hidden from public view by the 3-km wall.

But EMB regional director, Ma. Victoria Abrera, dismissed Rea’s allegation, saying no black sand mining took place in the area, which is provincial government property.

“Based on our observations during our inspection, there was no activity or any earth movement [related to] the reported black sand mining,” said Abrera in a radio interview.

“We noticed something—stockpiled black sand. But the pile is now under the care of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau,” she said.

The provincial government had said the stockpile of black sand was extracted from some areas of the proposed golf course. Garden soil had replaced the black sand to allow turf grass to grow.

Abrera also said the concrete fence built on one side of the property was only 3 to 5 feet high, not 6 feet, as Rea had claimed.

She said there was no need to apply for an ECC for the fence because the structure serves as protection of the property and will prevent informal settlers from occupying the area.

Abrera and her team found three access entrances to the sea, one of them was 6 meters wide and two others were 4 meters wide each. This debunked Rea’s claim that residents in the four villages can no longer go to the sea and fish, Abrera said.

“The entrances have no gates and no armed guards, contrary to the claim of Rea,” she said.

Vicente Oliquino, a council member of Sabangan village, said in a separate interview that there should be no quarrel about the wall.