EMB move to suspend palm oil project ECC application welcomed

A civil society organization has welcomed the move of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 6 (Western Visayas) to put on hold the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) application process of the controversial oil palm project of Hacienda Asia Plantations, Inc. (HAPI) in Candoni, Negros Occidental.

“We consider this a partial victory in our pursuit to uphold justice for the environment and the community affected by this project,” Joshua Villalobos, secretary general of the Bacolod City-based Negrosanon Initiative for Climate and the Environment (NICE), said in a statement on Friday.

Villalobos received a letter dated July 23 from EMB-6 officer in charge Vicente Losbañes in response to the complaint raised by NICE on July 18, questioning the conduct of the public scoping activity for HAPI for its proposed 6,652.30-hectare oil palm plantation project in the villages of Gatuslao and Agboy.

NICE mentioned that “HAPI has been operating without an ECC and against the fact of its cited violations on its unlawful earth-moving activities as cited by the Provincial Multi-Partite Monitoring Team” and “proceeded without the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of the indigenous peoples (IPs) on the ground.”

Losbañes said the EMB-6 already issued a notice of violation to HAPI on Feb. 28 “for implementing the palm oil plantation project on the area and subsequently issued a cease-and-desist order (CDO) on June 5.”
He added that the issue on the non-compliance with the requirement of the FPIC from the IPs “will be endorsed to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) – Negros Island Region for its information and appropriate action.”

“Consequently, the process of ECC application will be put on hold pending the resolution of the issue on non-compliance with the provision of the Integrated Forest Management Agreement law by the proponent HAPI, as the same may affect the validity of the issued tenurial instrument, which is a requirement for the issuance of ECC,” Losbañes said.

Last month, Governor Eugenio Lacson himself requested the EMB-6 to issue a CDO against HAPI’s land development activities for its failure to secure an ECC.

Villalobos said they hope that HAPI would comply with the order of the EMB-6, putting on hold the ECC application process, and show good faith to the concerned government agencies.

“We continue to enjoin DENR to look into the violations of HAPI of their own comprehensive development and management plan and make them accountable under the law,” he added.* (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)