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Mt. Kanlaon, Its Myths and Wildlife, Painting by Masaste
Position papers:
NEW!!!!
Is Negros Occidental Facing a Power Crisis? Many believe that an energy crisis is looming so we must choose between coal fired or bunker fuel and sustainable geothermal energy that may be obtained from Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park. Elinore Cabanilla explains why Negrenses should not let propaganda and daily brown-outs manipulate them into surrendering our Natural Park to Energy Development Corporation.
Letter from SEN. PIA S. CAYETANO to Mr. Paul A. Aquino, President, Energy Development Corp. The Chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment raises a legal issue and asks Energy Development Corporation to defer the cutting of trees pending clarification of the issue and a senate inquiry.
A Dozen Ways to Reduce Electricity Rates, Towards Sustainable and Pro-Consumer Electric Power Industry. By the Freedom from Debt Coalition (17 June 2008 )
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Coalition's Position Paper on RA 9154 & the Intrusion of the PNOC-EDC Geothermal Project into Mount Kanlaon Natural Park by Edwin Balajadia (PRRM). The first part of the paper is an informative backgrounder on the history and status of RA 9154 and the PNOC-EDC project. It traces protective measures from 1934 when 24,557 hectares of Mt. Kanlaon were established as a national park, 1992 when the NIPAS law (National Integrated Protected Areas System) was passed, and key incidents that lead to the passage of RA 9154. The narrative outlines how PNOC-EDC got the PAMB to exclude 1,850 has. of the park's 24,557 hectares for the geothermal project by classifying the area as a buffer or special use zone. The PNOC proposal was approved by only 11 of the 41 members, however, President Ramos issued Proclamation No. 1005 declaring the MKNP a natural park under the NIPAS law but setting aside 1,437 hectares of the park for geothermal exploration and development. In 1998, PAMB's draft bill establishing the MKNP had no provisions on a buffer zone that PNOC-EDC could exploit for geothermal energy. In the senate and the house, bills endorsed by the PAMB and other local and regional policy bodies also did not carry anything on the PNOC. HB 9152 as first approved by the House Committee on the Environment in August, 2000, did not have anything on the PNOC. The substitute version of HB 9152 as finally approved therefore came as a complete shock to environmentalists. The conversion of part of the protected area into a buffer zone was, however, in consonance with DENR Sec. Cerilles' 28 June 2000 memo, which stated that the modification of the boundaries of the natural park and the establishment of the geothermal block as a buffer zone appears to be the only legal avenue for the PAMB and the DENR to implement the PAMB's earlier endorsement of the PNOC-EDC project. MORE
The second part of the paper cites the bases of the coalition's opposition to PNOC's intrusion into the "buffer zone."
1. RA 9154, especially its buffer zone provision, is anti-environment and anti-sustainable development because it subverts and emasculates the very essence and principles of environmental protection and sustainable development. 2. RA 9154 suffers from serious legal infirmities (substantive and procedural), especially in its buffer zone provision. RA 9154 is unjust, oppressive, and immoral.
Green Alert's Position Paper by Benjie Casipe: Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act of 2001: A Tragedy of the Commons (A Call to All Filipinos to Protect the Remaining Forest).
This vigorous, hard-hitting analysis of the issues points out 12 facts that Filipinos, especially Negrenses, ignore at our peril. Fact Number One: RA 9154, The Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act of 2001 Contradicts itself. Fact Number Two: Mt. Kanlaon is a Watershed in Critical State. Fact Number Three: Shrinking Forest Cover. Fact Number Four: Alteration: It will never be the same again! Fact Number Five: Pollution released to whom it my concern. Fact Number Six: Biodiversity Threat, some species still with no names. Fact Number Seven: We are selling our Patrimony and National Heritage. Fact Number Eight: Who Will Take the Blame? Fact Number Nine: Justice for the Trees, Justice for All. Fact Number_Ten: Irreversible Damage can we afford it? Fact Number Eleven: No Off Limits. Fact Number Twelve: Increasing Disaster Events in Negros. The paper ends with suggestions about moving forward in order to preserve the integrity of our national heritage
No Law to Allow the Sale, Rape, and Murder of Mother Earth
A feminist view of the PNOC-EDC geothermal development of our natural park.
By Andrea L. Si for Development Through Active Women Networking Foundation, Inc.
Related Papers
May 28, 2008
The issue of illegal structures inside the Northern Negros Forest Reserve (NNFR)
is not new. The Provincial Government of Negros Occidental including the
Provincial Environment and Management Office (PEMO), the LGUs surrounding the
said forest area and the local DENR knew about this but never took it seriously.
The recent issues being thrown at Rusty Binas of Green Alert Negros
Environmental Network Inc. is a welcome development that raises long forgotten
conservation issues inside the Northern Negros Forest Park, where most of the
remaining forest cover left in Negros island is found.