Jaraula: LGU has final say on CDO bioethanol project

The Office of the City Mayor, and not any other executive or legislative agency, has the final say on the fate of the proposed bioethanol plant to be constructed within the Cagayan de Oro watershed.

Mayor Constantino G. Jaraula made this statement in response to an inquiry regarding the earlier move of the House Committee on Ecology recommending that the application for Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) of Alcantara & Sons Consolidated Resources, Inc. (ACR) for the proposed plant be held in abeyance pending the findings of a full-blown Congressional probe into the company´s claims its plant would not pollute the Monigue River.

On motion of Re. Mary Ann Susano (2nd District, Quezon City), the House Ecology Committee headed by Rep. Belma Cabilao (1st District, Zamboanga Sibugay) unanimously approved a resolution requesting Congress to put ACR´s ECC application in the freezer pending the findings of Congressional investigation during a public hearing held Sept. 2 at the DENR-X covered court in Bgy. Macabalan.

"The ECC is merely an administrative document which details how a company would comply with environmental regulations," Jaraula said. "The city government may or may not choose to give credence to it when deciding whether or not to issue a business permit for its operation in the city."

The city mayor said his administration´s decision on the matter would depend on the findings of its ´continuing validation´ on the reported existence of an underground river which runs through barangays Bayanga, Mambuaya and Dansolihon.

"Should we find that the Monigue Cave through which this underground river runs is interconnected through the three barangays, it becomes a national treasure and immediately makes this a protected area," he added.

Dorothy Jean B. Pabayo, head of the Cagayan de Oro City Heritage Council and former regional tourism director, said the proposed plant site is directly above the Monigue Cave and River and would ruin these natural resources.

Pabayo said she would submit a resolution to the council seeking to declare the Cagayan River a "Cultural Heritage" river. The Monigue River which runs through a series of underground caverns in barangays Mambuaya, Bayanga and Dansolihon flows into the Cagayan River which in turn flows out to Macajalar Bay.

Meantime, pending the findings of the city´s investigation, Jaraula is of the opinion the company can continue processing its application for an ECC unless Congress acts as a committee of the whole and orders the DENR to suspend its further processing.

The mayor, who was a three-term congressman for the then lone district of Cagayan de Oro, added that Ecology Committee by itself cannot suspend further processing on ACR´s ECC since it is a mere special committee.

The House Committee on Ecology held the Sept. 2 public hearing in Cagayan de Oro after Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro) had earlier filed House Bill No. 852, requesting it to investigate the bioethanol project and its possible implications on Cagayan River.

On top of this, Rodriguez has also filed House Bill No. 6705 (Cagayan de Oro Protected Landscape and Natural Monument Act) which calls for the declaration of certain parts of Cagayan de Oro as a protected area/landscape and natural monument, to be henceforth known as the Cagayan de Oro Watershed.

The site of the proposed bioethanol plant falls within the territorial boundaries of the proposed watershed, which shall henceforth be considered a component of the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) under the category of protected landscape and monument.

"As vice chairman of the Committee on Ecology, I shall speak to Chairperson Cabilao and request that the committee, if necessary, immediately deliberate the issue in Congress, and come up with a Findings Report on the issue so our people will have an informed and balanced decision on the matter," Rep. Rolando Uy (1st District, Cagayan de Oro), whose district hosted the public hearing, declared in his welcome remarks.

Uy said his personal views on the matter would bear the greater interest of the Kagay-anons and hoped a ´win-win´ solution could be achieved and economic progress attained without destroying the environment and obliterate God´s gifts of nature.

Among those who presented their respective positions during the public hearing were representatives of the Kagayan Watershed Alliance (Kawal), Oro Rafters Association (OARs), Barangay chairmen Agustin Bagongon of Bgy. Mambuaya and Romeo Edadis of Bgy. Bayanga with two jeeploads of their constituents, , the academe, City Councilors Teodulfo Lao, Rogelio Abaday and Zaldy Ocon; and ACR Lead Consultant Edgardo Alabastro and technical engineer Jerome Magkasi.

Also present were the DENR top brass in Region X led by Regional Executive Director Ernesto Adobo Jr., Regional Technical Director Corazon Galinato and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) regional director Sabdullah Abubacar.

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