Moalboal summer event criticized

CEBU, Philippines — An environmental advocacy group criticized the organizers of an event in Moalboal town for holding it on a sand bar of a protected seascape.  The event called Summer Madness, a grand music festival, was held in White Beach in Moalboal town starting 9 a.m. yesterday until 5 a.m. today.

“The province of Cebu is trying so hard to protect our natural resources. The people behind the activity should know that it is being held at a protected seascape,” said Vince Cinches, an environmental advocate from Greenpeace Philippines.

He stressed that the Philippines is currently facing crisis from overfishing, ecosystem degradation and pollution.

According to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a protected seascape is a protected area where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character and where safeguarding the integrity of this interaction is vital to protecting and sustaining the area and its associated nature conservation.

 “So sa kinsa mana sa local government unit nga naghatag og permit?  Mangutana mi kung naa bay clear environmental impact assessment,” Cinches said.

According to section 12 of Republic Act No. 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992, proposals for activities which are outside the scope of the management plan for protected areas shall undergo an environmental impact assessment as required by law before they are adopted.

The law also states that no activities without the required Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) under the Philippine Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) system shall be allowed.

“It’s quite disheartening ba nga taas kaayo ang effort nga gihimo karun sa national government agencies and well-meaning organizations to allow our seas to recover but now you have Moalboal doing the very thing why Boracay is in shamble in the first place,” said Cinches.

“I hope there will be investigations, people will be penalized and people will be made to pay for the damage that they are causing in that area,” Cinches added. — Anjel N. Co, STC Mass Communication Intern/MBG (FREEMAN)