Mother Nature

 August 26, 2014

‘To decongest Manila port, send back trash, diaper cargo to Canada’

MANILA, Philippines–Looking for a quick way to ease congestion at the Port of Manila? An environmental group has proposed a solution: Send back to Canada 50 freight containers of toxic waste shipped by an Ontario-based company to its consignee in Valenzuela City last year.
According to a statement released by EcoWaste Coalition, the removal of the 50 containers would free up space roughly the size of Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.
“Returning the toxic shipment to the sender will [also] help bring the controversy to a close and see the triumph of environmental justice,” EcoWaste coordinator Aileen Lucero said.
The shipment was intercepted at the Port of Manila in January after the Bureau of Customs (BOC) discovered that it contained waste materials, including adult diapers and household waste, instead of “scrap plastic materials for recycling.”
The BOC said that Canada was under obligation to take back the shipment under the 1995 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal which states that “the exporting country must take back the waste materials if the receiving country refuses to accept them.”
Lucero said that EcoWaste, along with other environmental organizations like Greenpeace, Ban Toxics! and Ang Nars party-list group, had also urged the Canadian Embassy to pull out the containers. In addition, Change.org, a global petition platform, launched a signature campaign in support of the move.
In response, the Canadian Embassy said that it was looking into the matter which it hoped to resolve immediately.
“Importing hazardous trash in the guise of recycling is…a direct affront to our nation’s dignity, health and sovereignty,” Lucero said.
Sought for comment, customs bureau spokesperson Charo Logarta Lagamon said that the BOC had already done its part which was “to seize and take custody of [the shipment].”
“The problem is that those in charge of coordinating with Canada are the DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] and DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs]. They haven’t gotten in touch with us yet,” she added.
“Our proposal is to just dispose of this here. But we need to be given the legal backing for us to do so. The ball is not in our court,” Lagamon told the Inquirer.–With Paolo Montecillo, Inquirer Business

Find endangered eagle’s killer, officials ordered

                                                
August 26, 21014 

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje: Find eagle’s killer. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines–Environment authorities in Davao City have been ordered to track down whoever is responsible for shooting dead a Philippine eagle outside a protected area on Mt. Apo, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said.

The female eagle, which has been monitored by conservationists for years, was found dead on Aug. 14, although Paje apparently learned of it only last Saturday.

“We are appalled by this awful news. It is sad to think that while we are trying to save the endangered Philippine eagle from extinction, there are those who are undermining our conservation efforts,” Paje said in a statement.

The eagle was possibly shot to death, he added, citing an autopsy that showed a crack in its keel bone (attached to the breastbone).

The mother eagle left behind a seven-month-old eaglet and its father, the official said.

The Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) is considered one of the biggest, rarest and most powerful birds in the world, and has been declared the country’s national bird. But the massive loss of its habitat due to deforestation has made it a critically endangered species.

Paje said he had ordered regional environment officials in Davao City to seek assistance from the police and the local government to track down the eagle’s killers and charge them in court.

Stricter measures vs poaching 

He also urged the Protected Area Management Board of Mt. Apo to institute stricter measures against poaching, and directed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources regional office to conduct a massive information campaign in the area.

The hunting and killing of the Philippine eagle, also known as the monkey-eating eagle, is punishable by 12 years in prison and hefty fines under the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 1970 (Republic Act No. 6147).

The Philippine Eagle Foundation reported that the eagle’s decomposing carcass was retrieved in Barangay (village) Kapatagan in Davao City, some 10 kilometers from the eagle’s nesting site in Sitio (settlement) Mitondo in Sibulan, Davao City.

Paje said the DENR would give funds to assist in the supplemental feeding of the eagle’s seven-month-old hatchling.

Cebu town files P213-M damage suit vs 2 shipping firms over 2013 oil spill 6:46 pm | Thursday, August 14th, 2014

A boy (bottom left) holds two oil-coated bagasi, salt water eels, which thrives in Cordova town, Mactan Island Cebu. Oil spill is seen in the waters near the shore of Mactan Isldan. FILE PHOTO/The Office of Cebu Rep. Luigi Quisumbing

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cordova municipal government and fisherfolk groups filed on Thursday a multi-million-peso damage suit against the owners of two sea vessels that collided and leaked oil in 2013, damaging the town’s marine environment.
They asked the environmental court in Mandaue City to order the 2GO Group Inc. and the Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp. (formerly Sulpicio Lines) to jointly pay $3 million (about P132 million) for the complete rehabilitation of the Cordova’s marine environment.
The fisherfolks also sought separate payment of at least P81 million to cover their “loss of livelihood.”
The petitioners said the oil leak from MV St. Thomas Aquinas of 2Go, which sank after it was hit by the MV Sulpicio Express Siete of PSACC “irreversibly disrupted” the town’s marine ecology on which their economy has been dependent.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer tried to reach Manila-based lawyer Dennis Cabanos of the 2GO Group Inc. but he did not answer the calls. A text message sent to his cell phone was also left unanswered.
PSACC lawyer Jaime Vibar, on the other hand, earlier said the oil that leaked into the sea did not come from their vessel, MV Sulpicio Express Siete.
He said the Cordova municipal government should instead hold the 2GO Group Inc. accountable.
Aside from the two shipping companies, also impleaded in the case were the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
Lawyer Benjamin Cabrido of the Philippine Earth Justice Center said the three government agencies failed to carry out what they were supposed to do.
“They just keep on delaying things. So now, we’re asking the court to compel these government agencies to perform their mandate under threat of contempt,” said Cabrido, whose law firm represents the fisherfolks.
The petitioners are seeking the issuance of a temporary environmental protection order (Tepo), an order issued by the court directing any person or government agency to perform or desist from performing an act in order to protect, preserve, or rehabilitate the environment.
Cabrido has asked the court to constitute a special fund equivalent to $3 million, which shall be sourced by MARINA from the “Protection and Indemnity Insurance” of the two shipping companies.
The St.Thomas of Aquinas of 2GO was carrying 20 tons of diesel oil and 120 tons of bunker oil when it sank in the vicinity of Lawis Ledge, Talisay City, after colliding with the cargo vessel MV Sulpicio Express Siete last Aug. 16, 2013.
At least 116 passengers were killed and 21 others were missing. The collision caused an oil spill that affected mangroves and polluted the coastline of Cordova town.
Eleven of the 13 barangays of Cordova town were affected by the oil spill, which covered about three hectares and displaced about 5,000 fishermen in the coastal municipality.
For weeks, fisherfolk and vendors in Cordova were left without livelihood and had to depend on government aid to survive after the collision.
Most residents in this 3rd class municipality on Mactan Island, Cebu earns a living from fishing, shell collecting, and guso (seaweed) farming.
The town, however, paid P4.3 million in filing fee.
Cabrido said the 2GO Group Inc. and the Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp. should be made to pay for the cost of the “clean-up, protection, restoration, and rehabilitation” of Cordova’s marine ecosystem.
He was also seeking the creation of a commission or special task force composed of the DENR, MARINA, and PCG in coordination with the Municipality of Cordova to immediately develop and formulate a preliminary action plan aimed at preventing the further degradation of the town’s marine environment.
The PCG should be directed by the court to submit within five days a report on the volume of bunker fuel and stored oil left inside the sunken vessel, he added.
“We believe there are still remaining bunker fuel and oil in the sunken ship. They may still pose an imminent threat to the marine environment of Cordova and the adjoining coastal towns,” Cabrido said.
Cabrido said the DENR should submit to the court the “latest situationer or preliminary report” on the extent of the damage left by the oil spill and conduct “programmatic studies” for the complete rehabilitation of the affected marine areas.


                                                     Mother Nature


     


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