Dr. Salonga Center for Law and Development

Oil exploration in Tañon watched
by Alex Pal (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
November 17, 2007

The article, written by Alex Pal, appeared in the Across the Nation: Inquirer Visayas section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 17, 2007. To view the entire news clipping, click on the image above.

DUMAGUETE CITY – Environmentalists are keeping a tight watch on the Department of Energy’s oil exploration drilling in Tañon Strait that was supposed to start this week.

The drilling was to take place on board a floating oilrig, which was towed to the site, about three kilometers off the coast of Aloguinsan and Pinamungahan towns in Cebu. These areas are directly across La Libertad and Jimalalud towns in Negros Oriental.
But the scientists fear that the noise of underwater blasting could harm sea creatures.

Two weeks ago, about 170 marine scientists who met in Iloilo passed a resolution opposing any oil exploration activity in Tañon Strait, citing the strait’s unique biodiversity as a protected seascape.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes defended the project in a forum with environmentalists, stakeholders and their contractor, the Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. (Japex), at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City on Nov. 8.

Silliman University president Dr. Ben Malayang III accompanied a battery of scientists, legal experts and theologians to the dialogue.

Reyes said the exploratory drilling for oil in the strait would start on Nov. 15. It would last for two months. He said this date was set about two or three years ago. “This is something that you don’t decide on overnight,” he said, as he allayed fears that the welfare of the fishermen and the environment would be ignored.

Sensing that nothing could be done by anyone to stop the exploratory drillings pending exhaustive environmental studies, Malayang offered the expertise of scientists from SU to monitor the water quality and behavior of cetaceans, or marine mammals, while the drilling goes on.

Aside from the formation of a multipartite monitoring team, lawyer Mikhail Lee Maxino, director of the Salonga Center for Law and Development based in SU, also demanded that Japex set up an Environmental Guarantee Fund to immediately address possible problems that may arise from the operation.

Reyes, however, clarified that this activity to be carried out by Japex for two months is only limited to oil exploration.

“This is not commercial drilling yet. If oil is found in Tañon Strait and its quantity is sufficient and declared mineable, it would need a full-blown environmental study and a law from Congress,” he said.

Malayang also pointed out the need to put a value on the present resources found in the strait, which may be very vital in determining whether actual commercial oil drilling will be feasible.

“We might be jeopardizing the vital resource for an unknown commodity,” he said. (by Alex Pal)