Fisherfolk to go to court to stop Tañon explorations

Fisherfolk groups and environmentalists will be filing a case against the Japan Petroleum Explorations Inc. (Japex) to prevent it from doing oil exploratory activities at the Tañon Strait.

Vince Cinches, executive director of the Fishermen Development Center said they would file the case before the Japanese contractor starts drilling its first exploratory well off the seas of Pinamungajan and Aloguinsan on November 15.

He, however, said that they could not yet reveal what case they are filing and where they will be filing it so Japex could not preempt them or block their move.

“It would be a deluge of legal cases because not only groups from Cebu will file a case but also other legal entities from Negros and Bohol,” he said.

Cinches said they will question the issuance of an Environmental Compliance Certificate to Japex and make it liable for doing destructive activities in a protected seascape.

It was the Department of Energy which contracted the services of Japex. The DOE estimated that oil deposits at the Tañon Strait would reach up to 1 billion barrels.

The exploration activities, however, met strong opposition from fisherfolk, local government officials, beach owners, marine biologists, scientists and environmental groups who fear long-term, adverse effects on the lives and livelihood of the common people in Central Visayas.

Cinches said that even if Japex and the DOE had conducted public forums explaining the project to the public, these are just token activities because these are simply for the sake of compliance.

“Regardless of whatever would be the reaction and position of the people, they will still pursue the project because it is already scheduled to start. So their public forum is already moot and academic,” he said. DOE and Japex, he added, only conducted the public consultation in October and November, while the drilling operations will start on November 15.

Cinches said that the papers that Japex submitted was not compete and did not answer all the environmental issues and concerns that were raised.

“The issue whether to pursue the project or not was not even solved," he said adding that Tañon Strait is a protected marine area and destructive activities like oil drilling should never be allowed there.

Aside from filing a case, he said that they will also ask Congress to do an on-site investigation so it will know that the project is not accepted by the people in the area. – Wenna A. Berondo, Jasmin R. Uy/QSB