Argao mayor holds survey on oil drilling

Argao Mayor Edsel Galeos would soon conduct a survey among his constituents to determine how many of them agree to the NorAsia’s planned oil exploration and drilling in the coastal waters of the town, and how many of them disagree.

“If majority ang muuyon sa drilling, padayon ta ani. Pero kung daghan ang against, dili ta musugot na mag drill sila. I have 70,000 Argaoanons. If only 5,000 to 10,000 of them would disagree, then the drilling continues. If more than half na, then I won’t let (NorAsia) do the oil exploration. Transparent man ta sa tanan” Galeos said.

The mayor said his administration is a democracy so he decided to keep neutral on the issue at this time. He said he respected the residents’ objection to the NorAsia project, and that he would never stifle their views, but he would not agree also with the company’s argument outright.

Residents of barangay Langtad in Argao, with the support of the Central Visayas Fisherfolk Development Center Inc., have protested against the drilling and the exploration contending that these would destroy the environment and the people in the area.

Vince Cinches, executive director of CVFDC, said the drilling would jeopardize food security, citing that if it goes on, fish, as the folk’s food source, would be endangered.

Protection of sources could not be traded for the so-called economic benefits that may arise from oil exploration, because for the latter “only the officials would be compensated,” said Cinches, adding that he would support the rehabilitation of fishing grounds instead.

The drilling would also dislocate fisherfolks from their livelihood and from their community, he said.

Barangay captain Ariel Saragena of Langtad, who led the protest during the information education campaign over concerns of oil exploration, agreed with Cinches.

Saragena said that 80 percent of the fishermen will be direly affected without the assurance that they will be compensated for such. “Ang ilahang bangagan kay ang area nga gi panagatan sa atong mananagat. Ako sad, mananagat jud ko. Asa man mi mudagan?”

Cinches said also that oil, besides the trumpeted benefits it would bring to the people, would only aggravate global warming resulting in a more destructive situation.

NorAsia once attempted to drill in the waters of Bohol but the Boholanos became resentful and filed a case against the energy company, and this perhaps prompted it to transfer to Cebu to search for oil basins, using the destructive seismic surveys, said Cinches.

This as an insult to Cebuanos, said Cinches as he accused NorAsia of refusing to provide figures on the scope of its activity, which only invite more worries from the people.

The company was also unable to show the service contract that Sarageno calls “ilahang gi panghambog,” Cinches said.

Department of Energy regional director Antonio Labios, for his part, explained that the drilling would be a test only if the area has an oil reservoir, insisting further that no disastrous or dangerous consequences on the environment and the community would happen out of it. 

The DOE-7 yesterday held a consultation with the complainants but, while the department insisted that it respected the stand of the people, the issues raised were not resolved just yet. Langtad residents instead marched on the streets to convey their opposition.

The drilling will tentatively start on August 16-19, prompting Sarageno to call for more talks to iterate the people’s concern to the DOE and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The talks may be held within this week, he said. — Cressida Paula G. Delmo/RAE