SBMA welcomes move of DENR

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) yesterday said it welcomes the decision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to directly enforce environmental laws in the Subic Bay Freeport.

“We respect the DENR’s decision to revoke our memorandum of agreement (MOA) with them and will cooperate fully with the department in ensuring environmental compliance within the freeport,” SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza said in a statement.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza said the other day that his agency is now taking direct control over the enforcement of environment laws in the freeport.

This, as the DENR revoked the MOA it signed with the SBMA on Jan. 17, 2006 that gave the latter power to issue environmental permits and clearances within the freeport. The DENR cited the authority’s failure to comply with the provisions of the agreement.

But Arreza said the SBMA “remains committed to the protection of the environment and will seek the DENR’s reconsideration.”

He added that the DENR’s takeover would give the SBMA an opportunity to clear its name on the controversy over a hotel-casino project in Subic.

Meanwhile, Atienza questioned why the Korean firm Grand Utopia Inc. is insisting on building its Ocean9 hotel-casino in a “wooded area” when there are “open” sites in the Subic Freeport where no trees need to be cut.

He said Grand Utopia promised to President Arroyo that “not a single tree” would be cut. But he said a document showed that at least 300 trees in the project site would be cut to give way to the hotel-casino project.

“That bothered me. We cannot allow that especially because our national policy direction is to protect mature trees and massive tree planting to address climate change and the global warming we are experiencing now,” he said.

Atienza said though the project could be redesigned to avoid the cutting of trees.   – With Katherine Adraneda