The regional office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Central Luzon has ordered SMC Consolidated Power Corp. (SMCCPC) to stop any activity inside its coal-fired power plant in Limay, Bataan in the wake of an ash spill that has reportedly caused several residents to fall ill.

It also directed the nearby Petron Bataan Refinery (PBR) to "stop from dumping newly-generated bottom ash" in the area while the ash spill incident is being investigated.

The two directives, both dated Jan. 6, 2017, were issued by Regional Director Lormelyn Claudio of EMB Region 3, which is based in San Fernando City, Pampanga.

EMB, a line bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is responsible for the implementation of various environmental laws, rules and regulations, including Presidential Decree No. 1586 or the law establishing the Environmental Impact Assessment System that requires an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) to ensure that a development project will not cause adverse environmental impacts.

In a Notice of Alleged Violation issued to SMCCPC, the EMB wanted the power firm to explain why the ECC for its Limay facility should not be revoked or cancelled due to the ash spill.

"Notice is hereby served in connection with the dumping of bottom ash at [SMCCPC's] facility in Lima, Bataan. This allegedly caused unmitigated spread of ash which affected the health conditions of the residents in the host community," the notice read.

The EMB is giving SMCCPC a period of 7 days from receipt of the notice to explain why it should not be penalized under P.D. 1586, and why its ECC should not be revoked or suspended.

"Similarly, you are hereby ordered to stop from further undertaking any activity while the matters are being investigated," the EMB told SMCCPC.

The bureau also ordered the company to attend the technical conference scheduled on Jan. 9 at the EMB Region 3 office in Pampanga.

"Failure to attend will qualify you to be considered in default and the case shall be resolved based in evidence on record," the EMB warned SMCCPC.

Meanwhile, the EMB said the latest order against PBR was based on the notice of violation it issued against the oil facility last Dec. 28 when the ash spill in Limay was first reported.

The EMB said it was inclined to issue a new order against PBR "considering the most recent reports and information on the alleged skin diseases caused by the dumping of bottom ash at [SMCCPC's] facility."

SMCCPC and Petron Corp. are both subsidiaries of San Miguel Corp., one of the country's most diversified and biggest conglomerates.

Petron Corp. operates the PBR, which is the largest integrated crude oil refinery and petrochemicals complex in the country. ###

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Published: 07 January 2017

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The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has welcomed the appointment of Director Theresa Mundita Lim of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) to the advisory body of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), calling it a recognition of the country's efforts to conserve and protect its rich biodiversity.

The CBD, which secretariat is based in Montreal, Canada, recently appointed Lim to be the next head of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), an intergovernmental body that gives scientific advice to the CBD’s Conference of Parties or COP.

CBD is an international legally-binding treaty with three main goals: conservation of biodiversity; sustainable use of biodiversity; fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. Its overall objective is to encourage actions which will lead to a sustainable future.

Lim, who will serve a two-year term starting this year, was appointed during a recent conference dubbed as COP13 held last December in Cancun, Mexico. One of her main duties is to prepare a set of recommendations for the COP14 to be held in Egypt in 2018.

DENR Secretary Gina Lopez, who had endorsed Lim to the post, said that the appointment of the BMB chief to the CBD would “allow the Philippines to show how its biodiversity programs can benefit humanity.”

“Biodiversity is the wealth of the planet. If we keep it alive, our planet will see the light of day. In the Philippines, our aim is to explore biodiversity in a way that benefits the surrounding communities,” Lopez said.

She added: "The environment is not only land, air, and water, but also people. If the people do not benefit in a sustainable manner, then our conservation efforts can be considered a failure."

Lopez’s statements jive with the objectives of the Cancun Declaration on Mainstreaming the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity for Well-Being, which was signed during the COP13.

The declaration recognizes the value of biodiversity to the “lifeblood of economies,” which include tourism, agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

It also calls for urgent, strong and responsible actions to ensure the survival of the natural capital, biological wealth and healthy ecosystems that support humanity’s development and well-being.

Lim, as SBSTTA chair, will also advise or recommend to the COP’s other bodies the assessment of the status of biodiversity and other measures taken to successfully implement the convention, if necessary.

The BMB chief is a graduate of veterinary medicine from the University of the Philippines. Her expertise and work experience in championing wildlife protection and biodiversity conservation in the Philippines has made her a very able country representative in various international fora.

The BMB under Lim’s watch has improved conservation programs, including management and sustainable financing of protected areas and key biodiversity areas nationwide. ###

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Published: 06 January 2017

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High pollution levels hit major cities in Metro Manila as millions celebrated the start of the new year last Sunday.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said that PM2.5, a micro particle matter that causes hazardous smog, was a major pollutant.

Based on the data gathered from various air quality monitoring stations in the metropolis, many of the cities were monitored as severely polluted during the early hours of Sunday.

As of 12 a.m. of January 1, the monitoring station at the De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila recorded a PM2.5 level of 448 micrograms per normal cubic meter (ug/Ncm), while pollution levels in the cities of Paranaque, Taguig, Valenzuela and Muntinlupa were 433, 324, 285 and 175 ug/Ncm, respectively.

As of 2 a.m. of the same day, the air quality monitoring stations in Pasig City and the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City recorded PM2.5 levels of 397 and 369 ug/Ncm, respectively.

The PM2.5 levels in the cities mentioned fall under the category of extremely dangerous. This means it is no longer deemed safe to go outside without wearing a face mask, and that is not always safe.

The healthy guideline values for PM2.5 is 25 ug/Ncm annually and 50 ug/Ncm for 24-hour averaging. All stations have registered higher levels of PM2.5 compared to last year’s festivities.

On regular days, however, such as in the month of April 2015, PM2.5 readings in selected air quality monitoring stations are generally lower values: DLSU with 7 to 182 ug/Ncm ; Paranaque, 6 to 18 ug/Ncm; and Muntinlupa with 8 to 42 ug/Ncm.

The DENR attributed the high pollution levels to the continued use of fireworks and firecrackers by New Year revellers.

This was precisely the reason why the DENR has been supportive of the proposed ban on firecrackers and pyrotechnics display, according to Assistant Director Jacqueline Caancan, officer-in-charge at the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).

The EMB, an attached agency of the DENR, regularly monitors fine particulates like PM2.5 and other pollutants present in the air.

“The DENR supports all efforts to reduce the use of firecrackers during the New Year’s Eve celebration as it significantly affects the air pollution situation in the country," Caancan said.

She added: "Experts have advised that particles in PM2.5 are able to travel deeply into a person’s respiratory tract and can cause short-term health effects and worsen medical conditions of people with asthma or heart disease."

Air pollution accounts for 1 in 8 deaths worldwide - approximately 7 million deaths in 2012, according to latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The findings doubled previous estimates from just a few years ago in 2008. WHO now characterizes air pollution as "the world’s largest single environmental health risk."

The EMB-National Capital Region operates and maintains 13 air quality monitoring stations in Metro Manila. For Quezon City, Manila and Valenzuela City, these are maintained by the EMB-Central Office.

Air quality monitoring stations are also operated and maintained in other parts of the country. A total of 14 stations are located in areas outside Metro Manila. ###

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Published: 04 January 2017

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Environment Secretary Gina Lopez has called on large-scale miners to review their social development and management programs (SDMPs) and adopt a more effective “Sustainable Integrated Area Development” (SIAD) approach to ensure their operations bring sustained economic and social benefits to their host communities.

In a recent dialog with community relations officers (CROs) of some of the country's biggest mining companies, Lopez expressed hope that the mining companies would take a hard look at SIAD as a key to strengthening the SDMP.

“What I want to do with the SDMP fund is for the DENR to jointly manage it with the mining companies and the community. I want to use their funds in the area development approach for more impact,” Lopez said.

The environment chief added she wants to use the fund to improve the productivity of the area. “I want it to be used to achieve area development, not as dole out, but for improving the productivity of the area,” she said.

Among those present in the meeting were CROs of OceanaGold Philippines, Philex Mining Corp., FCF Minerals, Holcim Philippines, and Lafarge-Holcim Aggregates Inc. The CROs are the mining firms' frontliners, conducting consultations with communities affected by their operations.

The dialog was the first of a series of nationwide consultations with mining stakeholders being conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as it is currently in the process of reviewing the guidelines on the formulation and implementation of SDMPs by mining firms.

SDMPs are provided for in DENR Administrative Order No. 2010-21, which is the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 7942, or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

Lopez said a revision of the SDMP guidelines was necessary to address some concerns about the implementation of certain programs, including lack of community counterpart and weak coordination with local development plans, thus resulting in wastage of SDMP funds.

A precondition to starting a mining operation, SDMP is a five-year plan carried out during the life of the mine to bring about a sustained improvement in the living standards of the host and neighboring communities.

It serves as a partnership between the mining operator and its host and neighboring communities meant to provide alternative livelihood opportunities for mine workers and their families.

Under this setup, at least 1.5 percent of the total mining and milling costs of the company is monetized and placed in a trust fund for affected communities.

Of the amount, 75 percent must be spent on community-development programs; 15 percent on mining technology and geosciences advancement programs; and 10 percent on information, education and communication program.

"The SDMP funds should not be limited just to the host communities. Of course, they’re the ones you should take care of. But if used well, you don’t need to take care of them anymore because they will use their own money. Then you will widen the scope of the areas you can help," she said.

SIAD, according to her, creates sustainable mini-economic zones that could generate employment and livelihood activities in mining communities. ###

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Published: 29 December 2016

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Environment Secretary Gina Lopez has issued a special order formally creating an inter-agency task force led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to help ensure economic, environmental and social justice among indigenous peoples (IPs) in the country.

DENR Special Order No. 2016-761 establishes the Indigenous Peoples Inter-Agency Task Force composed of the DENR, its corporate arm, the Natural Resources Development Corp. (NRDC), and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

The task force was created pursuant to the government's mandate to protect the rights of IPs to their ancestral domains and the agreement forged by the DENR, NRDC and NCIP last September.

The three agencies committed to providing the IPs "cohesive and quality of life, and environmental and social justice" and upholding their self-determination and development.

Under the special order, the DENR, NRDC and NCIP are expected to "build skills for all parties and for the IPs' communities, as well as assist [IPs] in taking full advantage of their opportunities."

The task force is also in charge of making sure the IPs are "not subjected to undue pressure and influence from unscrupulous businessmen or other industries intending to extract natural resources" from their ancestral lands.

The special order provides a new mechanism to protect the rights of IPs as they exercise their Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC).

FPIC is the principle that an IP community has the right to give or withhold its consent to proposed projects that may affect the lands they customarily own, occupy or otherwise use.

"...the [FPIC] process shall include a determination or the alternatives and options to the business to be introduced that will produce comparable benefits but reduced adverse consequences on their resources and culture and ensure the continuous benefits to future generations of the non-renewable resources therein," the special order stated.

The directive also enumerated the roles and responsibilities of the DENR in the task force, foremost of which was to "ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity within ancestral domains."

The DENR shall employ strict policy of verifying the genuineness of the FPIC by validating with NCIP the authenticity of the Certification Precondition, and closely coordinate with the commission on matters pertaining to titles with ancestral domains.

It shall also support the process of recognizing Indigenous Community Conserved Areas within ancestral domains, and develop incentives for the protection and sustainable management of these areas.

The DENR is also tasked to reactivate an IP Desk that will focus and coordinate with concerned agencies to make sure that resources in ancestral domains will benefit IP communities and will facilitate the issuance or Certificate of Non-Overlap in connection with the registration of Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title with the Register of Deeds and other interventions for the protection of IP rights.

The department shall also provide opportunities for NCIP to access the Enhanced National Greening Program, the government's massive reforestation initiative that doubles as an anti-poverty measure, for the empowerment of the IPs.

For its part, the NRDC shall provide human resources and facilitate capital resources to enable IP communities make optimum use of their land and resources.

The NRDC will likewise assist in consultations, planning, product development and marketing for any social enterprise an IP community may wish to undertake through the recruitment and matching of volunteers, as well as in-house facilitators.

“The bottom line is that the IPs need money to sustain their livelihood. If we can show them a way to make money without cutting the trees that protect us from climate change, that’s better,” Lopez said.

Whenever available, the NRDC shall provide the capital funding or mobilize resources to support biodiversity-friendly social enterprises.

The NCIP, on the other hand, was given a free-hand to formulate its counterpart roles and responsibilities pursuant to the agreement it earlier signed with the DENR and NRDC. ###

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Published: 22 December 2016

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