LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza
‘My’ farm-to-market road

“When the cat is away, the mice will play.” That seems to be what happened in the earth-moving activity by the Bucan River , a tributary to the Asin River . Only that, this time the ‘mice’ surreptitiously went ahead in doing their act before the ‘cat’ could make his move.

This is about the new road opening that connects to Asin Road at Barangay Tadiangan. Tuba. According to conflicting reports gathered from road users and passers-by, the road construction leads to a proposed private housing subdivision.

Others said it is a farm-to-market road funded by a politician in Benguet. Well, there is not even any farm leading to that site.

Thinking that farm-to-market road projects were usually listed as projects under the office of the concerned engineering district of the DPWH, I checked with Benguet District Engineer Alberto N. Gahid and this is what I found out.

According to him, he was told by George Yubos that the new road is a municipal project of Tuba. I am more inclined to believe Engr. Gahid because it was the son of the contractor who informed him that the road opening is indeed a municipal project. Yubos is the contractor for the project.

If it is a government project, how come the required billboard that is supposed to provide all the necessary information was not installed? If it is a private road project, all the more that a billboard should be there “for the entire world to see” so to speak, so that the government may not falsely be blamed for unwanted circumstances that could happen anytime in the future.

On the other hand, Tadiangan Barangay Chair Zaldy Guileng said the project is a private road being undertaken by the contractor for his own lot property. Now, who is telling the truth – the contractor’s son who is directly connected to the project or the chairman of the barangay where the project is located?

I strongly feel there is an attempt to hide the truth about something from public scrutiny. What it is, I can only suspect. Are there VIPs here who might be badly involved, I do not know.

Whatever, what concerns us is that big volumes of excavated soil were dumped directly into the Bucan River . I do not have the means to compute how much volume of excavated soil polluted Bucan and Asin rivers. But, I am 100 per cent sure that marine life has been destroyed and to a certain degree water quality downstream is not so healthy now as before the construction.

We can not also discount the fact that animal and human existence has been distressed economically because Bucan and Asin rivers are sources of livelihood, aside from being the swimming paradise for both local and foreign tourists.

It is never too late, however, for the authorities to require the contractor the necessary mitigating measures in order that Bucan and Asin rivers may be saved from pollution.

In fact I was informed by Messrs. Cortez Dagupen and Paquito Moreno, engineers from the Environmental Management Bureau of the DENR-Cordillera that Terio Yubos had signed a commitment to clean up the mess that he did to Bucan and Asin.

By the way, what caught people’s attention was how come the project started without the contractor securing first an environmental compliance certificate? Here, I was told that ECCs are only required for earth-moving that is about 200 meters.

But the problem with that policy is that project contractors who use heavy equipment will no longer report to the authorities their activities even if this is beside a river because they are not required to do so, as in the case Bucan and Asin rivers in Tuba.

Engineer.Dagupen said, Yubos indeed cleaned up his mess but still, heavy soil erosion was not prevented from spilling into the rivers and polluting the same because loose soil in the excavation were washed down by rainwater.

The EMB officials estimated the road length to be about 200 meters and 2.5 meters wide. Another technical conference will be conducted in the presence of the contractor and an environmental impact statement will have to be agreed on.

Under RA 9275 or the Clean Water Act, undertaking development activities of earth-moving and expansion of projects without the necessary permits are clear violations thereof.

In relation to soil excavation, fines and penalties for failure to clean up operations willfully is punished by imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than four years. This includes a fine of not less than Php50,000.00 and not more than Php100,000.00 per day of violation.

Failure or refusal to clean up which results in serious injury or loss of life or lead to irreversible water contamination of surface, ground, coastal and marine water is punishable by imprisonment of not less than 6 years and 1 day and not more than 12 years, and a fine of Php 500,000.00 per day for each day the contamination or omission continues.

With such amounts aside from imprisonment, I believe that Yubos, the contractor of the “my farm-to-market road,” will choose to clean up and perform his work to the best, rather than suffer the consequences. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com