Group assails Ilocos gov’t- private eco-tourism projects

CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur -- The Ilocos Network for the Environment (Defend Ilocos) assailed eco-tourism projects in Ilocos Region for being “more attuned to profit accumulation of big businesses to the detriment of the people.”

            Sherwin De Vera, regional Defend coordinator Ilocos said in Region 1, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is promoting development of 15 protected areas in the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan into ecotourism enterprises under public-private partnership program.

He said through ecotourism government turned ecological protection and governance into a profitable endeavor for private corporations and for its own revenue generation.

According to De Vera, besides disrupting natural habitats and landscapes, ecotourism projects also displace communities and individuals from their livelihood.

            “Large expanse of fishing grounds have been made off-limits to small fisherfolks, beach fronts are allotted for resorts, protective magnetite concentrates are removed from the shoreline and indigenous peoples are prevented from gathering forest products all in the name of eco-tourism and twisted idea of conservation,” claims De Vera.

Eco-tourism ventures were likewise used to justify mining operations in the Lingayen Gulf and Metro Vigan.

Pangasinan governor Amado Espino, Jr. rationalize the illegal blacksand extraction made by Alexandria Mining and Oil Ventures as necessary for the Golf Course Project located in the planned Lingayen Gulf Coast Eco-tourism Zone. Former Ilocos Sur governor Luis Singson likewise defended black sand extraction as essential to developed beaches in Metro Vigan.

            The group’s regional coordinator also lambasted the lack of comprehensive program to address the growing waste problem compounded by “development” projects associated with tourism. He cited the case of big coastal resorts such as Hannah’s Beach Resort in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte and Vitalis Resort and Spa in Santiago, Ilocos Sur.

 “A few years ago, Hannah’s was reported to be disposing sewage and waste water directly to the sea without any treatment. On the other hand, Vitalis is dumping unsegregated waste in an open dumpsite and lacks treatment facility for waste water,” said De Vera.

He added waste generated by both enterprises are much more than what the local government’s waste disposal facility can accommodate.

According to De Vera, environmental conservation efforts must anchor on providing the needs of the poor because they are highly dependent on nature’s bounty, and on production processes that will actually jumpstarts national industrialization.

            “We must unite and demand president-elect Rodrigo Duterte to end this corporation-government connivance of highlighting environmental crisis and the need to conserve to justify policies and practices that are actually more damaging to the environment and livelihood of the people. This concern must be also address in the upcoming peace negotiations between the revolutionary movement and the Duterte administration” said De Vera.