Counting the cost

To drill or not to drill?

Fishermen in Bohol and Cebu are protesting the oil exploration conducted by foreign firms who have been tapped by the Department of Energy to determine if oil of commercial quantity lies underneath the sea.

The fishermen contend that the method of exploration uses a noisy method called seismic blasts, which could scare the fish and other marine organisms from the natural fishing grounds.

If this test says that there is oil underneath, the fishermen could be in for more problems when full scale mining will take place in those waters.

This oil exploration, using a similar method, was also done in Tanon Strait, that body of water between Negros and Cebu last year and this year. But not much protests were heard on this side of Tanon strait, even though the Tanon strait has a more delicate marine ecosystem than the Bohol strait.

That's probably because the "blue" environment issues (those concerning the seas, lakes and rivers) are not quite a concern for many of us who profess to show our concern for the environment.

Too often, when we think of the word "environment," we think of solid and liquid wastes. Our dumpsite. Our drainage systems, etc. But what has escaped the attention of many is that all these issues are interrelated. Solid and liquid wastes eventually come out to the largest waste receptacle of them all--the sea.

In Bohol, they have a functional organization that takes care of fishery and marine issues. In Cebu, they have Atty. Antonio Oposa, considered the foremost environment lawyer in the country, who has organized the Visayan Sea Squadron. This VSS has a continuing battle against commercial fishers who encroach on municipal waters.

In Negros Oriental, in addition to the Silliman Marine Laboratory and the SU Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management, we had William Ablong, who headed the Coastal Resource Management Project and Gerry Sarana, who zealously enforced fishery laws in Bayawan. Gerry even went with the Bantay Dagat patrols that boarded commercial fishing vessels found within the prohibited 15-kilometer zone, which is reserved for marginalized fishermen.

These people were later elected as public servants. William became Vice Mayor of Dumaguete for two terms while Gerry is now on his third term as Mayor of Bayawan City. I would dare say that environment protection had faltered since we lost these two men to politics. Or perhaps, we simply didn't get to read as many news stories about it.

Now, William is back to "civilian" life. I hope that with William out of politics, he could once more go into projects that would have something to do with protecting the sea and its treasures. We have to weigh the costs of losing our fishing grounds or converting our waters into oil fields.*

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