Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday stressed his opposition to the entry of the Philippine National Oil Corp.-Energy Development Co. into the buffer zone of the Mt. Kanlaon National Park  for further geothermal exploration, in a meeting with a Department of Energy official.

Antonio Labios, DOE Visayas regional officer, who met with the bishop yesterday told the DAILY STAR his department on the request of the Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan will come up with an assessment on PNOC’s proposed entry into the buffer zone in Bago City.

The SP request for a DOE opinion on the matter had recently been received by the office of Secretary Angelo Reyes, Labios said.

But determination of the environmental impact of the PNOC-EDC entry was more the task of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, as the DOE concentrates mostly on energy matters, Labios said.

PNOC-EDC has asked the SP to concur on its planned entry into the buffer zone, but the provincial officials are asking the DENR and the DOE for their opinions on the matter.

Navarra said he is opposing the PNOC-EDC entry into the buffer zone because no public consultation was conducted and because of the ill-effects that are very sure to come – environment and health-wise.

If encroachment into the buffer zone is allowed it would be an irreversible loss to the flora and fauna of Negros, he said.

The argument that there is need for a balance between the energy needs of the province and preservation of the environment in coming up with a decision on the PNOC-EDC entry into the buffer zone is very deceptive, the bishop said.

“I believe not all alternative energy have been tapped,” he said.

The bishop said he is also irked because he was made to understand by PNOC-EDC that the geothermal energy in the buffer could be reached by a rig from underground without causing any destruction to the forest above.

“Now with the visit of Director Labios I was told that that technology has not been discovered yet, experiments are still being conducted,” Navarra said.

“PNOC-EDC should be more transparent that is why I am insisting on a public consultation,” he said.

All stakeholders should be made aware of the consequences, he added.

Labios was in Bacolod to consult him and other stakeholders at the University of St. La Salle forum, Navarra said.*CPG

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