The Cavite Environmental Summit 2024, organized by various non-profit groups, called for the end of seabed quarrying in Cavite province as stakeholders underscore how it has adversely impacted the marine ecosystem and the livelihoods of coastal communities.
The all-day summit, held at the Philippine Christian University in Dasmariñas City, Cavite on Saturday, August 31, 2024, brought together experts, fisherfolk, students, the clergy, and others stakeholders to discuss the immediacy of stopping the dredging activities in the province.
It also aims to urge Caviteños to demand the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to submit the results of the cumulative impact assessment of these seabed quarrying activities conducted last year.
Citing data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), non-profit organization Kalasag said there are currently five seabed quarrying permits being carried out by the following: Silverquest Mining Resources Inc., Avalar Mining Corporation, V.I.L. Mines Inc., the Philippine Reclamation Authority, and Seabed Resources, Inc.
Cavite has become a source for dredge fill materials for big-ticket projects in Manila Bay and San Miguel Corporation’s New Manila International Airport in Bulacan.
The permits, issued between 2008 and 2022, cover around 27,000 hectares of sea area in the coastal towns of Naic, Tanza, Ternate, Rosario, Noveleta, and Cavite City; the permit holders have so far dredged an estimated 40 million cubic meters of sand.
In his pastoral letter in 2022, Imus Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista rejected the expanded seabed quarrying at the San Nicholas Shoal, a sand bar or barrier along the shores of Noveleta, Rosario, Tanza, Naic, and Ternate that protect coastal communities from flooding.
“Tayo ay lubusang tumututol sa pagkuha ng buhangin sa San Nicholas Shoal (We are vehemently opposed to extracting sand from the San Nicholas Shoal),” he wrote.
The bishop cited studies that showed how seabed quarrying permanently and irrevocably destroy the marine ecosystem, poisons the ocean and depletes it of oxygen, makes it unlivable for sea plants, and the loss of livelihoods for fishermen.
Non-profit environmental group Kalasag, or Kabitenyong Alyansa Laban sa Seabed Quarrying, also initiated community consultations that pointed to several issues—lack of consultations, damaging of fishing nets, and sharp decline of fish catch—among residents of Cavite’s coastal towns.
Kalasag also documented incidents of intimidations and red-tagging against members of organizations campaigning against seabed quarrying.
Alyansa Tigil Mina, who authored “A Briefing Paper to the Coastal and Marine Ecosystems of the Philippines,” also noted several issues—red tide and release of heavy metals, coastal erosion, flooding and geohazard risks, damages on seabeds and organisms, loss of livelihoods—surrounding offshore mining, dredging activities, and reclamation projects.
In the summit, Kalasag, Clean and Green Cavite, and EcoWaste Coalition, among others, called for an end to seabed quarrying, stoppage of reclamation projects, and the need for a benefit and cost analysis of how seabed quarrying will affect ecosystems.
The summit, which also called for the passage of a legislation to prohibit seabed quarrying in the Philippines, hopes to encourage Caviteños, especially the youth, to act and do their part in freeing Cavite from the unimaginable consequences of seabed quarrying and various reclamations projects.