Zambales folk renew call to stop dredging in their waters
SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES — Zambales residents who have opposed the dredging activities in their province believed that the vessel, where 13 undocumented Chinese were arrested, was about to engage in the supposed to be suspended activity at a key river in the locality.
In a phone interview on Friday, Elezer Requirme, 39, a resort owner in San Felipe town, said the vessel was likely heading for Sto. Tomas River – which traverses the towns of San Marcelino, San Narciso, and San Felipe – as dredging operation for this river is still ongoing.
“Probably (the vessel) is really (coming) here because Sto. Tomas River is (at) the boundary of the towns of San Narciso and San Felipe and only the dredging in Maloma River (in San Felipe) is suspended. But in Sto. Tomas it is ongoing and continues to affect livelihoods of the people in San Felipe,” said Requirme.
According to Requirme, 10 or more vessels have been simultaneously operating at the coastal mouth of the Sto. Tomas River but recently, only one or two dredgers were seen operating – for at least one to two hours, along the shore.
He said dredging operations in Sto. Tomas River started last year but resorts owners like him who were affected by the operation were afraid to oppose the operation said to be done as a flood control project.
Collapsing shores
“But now, the shoreline is collapsing, almost three meters has fallen. Our resort is (now) surrounded by water, the pine trees have also fallen so it’s necessary to take an immediate action,” he said.
Requirme did not yet mention what action would they take but according to him, they were planning to hold a meeting with at least hundreds resorts owner affected by dredging activities.
On Thursday, provincial engineer Domingo Mariano denied that a vessel manned by undocumented Chinese nationals, who were arrested in nearby Bataan province, would conduct dredging operations in Zambales.
The dredging activities in Zambales began in 2019 based on Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order No. 13, which said the activity was part of the river restoration and flood control project aimed to rehabilitate the “heavily silted channels of the Bucao River in Botolan town, the Maloma River in San Felipe town and Sto. Tomas River.”
In response to the protests raised by residents, Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. halted the dredging activities in the province last March but allowed it to resume last June as the provincial government pursues its flood control project.
Only the dredging activity along the Maloma River in San Felipe remained suspended up to this date, Mariano said.
