DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 17 October) – A group of Chinese workers on board two vessels were sighted Sunday afternoon while making another trip off the coast of the resorts owned by the Lucas family, where the landing point of the Samal Island-Davao City (SIDC) Connector in the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) will be constructed.
An advisory released by the Sustainable Davao Movement (SDM) on Monday said the Chinese workers were aboard M/V Rotsky along with tugboat SY 607 and stopped at around 4:30 p.m. at “Point 89 of the bridge marker area.”
SDM said three Chinese men, who were wearing personal protective equipment, resembled some of the individuals who initiated the borehole drilling early this month without permission from the resort owners.
“On board the vessel was a drilling equipment and many sacks of unknown contents stacked on top of each other,” the advisory said.
It added that the workers dropped “an object in the water, while a rope was extending from the vessel.”
The Rodriguez family opposed the current alignment of the bridge project since it would destroy the Paradise Reef, which plays a crucial role in the marine ecosystem of the Davao Gulf.
The vessels left at around 5 p.m. of the same day, and were found docked at the area fronting Azuela Cove at 9:00 p.m.
“This is the second time since October 4 that the presence of Chinese contractors in the area threatens the safety of the corals and marine life in (the) Davao Gulf. Last October 4, two speedboats and a coastguard vessel (bearing long arms) entered the Costa Marina area unannounced at low tide,” it said.
The incident happened after Davao City First District Councilor Nilo Abellera Jr. questioned the alignment of the SIDC project, or the Davao-Samal bridge, while noting an irreversible impact on coral reefs.
The group said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) acknowledged the existence of hard and soft corals and seagrasses in the area after conducting a joint dive last October 12.
“All intrusions of over-eager foreign contractors must stop before final decisions have been made by the Filipino people through its government agencies and the Philippine government,” the group said.
Last October 5, the Rodriguez family said they are filing complaints for trespassing, coercion, and other criminal charges against the resorts’ unwelcomed guests, including officials from the DPWH, who arrived on speedboats and were escorted by “armed men.”
They said the “Chinese contractors” were accompanied by several men who identified themselves as representatives from the DPWH, the Island Garden City of Samal and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office in Panabo City.
“The surprise visitors requested audience with the resort owner and access to the foreshore areas to drill boreholes, claiming they were public properties,” the family’s statement reads.
The landing point of the SIDC project, also known as the Davao City-Samal Bridge, is situated at the coast of Costa Marina Beach Resort, which is adjacent to the Paradise Island Park & Beach Resort in Barangay Caliclic, Babak District, IGACOS.
The Paradise Reef is a 300-meter contiguous reef situated on the coast of the two adjacent resorts, operated by the Rodriguez and Lucas families.
The Rodriguez family questioned the lack of prior consultation, saying the present “alignment was chosen in a workshop in Manila without the participation of local landowners and stakeholders.”
The family added that the Environmental Compliance Certificate for the SIDC project was issued without a prior Protected Area Management Board clearance.
Contrary to DPWH’s claim that the Samal landing site is outside a protected area, the family said the entire Samal Island remains a protected area and was, in fact, established as a Mangrove Swamp Forest Reserve under Proclamation No. 2152, S. 1981, an initial component of the National Integrated Protected Areas System.
“The law requires an act of Congress to de-establish a protected area or modify its boundary. The DPWH has not come forward with any such evidence in so far as Samal Island is concerned,” the family said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
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