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Wednesday, April 20, 2005
8 towns sign deal to organize council on coastal resources
EIGHT towns in southeastern Cebu decided to take their efforts in preserving their coastal resources a step further.
They formed the Southeast Cebu Coastal Resource Management Council.
Municipal mayors of Sibonga, Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy, Boljoon, Oslob, Santander and Samboan signed a memorandum of agreement creating the council yesterday in the presence of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Department of Environment and Natural Resources 7 Director Clarence Baguilat and Department of Interior and Local Government 7 Director Roberto Abejero.
The local governments want to address common problems such as rampant illegal and destructive fishing practices, mangrove cutting, sand quarrying and presence of illegal structures along the coast.
Although each of the eight local government units (LGUs) has already established a coastal resource management program, the mayors believe that forming the council woill maximize the benefits of their initiatives.
Dalaguete Mayor Ronald Allan Cesante, in his presentation on the management council, pointed out that coordinating plans and programs of the different LGUs is necessary as they share one ecosystem.
“What one municipality does affects the others belonging to the same ecosystem,” he said. “The environment knows no geo-political boundaries.”
The eight LGUs agreed to reconcile their coastal resource management programs, and coordinate in implementation of common strategies.
The LGUs believe that the creation of the council will enable them to attain “genuine and meaningful” local autonomy in managing the environment and natural resources within their territorial jurisdiction.
The municipalities saw the need to form the council after realizing their efforts were hampered by lack of public awareness on fishery laws, lax enforcement, and weak prosecution of violators.
The LGUs plan to formulate a common coastal resource management plan for southeast of Cebu.
Garcia, in her speech, took the opportunity to take a jab at efforts to split the province.
“The creation of this council reaffirms that it is in integration and not in isolation that we can hope to confront the many issues that we face today,” she said. “Once again, we prove that the key is not in Sugbuak but in Sugbuok.”
She expressed hope that this initiative may serve as an example for the rest of the towns in the southwest as well as in the north. (Emily Jade Valero, UP Masscom Intern)
(April 20, 2005 issue)
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