Wednesday, December 19, 2007 Mammals join fishers’ lawsuit By Jujemay G. Awit Sun.Star Staff Reporter
DOLPHINS and whales are disgruntled with an ongoing oil exploration in Tañon Strait—at least this is what a petition to stop the activity states.
Possibly for the first time in the Philippines, the petitioners were listed as resident marine mammals of the Tañon Strait protected seascape, such as toothed whales, dolphins, porpoises and other cetacean species.
A team from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-National Environment Action Team (IBP-Neat), headed by lawyer Dante Ramos, flew to Manila yesterday to file the petitions before the Supreme Court (SC).
IBP-Neat lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos called up Sun.Star Cebu to say they weren’t able to file the case since they had to make minor changes in the document. They will be filing first thing today, she added.
Another petition named fishers, particularly members of the Central Visayas Fisherfolk Development Center Inc. (Fidec), as petitioners.
‘Unwilling’
They also named President Arroyo as an “unwilling co-petitioner” for being a signatory to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Charter to protect marine mammals’ habitats.
Lawyers Ramos and Rose-Liza Eisma Osorio signed as petitioners, as “legal guardians” of the mammals—though of course no certification could be obtained from the latter.
They asked for a chance to present expert witnesses like Dr. Angel Alcala of Siliman University, a former chief of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and Dr. Lemuel Aragones of the University of the Philippines “to prove that the marine ecosystem of Tañon will be irreversibly damaged if the oil exploration, drilling and blasting is not enjoined.”
They also asked the SC to issue a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order against the oil exploration and eventually, a final writ to stop the exploration that started last Nov. 15.
Named respondents were Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Angelo Reyes, DENR Secretary Jose L. Atienza, Department of Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap, DENR 7 Director Leonardo R. Sibbaluca, and the Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd., (Japex) as represented by its Philippine agent, Supply Oilfield Services.
Legal standing
Japex is the company doing the oil exploration in Tañon Strait, off the coast of Pinamungajan town.
“They can sue but may not be sued,” the petition read, describing the marine mammals.
“They are suing respondents to demand the performance and enforcement of stipulations in legally-binding international multilateral instruments and Philippine statutes aimed at protecting their habitats and ensuring their species’ survival and perpetuation,” it read.
Representing the petitioners is lawyer Benjamin Cabrido Jr., who explained that the petition aims to ask the SC to give the mammals “legal standing.”
Cabrido admitted that the case is about to stretch the limits of the SC in granting legal standing to petitioners.
He cited the case of Oposa versus Factoran, where unborn generations were given legal standing to sue DENR on the issue of deforestation.
Japex previously organized a tour at the oil rig for Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and the media, where the company explained that measures are in place so that the mammals’ habitat will not be damaged.
Online too
Cabrido, however, asked how they can trust Japex when “Japanese nationals are notorious for eating whales and dolphins.”
Cabrido also explained that if they only tap fishers as petitioners, there is a possibility that they will be paid.
The petition noted that fishermen have reported a 50-70 percent drop in their daily catch. They reported an average of 15 to 20 kilos caught each day before the exploration.
An online petition has also been created to tap the international community in the protest against the oil exploration.
The petition was initiated by 107 marine scientists collectively known as the Philippine Association of Marine Science. The aim is to gather 10,000 signatures around the world. They gathered 449 as of yesterday afternoon—presumably all of them human.
