A PROMINENT businessman in Pampanga has expressed fear that the proposed Subic Clark Railway Project (SCRP) may create a massive impact on the environment.
Ruperto Cruz, owner of the Royal Garden Golf and Country Club, said the railway was originally designed to be constructed along the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), but the government is deviating from its previous plan.
The trader, who also heads the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) advocacy group, claimed that the realignment of the railway may allow the constructor to bore tunnels, which might endanger the topography in several areas along the project's new path.
Cruz cited the eruption of Mount Pinatubo which, he said, was caused by exploratory geothermal drilling and well testing conducted by the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) from 1998 to 1990.
He added that the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) then declared Alert Level 1 for Mount Pinatubo.
Realigning
Cruz said this forced PNOC to abandon the project 13 months before the April 12, 1991 explosions.
The Aetas living in Mount Pinatubo and adjacent mountain ranges opposed the PNOC drilling project saying it angered their god, Apo Namalyari, according to the businessman.
Cruz said Pinatubo erupted in 1991 and the rest is history.
On March 4, 2021, Phivolcs raised the Alert Level for Pinatubo to 1 (on a scale of 0-5), noting elevated seismic activities -- 1,722 earthquakes recorded in two events since January 20, he added.
“I am saying this because 70 percent of the SCRP budget will be used for tunneling,” Cruz said. “How do they know that what they are tunneling is not a volcano?”
Cruz is also asking the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to cite at least five good reasons it is realigning the railway.
Public consultation
The SCRP is being realigned to the detriment of ongoing tourism-related and industrial development projects in areas where the railway will pass.
In recent letters to Angeles City Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr. and Porac Mayor Jing Capil, the PGKM is calling “for an immediate public consultation on the SCRP realignment citing concerns on the socio-economic dislocation and devastation” of the vast agricultural areas as well as the built-up commercial and housing developments that the realignment traverses up to this city and Clark itself.
“We already have prospective investors in the area because as envisioned, Porac would be the Makati of Pampanga,” he said. “We have five high-rise buildings in the area; that is why we need a public hearing that would involve the local government,” Cruz said.
Cruz said if the realignment pushes through, the zonal development plan of Porac will be greatly affected.
“Obviously, the realignment is just based on a table survey without a thorough study,” he said.
He also claimed that many Kapampangans and people living in other areas in Central Luzon, especially those who will be affected by the project will not vote for him if he runs for senator next year.
“Surely, Tugade and his line-up will have no chance in Region 3 (Central Luzon) in the coming elections for ignoring the people,” Cruz said.