THE year 2014 held some significant developments in environmental protection.
Among the more notable ones were the passage of a provincial ordinance providing stronger protection for sharks and the filing of charges against a local government official for cutting native tree species.
January
* The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 reported it has reforested a total of 24,872.49 hectares in Central Visayas in 2013. The figure is two percent higher than the target of 24,361 under the National Greening Program.
* The Philippines has banned the use of lead in a wide range of consumer products including toys and cosmetics. Lead is used to make batteries, matches, metal alloys, paint, putty, ceramics, insecticides and explosives, among many others. It is also used extensively in plumbing.
February
*The Cebu Provincial Board adopted a resolution enjoining local government units to implement sewage management and sanitation programs to ensure proper disposal of septic wastes.
April
*Researchers from Silliman University reported that typhoon Yolanda damaged coral reefs in Bantayan, which reduced fish stocks in the area. From 2012, fish biomass in Hilantagaan dropped from 45 kilograms per 1,000 square meters to 15 kilograms.
May
*A convention of lawyers and members of the judiciary raised the need to strip the DENR of the power to protect the environment and the creation of an independent agency that will enforce environmental laws. The convention proposed that the independent agency be given quasi-judicial powers to prosecute environmental law violators.
*The Cebu City Government vowed to strictly implement Fisheries Administrative Order 193, which prohibits any person to catch or take whale sharks including manta rays, in the country for purposes of selling, transporting and exporting the marine species, whether dead or alive.
June
* The Regional Trial Court Branch 26 dismisses the petition of Argao Mayor Edsel Galeos to stop the DENR 7 from blocking the town’s road project in Sitios Binalabag and Tac-an in Barangay Jampang. The Community Environment and Natural Resources Office ordered the Argao Municipal Government to stop the road project as it destroyed native trees planted in 2011. The DENR 7 later filed a case before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas against Galeos for violation of Presidential Decree 705, or the Forestry Code of the Philippines.
*The Capitol Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force intercepted a truck loaded with 150 boxes of what is believed to be the meat of thresher sharks.
* The Cebu Provincial Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force seized 50 boxes of helmet (budyong) and triton shells in Minglanilla. The cargo came from Dapitan.
August
*The Cordova Municipal Government and fisherfolk file a P140M environmental damage suit against two shipping firms whose vessels collided and caused an oil spill in 2013.
* International environmental group Greenpeace and its local partners hold the first Shark Summit in Cebu. Summit participants issued a declaration raising the need for stronger protection for sharks and rays.
In response, Daanbantayan drafted an ordinance protecting sharks, particularly in Malapascua Island, where thresher sharks have been attracting tourists.
Ban
Cebu Provincial Ordinance No. 2012-13 prohibits the catching, possession and trading of sharks within the jurisdiction of the province.
*Environment Secretary Ramon Paje revokes a special cutting permit for old acacia trees affected by the widening of the south highway from the City of Naga to Carcar City. Paje also returned all applications for tree cutting permits related to road widening projects in Central Visayas. The order followed conservationists’ opposition to the cutting of old acacia trees along the south highway.
* The Cebu Provincial Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force seized five tons of shark fins worth P15 million that were loaded on a truck. The cargo was reportedly bound for Hong Kong. The fins were later released after the shipper presented permit from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources stating that the fins were those of blue sharks, which are not protected.
September
*The World Widlife Fund reported that in the 40 years, between 1970 and 2010, the populations of birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish fell by 52 percent.
*DENR urged local governments to build water catchments in upstream areas as a way to prevent floods. It also encouraged households to collect rain water.
*Researchers of the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines recorded 158 individual whale sharks in Barangay Tan-awan, Oslob from March 2012 to December 2013. Of the total, 47 percent or more than 70 have propeller scars caused by small outrigger boats and commercial fishing vessels.
*The PB strengthens local measures protecting sharks. In an ordinance, it banned the catching, transporting, disposing of and selling of all rare, threatened or endangered shark species. The PB also adopted a resolution regulating tourist spots and business establishments in the province that involve endangered sharks and rays.
*Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza expressed support to the proposed ordinance banning the trade of all shark species in the city. But the City Council deferred approval of the proposed ordinance to iron out issues. The proposed ordinance prohibits the hunting, selling, buying and processing of shark meat and other products from sharks, whales, turtles, dolphins and other exotic marine animals.
October
*The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that 2014 may be the hottest year on record with September being the hottest September in 135 years of record-keeping.
December
*The Court of Appeals (CA) 19th Division denied the petition for Writ of Kalikasan filed by residents and concerned groups against the City Government of Naga. In a Dec. 10, 2014 decision, CA Associate Justice Marilyn Lagura-Yap ruled that the petition failed to present enough proof that cutting 58 trees in the Naga Central Elementary School would affect the environment of the city and nearby towns.