BALER, Aurora, December 14, 2012-Some
1,000 workers of the controversial Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport
Authority (Apeco) today embarked on a 120-kilometer march from the ecozone’s
site in Casiguran town to this capital town to dramatize their protests against
a Church-backed group of 120 farmers who have opposed the project.
The
placard-bearing protesting workers - composed of farmers, fisherfolks and
indigenous peoples - traveled through rough terrains and earth roads aboard 10
vehicles and ended their rain-drenched trip at the provincial Capitol grounds
in Barangay Buhangin.
They said Apeco
had alleviated their living conditions, contrary to allegations by anti-Apeco
groups it will drive them out of their homes and keep them poor.
“Oportunidad
para sa Mamamayan huwag ipagkait sa Casiguran, Apeco Suportahan (Opportunities
for the People don’t deprive Casiguran, Support Apeco).” “Ang Karapatang
Pangkaunlaran ay Karapatang Pantao (The Right to Development is a Human
Right),” read some of the placards.
The pro-Apeco
groups were led by Conchita Descarga, president of the Samahang Katutubong
Dumagat sa Aurora, her sister Nora Gutierrez and Dumagat chieftains led by Joel
“Katol” Guerra.
The protesters,
accompanied by the media and ecozone staff members, were later joined by Apeco
president and chief executive officer Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. and deputy
administrator Kent Avestruz at the Capitol.
The protest
march came after President Aquino ordered last Tuesday an investigation into the
operations of Apeco following a dialogue he held at the Ateneo de Manila
University with 120 farmers who just finished a 18-day, 350-kilometer protest
march from Casiguran to Manila. The oppositors demanded that the law creating
Apeco be repealed and that its funding be scrapped.
Earlier, the
Senate approved the P353-million allocation for 2013 for Apeco which was created
through Republic Act 9490 authored by Sen. Edgardo Angara who hails from this
town. The law was amended through RA 10083 sponsored by Angara’s
son, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo. It was not vetoed by President Aquino in 2010
and lapsed into law on that same year.
Among the issues
raised by the oppositors of the project were the alleged non-consultation with
affected residents, massive displacement and economic dislocation by banning
fishing in the area. They said the development of the ecozone had encroached
into their ancestral lands and led to the seizure of large tracts of prime
agricultural lands.
Sarmiento told
reporters that the anti-Apeco groups have been peddling lies to have the
project stopped, going to the extent of “fooling and deceiving the President”
with misinformation and black propaganda.
He said the
alleged non-consultation of local residents is farthest from the truth since
folks were consulted on the project as early as in the 1990s when the project
was still being conceptualized.
“In every law
passed by Congress, there is always a public hearing. The residents of
Casiguran were consulted and heard when the bill on Apeco was being deliberated
upon. Even President Aquino admitted he participated in the debates,” he said.
He said that in
Casiguran, consultations were held as early as during the term of then-mayor
Fidel Salamera in 1992.
Sarmiento said
the issue of land-grabbing and displacement of Dumagats has no solid basis. He
explained that the subject of these complaints, Parcel 1 involving 496 hectares
and Parcel 2 covering 12,000 hectares is proof of this.
“In Parcel 1,
there are no Dumagat settlements and this parcel is covered by tax declaration.
No one was driven away. In the case of Parcel 2, these are where the Dumagats
are and we have no development plans there. They are also not driven away,” he
added.
Regarding
accusations of land-grabbing, Sarmiento said Apeco has always adhered to the
sanctity of private ownership.
Ben Mina, former
provincial environment and natural resources officer, whose 22-hectare
residential compound was purchased by Apeco, said that on the contrary, some
individuals opposed to Apeco were the ones who grabbed lands, citing a certain
Paz Ramos who fenced off a portion of the road inside the ecozone’s
administration building.
“If there is
anybody who can be accused of grabbing lands, it is them who are anti-Apeco
like Ramos,” he said.
Sarmiento said
still, Apeco avoided a confrontation with Ramos and did not resort to
expropriation.
On the issue of
a fishing ban, Sarmiento said Apeco does not have any such plan. “In fact,
Apeco is putting up an ice plant for them so they can store their fishing
products. We have no design to curtail their fishing rights,” said Sarmiento, a
former director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
Regarding
allegations Apeco is a white elephant and is a waste of taxpayers’ money as
claimed by Sen. Sergio Osmena, Sarmiento said the ecozone is in fact generating
unprecedented benefits to local people.
“In fact, we
have employed a thousand people, half of whom in the construction sector,” he
noted. He said another 160 jobs will be generated in a 10-hectare seaweeds
project which will later be expanded to 100 hectares, the equivalent of 1,600
jobs.
“By 2014, we
expect to generate 3,000 jobs so no taxpayers’ money will be wasted,” he said.
“All they (critics)
do and say is to tell lies. They are not telling the truth. They are going to
prejudice the lives of these people who now are better off economically because
of Apeco,” Sarmiento lamented.
Ely Pablo, a
former employee of the Office of the Presidential Assistant on National
Minorities and a resident of Barangay Calabgan, Casiguran said many of those
who participated in the anti-Apeco march that ended last December 9, were non-residents
of the town and were merely part of the “hakot crowd.”
Some of them,
she said, were from Palanan, Isabela while others were from San Luis town in
Aurora. (Manny Galvez)
