Pardon me sir but your slip is showing.
I wouldn't have come back had not somebody alerted me by e-mail about your potshot. I had long buried this cement project to pursue more mundane things such as scuba diving in Palawan's pristine coral reefs around Espanola and in Tubbataha down south. The only thing I've been anticipating about this matter is that dinner Mr. Wilson will treat me to. Unfortunately for you, hitting me would not change things about your situation. I like your sense of humor though. (Correction: the poetry stuff and Wilson-and-his-ilk line wasn't mine and should be attributed to another Palawan Sun columnist, Mr. Emilio Reynoso)
I remember I promised to not just be the harbinger of bad news. Unfortunately, I have no "good news" for you except the paid news releases being run in Manila newspapers by Fenway's media hacks to please (or is it mislead?) people like you. One item which was in Mr. Taylor's March 22 statement lambastes environmentalists (like me) (since when did it become a sin to be an environmentalist?) and insists that the PCSD had "authorized" the environment office in Manila to issue the environmental clearance certificate.
I suggest you call Fenway and ask them for a copy of a letter from the DENR dated 30 January 1997 rejecting their submission of the environmental impact statement because of the proponent's failure to address the legal constraints i.e. Proclamation 219 which declares the entire province of Palawan as a game refuge and bird sanctuary. The same letter pointed out that Republic Act 7611 only allows for Palawan "strictly controlled mining and logging, which is not for profit, to be undertaken in designated controlled use areas." This issue was never addressed in the draft EIS which I saw.
The fact is this: things are not "reaching a head" as you would like to imagine in terms of the approval process. In fact, nothing is moving even at the PCSD. The fact that the project is popular in Espa¤ola makes no big deal. If it is, why is there no funding yet and why are there no buyers? That statement about "authorizing the DENR" came out as early as November last year. That's old news. Why don't you ask the DENR if they ever received such a communication from the PCSD. As a matter of fact, they haven't.
Do I see frustration in you about the fact that Mr. Mata refused to talk, or is it Fenway's disguised frustration which it cannot disclose to the public as yet?
If you are for real, let's talk about some real issues, such as:
1. What's taking long for Fenway to submit that EIS to the PCSD? I think it is because they don't want to be caught with their foot in their mouth? Remember Fenway had told you there will be no more public deliberations and that the PCSD will automatically endorse it as soon as the EIS is submitted. What Fenway does not want to tell you is that as soon as the EIS is submitted to the PCSD (and even later to the DENR), it will undergo the regulatory public hearings and will be challenged from all sides.
2. Tell me what you researched about STRADEC. Do they have the money to be the majority in the joint venture company or is this window dressing? I had my nose into it some time ago, and I wasn't surprised.
3. Take a look at the Philippine cement industry and you will know that operating a cement plant at this time in Palawan does not make economic sense. There is no international market (only Hongkong and Singapore which is very small) and the industry is expecting a glut until at least year 2000.
4. Was I wrong about Bre-X? Did it not dampen interest about Fenway? I am no expert on the Canadian stock market but I think I can read the news.
Best regards to all. And cool it, will you Derleo? |
