By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

THE Lingayen Gulf is described by the ICLARM Technical Report: Lingayen Gulf coastal area management plan: National Economic Development Authority, Region 1: San Fernando, La Union (Philippines), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 1992 as follows:

“The coastal area of Lingayen Gulf represents a continuum between land and sea. It is characterized by highly productive ecosystems which are greatly influenced by terrestrial and marine events. It is a resource system: human activity interacts with natural forces in complex ways to affect its health. A healthy gulf contains rich fishing grounds, productive brackish culture systems and natural attractions for tourism. Overfishing, pollution from the coast, siltation from denuded watersheds, poor land and water use now threaten the gulf’s resources. These destructive human activities have degraded the resources base and broken down its delivery systems. Over-time, the damage will become too costly to repair. Unless this trend is reversed, Lingayen Gulf’s resources will be so badly damaged they will lose the ability to support communities around it. The gulf’s resource use problems are interlinked; each will not be resolved if addressed in isolation. Only if factors affecting the gulf are managed in an integrated way can its problem be solved. The gulf’s resources should be managed to obtain sustainable development. This can be achieved by scientific and comprehensive management of the key factors that affect the gulf’s resources. It means limiting the resources harvests to sustainable levels. It means encouraging natural growth processes. It means controlling land and water use.”

The gulf spans approximately 55 km in length and 35 km in width. Several rivers flow through the Gulf: Agno River, Aringay River, Balili River (Naguilian River), Bauang River, Dagupan River, Angalacan-Bued River and other minor rivers. It interacts with coastal settlements in two provinces:  Pangasinan and La Union. In Pangasinan coastal communities are in three districts: District 1 (Alaminos City, Anda, Bani, Bolinao and Sual); District 2 (Binmaley Labrador and Lingayen); and District 4 (Dagupan City and San Fabian). In La Union, it includes: District 1 (San Fernando City) and District 2 (Agoo, Aringay, Bauang, Caba, Rosario and Santo Tomas). These coastal communities depend on the gulf for their food and livelihood.

Lingayen Gulf hosts the activities of the UP Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI) and other pilot testing of resource management initiatives that can be adopted to other coastal areas of the country such as the oyster depuration facility that was discontinued. It is the major fishing ground of northwestern Luzon and the coastal settlements depend on it for food and livelihood.

The operation of iron ore mining strains the survival threshold of the gulf, as the project irreversibly damages marine resources, eventually debilitating its capacity to sustain communities dependent on its resources.

Former congressman Oscar Orbos says that the shared efforts of committed groups to protect Lingayen Gulf is a laudable endeavor, bound together by the ardent desire to bequeath a sustainable tomorrow for generations to come. According to him, “No mining shall be allowed in any land, or in any body of water; and that any exceptions thereto, must be even more strict on the grant, and that in all cases, any issue on the strict grant of the exception to the “no mining rule” must eventually be brought to the Supreme Court for final resolution.” He concludes that for the ore mining project to continue, there must first be a transparent exhaustive public process, among a cross section of stakeholders designed to determine the true costs/damages, in all aspects of the project.

In this regard, Orbos proposes the creation of the Office of the People’s Environmental Protection Agency (OPEPA), an independent office with representation from the NGOs and the private sector to study/research and assist citizens in their initiatives to protect their environment and communities from harmful encroachments and serve as the “Environment Ombudsman”.

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