ILOILO City – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has been advised to suspend the ongoing construction of the Funda-Dalipe esplanade in San Jose, Antique.
In a letter issued earlier this week, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional director Raul Lorilla told the DPWH to halt “work on progress until such time as that all environmental concerns brought about by the project will be addressed and dealt with.”
The letter responded to the request made by lawyer Rolly Pedrina of the Amlig Antique Alliance. The group wants an investigation and the issuance of a cease-and-desist order against the project because construction in the area will purportedly affect the marine ecosystem in the capital town of the province of Antique.
Iloilo-based contractor JE Tico Construction Co. is constructing an esplanade along the coastline of Funda-Dalipe, reportedly a well-documented marine turtle or pawikan nesting site.
Amlig Antique and other local environmentalists have petitioned the DENR to stop the project because it will disturb the marine turtles’ nesting site and endanger the area’s ecosystem.
Amlig Antique has also sought the help of the provincial government because continued inaction “risks irreversible harm to Antique’s biodiversity and livelihoods of Funda-Dalipe fisherfolks.”
The published project cost is almost P100 million.
The Antique provincial board was reported to have passed a resolution last year agreeing to the reservations of environmentalists but construction nonetheless proceeded reportedly because it was greenlighted by the DPWH regional office.
Amlig Antique pointed out that Republic Act No. 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, prohibits habitat destruction of critically endangered species, and Republic Act No. 11038, or the Expanded NIPAS Act, designates no-build-zones under protected landscapes.
Marine turtles are listed as threatened with extinction globally on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species./PN
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