Before anyone else out there cries exaggeration, let it be said that try as we did that it is not, this BGlante feels that this is one concern worth our while. We are referring to the planned seismic survey in the seawaters off Cebu and Bohol that has reached its boiling point. (Scheduled on June 18, the seismic survey was moved to an indefinite date after stakeholders demanded that more consultations to affected parties are in order). What about us? So asked the tourism sector particularly the diving segment of the market. This segment is asking while the proponents have their hands full entertaining the complaints of marginal fishermen, nobody seems to notice that an equally bigger party is looming in the dark for recognition.
According to data provided by proponents, the diving sector of the tourism business will also be affected because the seismic area should be cleared from all obstructions. In a wide radius of 4.5 kilometers, the seismic survey will operate in this area clearing the way of divers, commercial ferries, commercial fishing boats and fishermen. In other words, these are the affected parties that will be dislocated during the seismic operations. As part of the huge tourism market, there's no question that the diving sector occupies a big segment of the travel and tour business. That is why through the initiative of tourism guru Walter Sultan of Travel Village fame, the diving sector made up of resort owners and dive shops operators in Panglao and this city are raising the alarm bells for them to be recognized of how their sector was affected by the coming seismic survey.
Their concerns did not fall in deaf ears, however. In fact, representatives of the Department of Energy and NorAsia Energy Ltd. scheduled a meeting of the diving and resort sector this coming Tuesday. It was heartening to note that proponents recognized the impact of the seismic survey to the tourism sector. We have it from a good authority that about 80% of the business in the Alona beach beltway depends on the diving business. And to think that divers are the kind of tourists that stay book longer days and nights. Longer stays mean long resort accommodation and longer patronage to hotel facilities like restaurants, spas, etc. And per inputs from industry players, the stretch of sea highway from Balicasag to Cabilao is a virtual diving paradise., And with trouble in paradise, how much do you think is the loss in revenues to all key players of the business—from resort owners, dive shop operators to travel and tour outfits, once divers are banned from the area on account of the seismic activity. We hate to say this, but one casualty is Sultan's Travel Village . It will become Trouble Village .
Kidding aside, are we underestimating their existence? Adding insult to injury to the diving sector is that the seismic survey came at a time when it is vacation time all over the world and therefore its peak season for vacationers. This means that at this time of the year, tourist traffic is usually higher compared to normal times. To the uninitiated, while Filipinos are trooping back to school this time, it's vacation time all over the world. As we said, we are glad that the plight of tourism stakeholders are addressed to in the government's frantic search for oil and natural gas deposits(that explains the seismic survey). For God's sake, the tourism business is not against the seismic plan of the government. It is just that it is being conscious that it has a role to play in making the business sustainable and make every stakeholder
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| After two days of deliberation, no conclusive agreement came out of the meeting between the oppositionists to the conduct of seismic survey for oil exploration in the waters of Bohol and Cebu represented by the Bohol Association of Non-government Organizations (BANGON) and the proponents of the project led by the Department of Energy (DOE). The discussion started last Thursday and went on until Friday at the conference room of the Governor's Mansion. Talks will resume this week. The noise generated inland by the project is just fair even if it is louder than the it will actually have in the waters of Cebu and Bohol . There is no reason to rush up and conclude the talks if the issues are not clarified and concrete agreements reached. The significance of the issues digs far into the future of the environment. BANGON and the rest of the smaller stakeholders including the local government units have every right to stand in the way of the project if the terms are not clear to them. After all they have the people and environment of Bohol to protect. Consider the notice of NorAsian Energy Ltd on the activity that the MV Pacific Sword will do. The ship will carry out two and three dimensional seismic surveys offshore of Cebu Strait for one month beginning mid-June as covered under Service Contract 51 at a speed of five knots. The ship will tow with it a six kilometers steel cable six meters below surface. At the end of the cable are flashing lights. The vessel is restricted in its maneuverability and cannot stop right away. Because of this no vessel, fast craft, fishing vessels etc. can come nearer to it than 8.5 kilometers or damage may not be avoided. Simmers or divers are also prohibited within 10 kilometers of MV Pacific Sword as the survey will use energy source with intensity of 200 decibels that can harm the human being.
Considering the distance between Cebu and Bohol , no commercial vessel, fast ferries, or fishing boats can ply their route for one month after the start of the survey. Worse, no swimmers and divers can enjoy the dive sites of Balicasag and Cabilao islands for one month as these sites are five or less kilometers away from the designated site of the survey. Punta Cruz in Maribojoc, the North-west side of Panglao Island , and all the other beaches that attract hundreds of picnickers and bathers every week will be off limits for a month. On this score alone, people have every tight to raise their objection. No wonder the noise the survey generated inland is much louder than it will actually be at sea. And then again, the Cebu strait is the source of livelihood of hundreds of marginal fishermen, let alone the rich payao owners. The survey activity will deprive many of their income for a month. To the poor that is a death sentence.
It is good that Gov. Erico B. Aumenado brokered a meeting of all parties who have a stake in the project – the NorAsian Energy Ltd of Australia , the Department of Energy, the affected Local government Units, and BANGON headed by its President Atty. Raul Barbarona. After two days of meeting, a few agreements were made: the creation of a technical research team to look into the impact of the survey to marine life, the inventory of daily fish catch by each fisherman in the affected location of the survey, and a separate study of Dr. Angel Alcala and Siliman University . More will be discussed this Tuesday. From Atty Barbarona we learned that the project proponent has already agreed to pay the fishermen with their loss of daily income.
We understand the impact of the project to the economy of the country and the LGUs who will be benefited if and when the survey proves successful. But the urgent issues brought by the concerned small stakeholders must first be addressed.
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