It would seem very good news from the Phillipines....just read these reports.....Japex President was on Cebu Island on the weekend. Japex PRESIDENT !!!
This is news of high significance for GGX _______________________________________________________
Lawyers, NGO's ask Japanese Gov't to stop searching for oil in Tañon Strait
By Jujemay G. Awit Sun.Star Staff Reporter
AFTER getting the Supreme Court to pay attention, now they also want to woo the Japanese ambassador.
Lawyers and nongovernment organizations against the oil drilling in Tañon Strait asked Ambassador Makoto Katsura to persuade the Japanese Government to order a moratorium on the hunt for oil in a protected seascape like Tañon Strait, off the coasts of Pinamungajan and Aloguinsan.
“Japan is destroying the Tañon Strait protected seascape, home and migratory pathway of dolphins and toothed whales...Please stop the oil hunt,” read the groups’ open letter to Katsura, in bold letters.
The exploratory oil drilling in Tañon Strait by the Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (Japex) ended early this month.
On behalf of the dolphins and other mammals, some lawyers filed a lawsuit against Japex and government officials responsible for the oil exploration last year.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines-National Environmental Action Team (IBP-Neat) filed the case for the animals as their “legal guardians.”
The Supreme Court (SC) recently took cognizance of the case, asking the respondents to file their answers.
Named respondents were Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Angelo Reyes, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Jose L. Atienza, Department of Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap, DENR 7 Director Leonardo R. Sibbaluca, and Japex, as represented by its Philippine agent, Supply Oilfield Services.
The SC petition sought to stop the activity in Tañon Strait. The open letter to the Japanese ambassador wants the same thing.
The letter noted that 170 marine scientists in the Philippines have evidence that the oil hunt “destroys the marine system of a critically important feeding, breeding and nursery grounds as well as protected migratory pathway of whales and dolphins in the southern Philippines.”
The group also said that hundreds of fishermen lost their livelihood due to the oil hunt, which will be extended and move to extraction if Japex confirms there are commercially viable deposits in the area.
“There is a sign of oil accumulation,” announced Japex president Mineo Kinoshita in a visit to Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia last Friday.
Japex and DOE also both denied the environmentalists’ claim that the exploration damaged the environment, saying there was water and marine mammal monitoring throughout the project.
The letter, which was faxed to the Japanese Embassy, was signed by Atty. Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, chairperson of the IBP environment committee; Atty. Benjamin Cabrido, one of the dolphins and other marine creatures’ legal guardians; former IBP Cebu City Chapter president Democrito Barcenas; Dr. Lemnuel Aragones of the University of the Philippines (UP) Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology; Prof. Cherry Ballescas of the UP in the Visayas Cebu College; and Vince Cinches of the Fisherfolk Development Center.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here.
(February 11, 2008 issue) ___________________________________________________________Saturday, February 09, 2008 Tañon mammals 'score' in fight v. oil exploration
RESIDENT marine mammals of the Tañon Strait that have “gone to court” scored in their efforts to stop oil exploration activities in the protected seascape.
In an order dated Jan. 15, the Supreme Court (SC) directed respondents – both public and private officials – to comment on the petition that lawyers Gloria Ramos and Rose-Liza Osorio have filed.
Ramos and Osorio are suing on behalf of the mammals, being their “legal guardians.” They are also part of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-National Environment Action Team.
The court gave the respondents 10 days to give their comment.
Copy of comments
Ramos, in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu last night, said the order is a “welcome development.”
She also said they want a copy of the comments of the government officials concerned as they will request the SC to set a hearing for an oral argument where they will present marine experts.
Also yesterday, officials of Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (Japex) said they are convinced there is plenty of oil deposit in Tañon Strait.
Mineo Kinoshita, Japex president, issued this statement even as oil drilling results are yet to be released and if activities have indeed affected the marine life in the area, as environmentalists claimed.
During his visit to Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Kinoshita said “there is a sign of oil accumulation.”
Kinoshita who visited Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday said the results of the oil drilling will be known in a few months.
Out of Pinamungajan
He also said that the drilling rig will be moved out from the coasts of Pinamungajan.
Kinoshita also reported that their operation was done without any damage to the environment, something which an official of the Department of Energy (DOE) supported.
Garcia welcomed Kinoshita’s report and said, “Those with dark predictions should admit they were wrong.”
Japex officials also said they conducted marine-mammal monitoring and water monitoring before the drilling, during the drilling and after the exploration to assess if ended their operation had adverse effects. (EOB/KNT)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here.
(February 9, 2008 issue) Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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