Environment department to
increase fees for use of water
16 critical watersheds to be rehabilitated
Illegal fishing threatens fishers' livelihood in Pangasinan
Philippine Navy 'adopts' 7 bays
Feature: The
environment is one issue that's here to stay
Environment department to increase fees for use
of water
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will issue
in September an order that will make heavy users of the country's water
resources pay more for using water. This will allow the department to
collect higher fees from industrial and commercial establishments which
use huge volumes of water in their operations.
Gregorio Estrada, regional chief of the DENR's Environmental Management
Bureau in Davao City, said the "users pay" program will "force
our industries and commercial establishments to use our water judiciously."
The fees will be computed based on wastewater discharged by such establishments
as restaurants, shopping malls, hospitals, laboratories, markets, condominiums,
hotels, gasoline stations, softdrink plants, food processing and other
manufacturing-related businesses.
The program, which will be known as the "Revised Industrial Permitting
Rules and Regulations of 1999," amends the "1978 Revised Industrial
and Commercial Wasterwater Permitting Rules and Regulations."
Estrada said the amended rules will result in very high fees for heavy
users of water. Based on the 1978 rule, the DENR can impose a fee of
up to P165 for every 30 cubic meters of wastewater discharged per day
by a firm. Under the new rules, the charges will be P6,500 for a maximum
of 30 cubic meters per day for water discharges which do not contain
heavy metals. For discharges with heavy metals, the DENR will charge
P9,000 per 30 cubic meters per day.
The fee rises to P7,500 per day for heavy metal-free discharge from
30 cubic meters to 150 cubic meters per day, and P10,000 per day for
the same volume of wastewater discharges containing heavy metals.
Firms with heavy metal-free wastewater discharge of more than 150 cubic
meters per day will be asked to pay P8,500, while those with discharge
containing heavy metals can expect to shell out P11,000 for the same
volume.
DENR is set to conduct a series of nationwide consultations with commercial
and industrial establishments and non-governmental organizations. J.F.
Canuday in Philippine Daily Inquirer, 07.21.99
16 critical watersheds to be rehabilitated
Sixteen watershed areas in tree regions will be rehabilitated in a new
government drive to arrest the degradation of these critical resources
and help ensure the steady supply of water for drinking, irrigation,
industrial and power-generation purposes.
There are 119 proclaimed watersheds across the country. They include
419 river basins which provide the major water requirements of several
irrigation systems, hydroelectric systems and domestic and industrial
water systems.
The annual water withdrawal from these watersheds has been estimated
at 29..5 cubic km, with agriculture accounting for 62 percent, industry
for 27 percent, and domestic use for 11 percent.
The 16 watersheds scheduled for rehabilitation are located in Bicol,
Ilocos Region, and Western Mindanao. They will be rehabilitated based
on the Watershed and Ecosystem Planning and Management Approach, the
DENR said in a report.
Environment Secretary Antonio Cerilles has directed DENR's regional
offices which have the jurisdiction over the 16 watersheds to review
and realign all their programs and budget to provide the necessary support
for watershed development and rehabilitation. Cerilles described the
Watershed and Ecosystem Planning and Management Framework as a "holistic,
multiple use, and sustainable management of all resources within a watershed."
Philippine News Agency in The Freeman, 07.24.99
Illegal fishing threatens fishers' livelihood in
Pangasinan
Rampant illegal fishing is threatening the livelihood of fishermen in
this western part of Pangasinan in northern Philippines. Illegal fishers
in the area are reported to use gallon-size home-made dynamites to blast
artificial reefs and fish aggregating devices installed by other fishers.
A fish aggregating device such as the payaw can yield four to five tons
of fish when blasted.
A payaw is built from branches and leaves of coconut or other palm trees.
Fishers get 30% of the catch, and the rest go to the payaw owner. Twenty
fishers can expect a daily catch of 100 kilos of fish each from a payaw.
Bolinao, Pangasinan Mayor Jesus Celeste said he has been able to convince
his town's fishers to stop using dynamite to catch fish. But he has
been unable to get the cooperation of fishers from other towns and provinces
who come to Bolinao, he added. Bolinao is known for its rich fishing
grounds and abundant coral reefs.
"Just one blast, and a whole hectare (of fishing ground) would
be adversely affected," Celeste said. "Because of illegal
fishing, our fishermen and payaw owners are deprived of a fish harvest."
Celeste also said a syndicate based in the nearby province of La Union
buys the blasted fish from three groups of fishers in Bolinao. The syndicate,
he said, is backed by some military men and operates in the Lingayen
Gulf. Y. Fuentes in the Philippine Daily Inquirer,
07.01.99
Philippine Navy 'adopts' 7 bays
The Philippine Navy has initiated environmental rehabilitation efforts
in seven bays as part of its Adopt a Bay project. The project, which
is covered by Letter of Instruction 12-99
issued by Philippine Navy Flag Officer in Command Vice Admiral Eduardo
Ma. Santos, was launched last May 18, during the first celebration of
Month of the Ocean in the Philippines. May was declared Month of the
Ocean by President Estrada through Presidential
Proclamation No. 57 dated January 9, 1999.
The "adopted bays" include the waters off Loon, Bohol and
Badian Bay, Cebu in the Visayas; Ulugan Bay, Palawan; Sta. Cruz Island
in Mindanao; Samara Bay, Brgy. Aringay, San Fernando, La Union in Northern
Luzon; Canacao, Cavite; and the Ternate area of Manila Bay.
Capt. Ernesto Paquiz of the Environmental Management and Civil-Military
Operations of the Philippine Navy said the Philippine Navy is working
closely with the local governments, the Department of Environment and
Natural Resource, Department of Agriculture and other concerned government
agencies and private organizations in the rehabilitation effort. "It
is a massive undertaking, we cannot do it alone," he said.
The project assists concerned sectors in various environmental protection
activities, including cleanup operations, information and education,
and law enforcement.
Local governments who are interested in participating in the project
may call the Environmental Management and Civil-Military Operations
at Tel. (02) 525 6267.
Feature:
The environment is one issue that's here to stay
Although the Dutch regard the threat to the environment as the biggest
problem the world is likely to face in the future, it is no longer at
the top of their list of social concerns. Crime, social security and
jobs take precedence. This is partly down to the fact that people think
the environment is faring better these days, so naturally they are less
concerned.
The government began to send out environmental messages via the mass
media in the early eighties. It commissioned TV commercials in which
Dutch celebrities tried to convince their fellow countrymen that we
can all do our bit for the environment - a message clearly reflected
in the slogan "A better environment begins with you." The
commercials were an attempt to "internalize" environmental
norms and values, to engender support for the next stage, when people
would actually be asked to change their behavior (segregating their
garbage, for instance).
"The campaign did have an effect," says Harold van Biemen,
head of the Dutch environment ministry's policy communication division.
The government's strategy involved a general, broad-ranging campaign
combined with specifically targeted campaigns. The environment became
much more of an issue, and ninety percent of people say it is now on
their agenda.
The targeted campaigns met with varying success. The campaign for garbage
segregation, for instance, which asked people to separate their household
waste prior to collection and recycling, was highly successful. Van
Biemen says certain habits are now so "internalized" that
people no longer see them as environment-friendly behavior as such -
it's just the normal thing to do. Putting empty bottles in the bottle
bank is now second nature to most of us. The government's climate campaign
was less successful. Van Biemen is not surprised, as this is a less
immediate issue. People are bound to regard a problem they are not likely
to notice for some years as less urgent.
Stable and promising. Concern for the environment declined in 1992,
but has stabilized over the past two years. "People's attitude
to the environment remains positive," says Van Biemen. "And
the combination of concern and a positive attitude provides a strong
basis for environment-friendly behavior. The Dutch haven't become more
environment-friendly in recent years, things have stayed pretty much
the same."
The focus has now shifted to people's own lives. But it is not only
important that the environmental message comes across well, it also
has to be linked to an attractive pricing policy. Van Biemen illustrates
the point with the new pilot campaign for environment-friendly DIY,
"a unique cooperative venture between the government and the DIY
sector." The government is attempting to draw public attention
to the environmental aspects of a market worth around US$3.5 billion
a year.
The government's efforts are being combined with marketing strategies
at store level. DIY enthusiasts will notice that environment-friendly
products, such as insulating material, are reduced in price. "The
government has made an agreement with the entire sector," explains
Van Biemen, "an individual chains are ensuring the products are
available. I think campaigns of this kind are highly promising.
Competition. Van Biemen says the fact that the public is less focused
on environmental issues than they were five years ago is inevitable.
"The environment has to compete with other issues. The media play
a major role. At the moment they're focusing a lot on violence, and
this type of issue is often more recognizable to the public, whereas
the environment tends to be more abstract."
"It's difficult to keep environmental issues high on the agenda,"
agrees communications expert Puk van Meegren of Wageningen Agricultural
University. "People get side-tracked by other things. And anyway,
keeping the environment high on the agenda shouldn't be an aim in itself.
Since the late eighties we've talked a lot about the environment. That
phase is now over, it's important to think about how we're going to
tackle important issues now."
A great deal has changed regarding the environment in recent years,
both in the industry and in people's homes. Van Meegren thinks the focus
in the future should be on major concrete issues.
"The government has to turn its attention to the issues that really
make a difference. That means no more TV commercials designed to change
people's behavior, but serious public debate. We have to start talking
about sensitive subjects, like air travel and car ownership. But politicians
are scared to get their fingers burnt on things like this. Take road
pricing, for example. The government should have made it much clearer
why it is necessary, then there would have been much more support."
"The environment isn't the only consideration in decision-making
processes," says Van Biemen. "You have to weigh economic interests
and traffic congestion against environmental interests. When decisions
are actually made, it is often other interests that prevail. The good
thing about the Netherlands is that the environment isn't simply overlooked
in cases like this. It remains in the picture in the form of compensatory
or supplementary measures. For instance, it was decided to build a high
speed rail link between the port of Rotterdam and Germany, but parts
of it are to be built underground to protect the countryside. It will
cost more, but Dutch society is willing to pay more."
Confidence. Van Biemen says he's not pessimistic about the future.
A policy document on climate policy is due to be published in 1999.
It will outline the Netherlands' plans in response to the Kyoto climate
conference. If the Dutch want to meet the targets, they will have to
take measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which will include
measures affecting mobility, a sensitive area. The environment ministry
is in fact already attempting to tackle the climate problem by encouraging
the introduction of an energy performance label for homes and the development
of more environment-friendly cars.
Van Biemen thinks the main thing is to inspire more public confidence
in environmental policy. "We have to explode the myth that nothing
has happened with the environment. We've had some good results in the
last few years. We're no longer just identifying problems, we're actually
looking for solutions now. We have to show people that focusing on the
environment helps, and that good habits produce results. People need
to know not only how they can help create a cleaner environment, they
need most of all to know why. As well as introducing policies like energy
taxes, the government has to keep explaining things - in this case,
explaining the climate problem. I think this message will become more
and more important over the next few years." Environmental
News from the Netherlands, 04.99 No. 2
