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Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia hit back at environmental advocates, saying they were just “making noise”.
She said they would be better off planting trees.
In her State of the Province Address on Friday, she seemed to be referring to critics of the ash dumping agreement with Kepco and the province’s decision to buy the 25-hectare Balili resort in Naga.
“We must also speak about the environment, considering that this is an area that usually generates so much talk and so much noise from so-called activists that you begin to wonder whether noise pollution wasn't part of their advocacy,” Garcia said.
“If only so-called environmental activists had to plant one tree for every word they spoke, this world would either be so much greener, or so much quieter. Either way, wouldn’t it be a much better place?” said Garcia.
Garcia said her administration was not remiss in its responsibility to protect the environment.
She said the Province of Cebu now has a Solid Waste Management Treatment Project Division and that the Capitol is now evaluating “our first solid waste management system unsolicited proposal for a private from a private firm, a system that employs first-world technology that converts waste to energy. For the Province of Cebu, nothing less will do.”
No other details were mentioned but Garcia was apparently referring to the Naga case.
Kepco already paid an advance payment of $500, 000 for the use of the province-owned Baili beach resort lot in anticipation of the completion of its coal-fired power plant in barangay Colon in January 2011. Additional payments of $300, 000 and $200, 000 will be released to the Capitol after the issuance of a notice to proceed and when the actual ash disposal starts in January 2011.
Provincial Legal Officer Marino Martinquilla said Capitol officials have not been summoned by the Ombudsman yet to comment on the complaints raised by Cebu environmental lawyers.
“We're confident this will not prosper because everything is in order. We may not even be called if the complaint is dismissed for lack of probable cause,” he said.
Provincial Board Member Juan Bolo said that the province would later convert the land into an international port and an economic zone.
He said the Capitol paid P400 per square meter for the land instead of its assessed value of P610 per sq. meters.
The Province still has to apply for an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the coal ash landfill.
In her Sopa, Garcia said her administration has planted 3 million trees around Cebu and encouraged tree planting under the program E-GWEN (Expanded Green and Wholesome Environment that Nurtures Program).
She said Cebu set up Coastal Management Clusters and helped seaside towns protect and enhance their marine resources as well as distributed “unprecedented amounts” of organic fertilizer. /Reporter Doris C. Bongcac
