By Jordeene B. Lagare | The Manila Times | November 2, 2021

Industry stakeholders reiterated on Monday their opposition to an offshore mining project in Lingayen Gulf, a large gulf framing the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union, which will affect the livelihood of fishermen and tourism in the area.

Fernando Siringan, director of the Marine Science Institute at the University of the Philippines Diliman, said should the mining project push through, food prices in the area might increase because it will affect the productivity of fishermen in the province.

“The project will impact the catch of our fishermen in the area. And if they catch less, prices of food products will increase,” said Siringan in Filipino in a virtual briefing.

“Tourists want to eat seafood. However, if it becomes too costly, they would still eat seafood but on a budget,” he told reporters in Filipino.

At the same time, the proposed seabed mining in Lingayen Gulf will impact the tourism industry in Pangasinan and La Union as unclear or muddy beach waters will drive away tourists.

“Tourists want clear water in the beach but if the beach is muddy, this will turn off tourists,” he added in Filipino.

Tugon Kabuhayan convenor Asis Perez cited data by the Pangasinan Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office showing the number of tourists who visited the province declined to more 460,000 this year from 9 million in 2018 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In November last year, Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) 07-2020-IOMR was issued to Iron Ore, Gold and Vanadium Resources (Phils.) Inc., which allows the company to extract magnetite, also known as black sand, of at least 5 million tons per year for the next 25 years and renewable for another 25 years.

Lingayen Gulf is one of the major fishing grounds in the Philippines. It covers 2,064 square kilometers of water, surrounded by the towns of Agoo, Alaminos, Anda, Aringay, Bani, Bauang, Binmaley, Bolinao, Caba, Dagupan, Labrador, Lingayen, Rosario, San Fabian, San Fernando (La Union), Santo Tomas, and Sual.

The gulf was declared an environmentally-critical area in 1993 through Proclamation 156 signed by former president Fidel Ramos. The proclamation’s aims are to sustain production of fish and other marine products, preserve genetic diversity, protect natural features, and enhance outdoor recreation, among others.

According to Siringan, seabed mining will cause several negative consequences to the environment.

This will result in the resuspension and dispersal of fine-grained materials, resuspension of undesired biological materials such as harmful algal bloom cysts; potential release of undesired metals and other compounds; modification of benthic habitat and therefore of overall gulf ecosystem; and exacerbation of coastal erosion.

Source: The Manila Times