Barangay council wants dredging project stopped in Oriental Mindoro town

BACO, Oriental Mindoro — The barangay council of Pulang Tubig in the Oriental Mindoro town of Buco had formally asked for the immediate suspension of the proposed Alag River Restoration and Dredging Project, including its coastal and marine components, citing serious gaps in the environmental review process and local legal requirements, the Inquirer learned on Tuesday (Sept. 15) 

In an August 31 letter addressed Environmental Management Bureau MIMAROPA Regional Director Joe Mail Salino, Barangay Captain Gina Magsino asserted that Pulang Tubig sits at the mouth of the Alag River and forms part of the estuarine and coastal ecosystem directly linked to the river system but was excluded from the project’s scope of impact.

“Despite our location as a downstream receiving environment where the impacts of dredging may ultimately be felt, Pulang Tubig was not identified as an impact area in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS),” Magsino said in the letter signed by all seven barangay councilors, the Sangguniang Kabataan representative, barangay secretary, and treasurer. 

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“The EIS likewise appears to lack barangay-specific studies on sediment transport, estuarine ecology, fisheries impacts, coastal processes, and cumulative environmental effects affecting our community,” she added. 

The council asserted that the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) process is “fundamentally defective” for failing to properly recognize and evaluate the village as a potentially affected area. 

Any ECC issued based on an incomplete assessment, the village leaders said, casts doubt on the integrity of the entire environmental review. 

The letter says the 1991 Local Government Code (Republic Act No 7169) mandates prior approval from concerned Sangguniang Barangay for projects affecting ecological balance. 

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It further cites Oriental Mindoro Provincial Ordinance No. 197-2025, which prohibits dredging and similar extraction activities in municipal and coastal waters. 

“In light of these concerns, Barangay Pulang Tubig respectfully demands that the proposed dredging in the Alag River and adjoining coastal waters be immediately suspended and not allowed to proceed,” the letter stated. 

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The council urged EMB to review the validity of the ECC process given the omission of Pulang Tubig as an impact area, verify compliance with Sections 26 and 27 of the Local Government Code, and suspend the ECC if deficiencies are confirmed. 

A copy of the letter was furnished to the Inquirer on Tuesday by Fr. Edwin Gariguez, executive director of the Diocesan Social Action Center of the Diocese of Calapan. The priest had also issued a statement raising concerns of adverse effects of the dredging projects on the communities.

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Meanwhile, the municipal government of Baco has pushed forward with the project, citing flood control as a priority. Mayor Allan Roldan earlier stated that dredging the Alag and Longos Rivers would address the town’s recurring flooding problems. INQ /mr