SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN THE REGION

1
SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN
THE REGION

• Prof. Nestor Castro
• College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
• U.P. Diliman

2
Cordillera as a Resource Region

• Extraction of mineral resources
• Forestry and logging projects
• Agricultural farms and ranches
• Hydropower projects
• Geothermal resource area
• Watershed areas
• Irrigation systems
• Protected areas

3
Dam Projects

• Ambuklao (1956)
• Binga (1960)
• Bineng (1991)
• Bakun A/C (1997)
• San Roque (1998)

• Chico I, II, III, and IV
• Abulug I, II, and III
• Abra I and II

4
Environmentally Critical Area (ECA)

• National parks, watershed reserves, wildlife
  preserves, and sanctuaries
• Aesthetic and potential tourist spots
• Habitat for endangered or threatened species of
  indigenous Philippine wildlife
• Unique historical, archaeological, geological or
  scientific interests
• Traditionally occupied by cultural communities or
  tribes

5
ECA

• Areas frequently visited or hard-hit by natural
  calamities
• Areas with critical slope
• Prime agricultural lands
• Recharged areas of aquifers
• Waterbodies
• Mangrove areas
• Coral reefs

6
Protected Areas

• Balbalasang-Balbalan National Park (1972, 1974)
• Mt. Data National Park (1940)
• Mt. Pulag National Park (1987)
• Upper Agno Watershed Forest Reserve (1966, 2000)
• Lower Agno Watershed Forest Reserve (1983)
• Kalbario-Patapat National Park

7
Ancestral Domains

• Bakun, Benguet 29,444 ha. (2002)
• Kibungan, Benguet 22,837 ha. (2004)
• Tinglayan, Kalinga

8
World Heritage Site

• Ifugao Rice Terraces

9
ECCs Processed at Regional Level, 2002-05

• Abra 109
• Apayao 31
• Baguio City 416
• Benguet 497
• Ifugao 40
• Kalinga 44
• Mt. Province 29
• Total 1,166

10
Environmentally Critical Projects(Processed at
EMB Central Office)

• Golf course projects
• Power projects
• Intensive resource extraction projects
• Forestry projects
• Etc.

11
SIA Issues in the Region

• Negative experiences from past government
  projects contributed to the peoples cynicism
  about similar projects (e.g. mining, dam, etc.)
• Peoples distrust of government agencies,
  including the DENR
• Lack of transparency on the nature of the Project
  
• Lack of IEC on the impacts of the Project
• Language used in public consultations and
  hearings are not in the vernacular and are highly
  technical
• Venue of public meetings are usually in
  town/barangay centers

12
SIA Issues in the Region

• Differences on the identification of stakeholders
  
• Differences between the Proponent/Preparer and
  the stakeholders on the delineation of impact
  areas
• Differences on the length of time and process of
  public consultations
• Interface between the EMB and the NCIPs
  procedures
• EIS Preparers come from outside the Region
• EIA Review Committee members (including resource
  persons) also come from outside the Region

13
Case San Roque Multipurpose Project

• Proponent National Power Corporation, later San
  Roque Power Corporation
• Preparers Pirnie HEC (1996-97) and URS-Greiner
  Woodward Clyde (2000)
• Impact areas Originally San Manuel, Pangasinan
  only later to include Itogon, Benguet
• Processing EMB-DENR Central Office

14
SIA Issues in the Region

• Lack of public access to the EIS document and
  related materials (e.g. limited copies, location
  of document, language of document, non-popular
  format of document, etc.)
• Lack of local consultants for the community (not
  for the Project Proponent)
• Lack of studies on actual cases of project
  impacts

15
Recommendations

• Document ESA experiences in the Region (including
  success and failure stories)
• Develop a corps of ESA practitioners in the
  Region (both preparers and reviewers)
• Strengthen link between academe, local
  communities, private entities in ESA practice
• Link the local network of ESIA practitioners with
  the national ESAP network