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Arab News
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Philippines' ‘last ecological frontier' battles demand for nickel
MANILA: Home to several endemic species like the endangered Philippine pangolin, the province of Palawan has faced threats to its biodiversity for decades from illegal wildlife trafficking to deforestation. Now the island's forests and communities are vulnerable to mining for its nickel, with the Philippines ramping up operations to meet global demand for metals and minerals to support the green energy transition. 'When you mine nickel, you have to remove the topsoil and forest vegetation, displacing wildlife and causing deforestation,' said Grizelda Mayo-Anda, director of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center, a legal group promoting environmental rights. In response, Palawan Gov. Dennis Socrates signed a 50-year moratorium in March on all applications for mining agreements and exploration permits in the province. But Mayo-Anda said it remains to be seen if the ordinance will be implemented following a change in provincial leadership after elections in May. The Philippines is the world's second largest producer and biggest exporter of nickel, which is used in batteries for electric vehicles, and is critical in the transition to green technologies like wind turbines and solar panels. The International Energy Agency has predicted a 65 percent increase in demand for nickel by the end of the decade. Palawan has 11 active mines, three of which are large-scale nickel mines spanning four towns, but companies planning to open new mines now cannot get the necessary endorsement from the local government. Considered by some to be the last ecological frontier of the Philippines, Palawan holds almost half of the country's old-growth forest, 30 percent of its remaining mangroves and 40 percent of its coral reefs, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Nickel in the Philippines is primarily mined from laterite deposits commonly found near the surface and extracted through open-pit mining methods, and Mayo-Anda said thousands of trees have been cleared in Palawan for mining. • Philippine province's biodiversity threatened by mining and deforestation. • Local ordinance bans new mining permits for 50 years. A study by Conservation International, a nonprofit environmental group, on Palawan's Mt. Mantalingahan protected landscape found in 2008 that the $5 billion value of its ecosystem goods and services — such as clean water, carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation — far outweighed the value of minerals, then placed at 15 billion pesos ($262 million). Church resistance Mayo-Anda, an attorney who has conducted field-based legal advocacy in Palawan for decades, said some farmlands are no longer productive due to disruptions in water cycles and soil erosion she attributed to mining. 'Mining companies may have built schools, tribal halls and roads, but communities, including our politicians, do not have a good cost-benefit analysis of the economic value [of the destruction],' she said. The local church has stood against new mining activities as well. 'As is often the case, mining companies exploit natural resources, take control and benefit from the natural wealth,' Bishop Socrates Mesiona of the Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa said. Bishops in Palawan oppose mining due to its environmental and social impacts that they say could displace communities and affect the poor. 'But the crucial question is whether they have empowered local economies and communities so that when they are gone, the latter can continue to survive decently,' said the bishop. The three bishops of Palawan, including Mesiona, have also called for a ban on new mining applicants, which number about 68. 'If they are all allowed to operate, then it will surely be the end of Palawan being called 'the last ecological frontier,'' Mesiona said. While national law gives local governments the authority to assess mining projects and express concerns, it is unclear whether the national government will approve the new mining applications in Palawan after the moratorium. A recently publicized ruling of the Supreme Court rejected a 25-year moratorium on large-scale mining imposed by another Philippine province, Occidental Mindoro, citing the limited powers of the local government in regulating mining projects.
The Star
07-06-2025
- General
- The Star
Special feature - Philippine marine life under threat from industrial fishing
MANILA (Thomson Reuters Foundation): Impoverished fishing communities in the Philippines are caught in a David-and-Goliath fight with industrial fishing companies after the country's top court loosened restrictions on commercial operations in protected coastal waters. Already facing threats from extreme weather and urban development that have destroyed fish breeding grounds, fishers fear they may now have to compete with large vessels in municipal waters, the 15-km (9 mile) stretch of sea off the coastlines of cities. "Once commercial fishing vessels enter our area, there will come a time when we will no longer be able to catch any fish," said Rommel Escarial, 37, who has fished Manila Bay since he was a teenager. Mayors, environmentalists, fishing communities and the national government have all appealed against a Supreme Court ruling last year that invalidated a ban on large-scale fishing operations in municipal waters, where about 2 million people rely on fishing for their livelihoods. While the Supreme Court decision is not yet final during the appeals process, lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center said that some commercial fishers have already been entering municipal waters. "In Palawan province … commercial fishers now use the ruling to their advantage," said Mayo-Anda, whose NGO has joined one of the appeals. Municipal waters not only provide income to communities, who are among the country's poorest, but also act as extensions of protected marine areas by preventing overfishing in productive habitats to allow recovery of depleted stocks. Small-scale Filipino fishers, who use more sustainable methods such as hand-lining, cast net fishing or bamboo fish corrals, have struggled for years with the encroachment of commercial fishing vessels in municipal waters. Some 370,000 municipal fishing vessels and more than 5,000 commercial vessels are registered in the Philippines, according to 2022 data from the government's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. Last year fisheries production fell 5%, according to government figures, while production from both commercial and municipal fishers declined by nearly one-quarter from 2010 to 2023 due to overfishing, illegal fishing and habitat destruction. Commercial fishing often involves trawling, in which a vessel uses nets to collect everything in its path, damaging coral reefs, seagrass beds and other habitats. "If we totally allow commercial fishers even into municipal waters, it will only further decline our fisheries production," said Jerwin Baure, a marine biologist and member of the Advocates of Science and Technology for the People, an association of Filipino scientists. FEW PROTECTIONS The League of Municipalities, an association of more than 1,400 mayors, questioned the ruling in February, saying preferential rights for small-scale boats was a "matter of social justice, economic stability and environmental sustainability." Alfredo Coro, mayor of the coastal town of Del Carmen, also appealed to Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Supreme Court justices to overturn the ruling. "The small fishers are ... continuously being exposed to multiple threats including impacts of climate change, low income without social protection and limited access to public services due to their remote habitation," he said in an open letter shared with shared with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Of the Philippines' more than 2 million square km (772,000 square miles) of marine waters, 15% are classified as municipal waters, while commercial fishing vessels are allowed to fish within 84% of territorial waters, according to the Philippine Association of Marine Science. Fishers compete in shallow waters of up to 50 metres depth, because these are the richest fishing grounds due to their proximity to sunlight and nutrients. Under the Philippines' fisheries code, small to medium commercial vessels may be given permission to fish in municipal waters without active gears like trawlers or towed nets which damage ecosystems. Trawls are used to catch saltwater species like shrimps and anchovies, while purse seine - in which a large net surrounds a school of fish - is used for surface-dwelling and midwater species such as sardines, tuna and mackerel. Baure said the court ruling may force municipal and commercial boats to fight for fish stocks, with smaller boats at a clear disadvantage in fuel and equipment. "Our country is already facing a lot of cases of illegal fishing, such as commercial vessels illegally entering municipal waters. That alone was a challenge to control," he said. Scientists at the Philippine Association of Marine Science have called for a long-term and science-based harvest strategies that will provide equitable access to fisheries without harming marine biodiversity. (Reporting by Mariejo Ramos. Editing by Jack Graham and Ayla Jean Yackley. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit
GMA Network
06-06-2025
- General
- GMA Network
Philippine marine life under threat from industrial fishing
Impoverished fishing communities in the Philippines are caught in a David-and-Goliath fight with industrial fishing companies after the country's top court loosened restrictions on commercial operations in protected coastal waters. Already facing threats from extreme weather and urban development that have destroyed fish breeding grounds, fishers fear they may now have to compete with large vessels in municipal waters, the 15-km (9 mile) stretch of sea off the coastlines of cities. "Once commercial fishing vessels enter our area, there will come a time when we will no longer be able to catch any fish," said Rommel Escarial, 37, who has fished Manila Bay since he was a teenager. Mayors, environmentalists, fishing communities and the national government have all appealed against a Supreme Court ruling last year that invalidated a ban on large-scale fishing operations in municipal waters, where about 2 million people rely on fishing for their livelihoods. While the Supreme Court decision is not yet final during the appeals process, lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center said that some commercial fishers have already been entering municipal waters. "In Palawan province … commercial fishers now use the ruling to their advantage," said Mayo-Anda, whose NGO has joined one of the appeals. Municipal waters not only provide income to communities, who are among the country's poorest, but also act as extensions of protected marine areas by preventing overfishing in productive habitats to allow recovery of depleted stocks. Small-scale Filipino fishers, who use more sustainable methods such as hand-lining, cast net fishing or bamboo fish corrals, have struggled for years with the encroachment of commercial fishing vessels in municipal waters. Some 370,000 municipal fishing vessels and more than 5,000 commercial vessels are registered in the Philippines, according to 2022 data from the government's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. Last year fisheries production fell 5%, according to government figures, while production from both commercial and municipal fishers declined by nearly one-quarter from 2010 to 2023 due to overfishing, illegal fishing and habitat destruction. Commercial fishing often involves trawling, in which a vessel uses nets to collect everything in its path, damaging coral reefs, seagrass beds and other habitats. "If we totally allow commercial fishers even into municipal waters, it will only further decline our fisheries production," said Jerwin Baure, a marine biologist and member of the Advocates of Science and Technology for the People, an association of Filipino scientists. Few protections The League of Municipalities, an association of more than 1,400 mayors, questioned the ruling in February, saying preferential rights for small-scale boats was a "matter of social justice, economic stability and environmental sustainability." Alfredo Coro, mayor of the coastal town of Del Carmen, also appealed to Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Supreme Court justices to overturn the ruling. "The small fishers are ... continuously being exposed to multiple threats including impacts of climate change, low income without social protection and limited access to public services due to their remote habitation," he said in an open letter shared with shared with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Of the Philippines' more than 2 million square km (772,000 square miles) of marine waters, 15% are classified as municipal waters, while commercial fishing vessels are allowed to fish within 84% of territorial waters, according to the Philippine Association of Marine Science. Fishers compete in shallow waters of up to 50 meters depth, because these are the richest fishing grounds due to their proximity to sunlight and nutrients. Under the Philippines' fisheries code, small to medium commercial vessels may be given permission to fish in municipal waters without active gears like trawlers or towed nets which damage ecosystems. Trawls are used to catch saltwater species like shrimps and anchovies, while purse seine – in which a large net surrounds a school of fish – is used for surface-dwelling and midwater species such as sardines, tuna and mackerel. Baure said the court ruling may force municipal and commercial boats to fight for fish stocks, with smaller boats at a clear disadvantage in fuel and equipment. "Our country is already facing a lot of cases of illegal fishing, such as commercial vessels illegally entering municipal waters. That alone was a challenge to control," he said. Scientists at the Philippine Association of Marine Science have called for a long-term and science-based harvest strategies that will provide equitable access to fisheries without harming marine biodiversity. —Thomson Reuters Foundation
