Fishermen, farmers, and indigenous peoples from Casiguran, Aurora are not giving up on their fight against the controversial Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (APECO).
Deliberations for the 2017 national budget prompted locals to take their plight to the Senate anew, calling on legislators to give “zero for APECO,” and to junk the project’s Php 59 million proposal altogether.
“Hindi na pwede na manahimik tayo eh, kasi kung manahimik lang tayo, patuloy tayong nasagasaan (We cannot stay silent, because if we do, they will continue to run over us),” said Fr. Jose Francisco “Joefran” Talaban, one of the conveners of Taskforce Anti-APECO (TFAA), at a dialogue with Atenean students held after their Senate demonstration last October 24.
According to TFAA, APECO has many serious violations it needs to address.
APECO’s construction of its 12,923-hectare complex was allegedly done without consultation with local government units and indigenous peoples, thus violating the Local Government Code and Republic Act No. 8371, known as the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act.
Both pieces of legislation were authored by Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara and his father, former senator Edgardo Angara.
Withstanding adversity
Tropical storms that frequent Casiguran have also continuously tested the durability of APECO projects, calling into question the decision to build an economic zone in the area. Recently, Typhoons Karen and Supertyphoon Lawin have also affected the area.
On October 2015, Typhoon Lando made landfall in Casiguran, damaging buildings and other infrastructure managed by APECO, including its administration building reportedly worth Php 61 M.
In September 2015, weeks before “Lando” wrought disaster, APECO also received a Cease-and-Desist Order (CDO) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), stopping the construction of the Php 100-M Nayon Kalikasan Housing Project.
According to a media release from TFAA, the order prevents APECO from converting agricultural to residential land without first getting a conversion clearance. However, APECO disregarded the CDO and continued to expand construction until its second phase in March.
Because of this, newly-appointed DAR Secretary Rafael Mariano recommended last July 29 that charges be filed against “entities or individuals who may be held criminally liable on the commission of the unlawful land use conversion.” APECO had since stopped the second phase of construction.
Despite the resolution as a “victory” for the anti-APECO campaign, TFAA Media Coordinator Mida Reyes lamented that the CDO should have been given before the completion of the first phase. “We expect that the court will recognize APECO’s violation and will stop its operations,” she said.
Ongoing fight to zero
Reyes also said that they had used the CDO argument in this year’s budget deliberation, leaving the APECO officials incapable of presenting a clear stand on the issue.
Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, finance subcommittee chair, had asked APECO to honor the DAR order, signifying the event as a “clear manifestation” of the campaign’s “wins.”
“They first should address the anomalies and controversies, including the financial irregularities as observed by the Commission on Audit, and the [CDO] by the [DAR], among others,” Reyes said of the TFAA’s plea for a zero budget.
Last year, during deliberations for APECO’s 2016 budget, the TFAA requested the Commission on Audit to investigate how it supposedly utilized its funds illegally. They scored a victory when it was decided that APECO would only receive a caretaker budget of Php 40 M for maintenance.
Reyes said that by doing this, all operations will stop, lessening APECO’s capacity to grab more land which negatively affects the province’s livelihood.
Political challenges
Aside from the many laws that APECO has been said to defy, its leadership is also in jeopardy. Gerardo Erguiza, former chief executive officer APECO, but resigned late last year to help with the election campaign of his relatives. Erguiza is just one of the six APECO top officials who have already left the project.
“The resignations of officials have left the project in perpetual start-up stage, resulting in wastage of public funds,” said Xavier Alpasa, SJ, TFAA spokesperson and Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan executive director.
Several groups have already tried asking the Senate to strike down the project as unconstitutional, but nothing concrete has happened yet.
The fight against APECO also faces considerable political challenges as the Angaras, chief proponents of the project, still hold sway.
The elder Angara, as chairman of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), endorsed President Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential bid last May and said that the party is giving him their “full and unequivocal support” because they believe in his platform.
Meanwhile, the younger Angara have expressed support for Duterte’s policies, mainly on his war on drugs, push for federalism and attempt to reform the country’s tax system.
Reyes also noted that the economic zone has different government agencies as partners, namely the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Housing Authority, from which it acquires its funding.
