SUBIC BAY FREEPORT”•Local fishermen have disputed claims by leaders of some activist groups in Central Luzon that the ship-to-ship transfer or STS operations of liquefied natural gas in Subic Bay endanger fisherfolk in the area, and that locals were not consulted about the project before its approval by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
Resty del Rosario and Laureano Artagame, both officials of local Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council, dismissed the claims and pointed out the negative reports came from personalities who do not represent the legitimate concerns of fishermen from Subic Bay.
The news items they referred to came out in the alternative news website Kodao and quoted Pamalakaya Central Luzon coordinator Alberto Roldan as saying that STS operations for LNG in Subic “endanger fisher folk as well as civilian establishments and communities in Olongapo City.”
Pamalakaya is the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya, the leftist national federation of fishermen’s organizations.
The report also quoted Marcelito Clemente, coordinator of the Central Luzon Alliance for a Sovereign Philippines or CLASP, as saying the project was “simply another case of profit above public safety for SBMA.”
CLASP, a left-leaning group, had called for the withdrawal of US military bases in the country and had opposed the holding of Balikatan military exercises with American armed forces.
The local fisherfolk leaders, however, said the reports do not mirror the sentiments of local fishermen.
“We support the SBMA on this project 100 percent,” said Del Rosario, who chairs the Subic Bay Integrated Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council. Its members include fisherfolk in Olongapo City, Subic and San Antonio, Zambales and Morong, Bataan.
“Is the LNG operation safe? We believe so, because the SBMA wouldn’t place that project there without examining and addressing the risks involved,” Del Rosario added.
He noted that critics of the STS project are far too removed from the area, and hence are unaware of the local situation.
“How would they know what happens down here? How can they be the voice of the locals? They are just being alarmists,” Del Rosario said.
“As local leaders representing the mostly poor and marginalized fishermen in the locality, we will not be a party to anything that will harm our people. We will not agree to it,” he added.
Artagame, meanwhile, emphasized that the SBMA has not been remiss in consulting local fishermen about the LNG project during its inception in 2016.
He recalled that the Jovo Group, China’s leading clean energy service provider, which operates the project, conducted a consultation in October last year before making the first ship-to-ship transfer in April this year.
“We were invited during the consultation and it was amply shown to us that the LNG is clean and safe,” Artagame said.
“Of course, we gave our suggestions regarding the operation, and the SBMA officials assured us that they will stop the operation if ever there will be any harmful effect. By the grace of God, no such effect had ever come our way since then,” he added.
Aside from the supposed safety of STS operations here, Del Rosario also pointed out the area where the transfer is being handled is no longer a part of the community fishing grounds ever since the US Navy had used Subic Bay as a military base.
“We are fishing elsewhere, a little farther from the location of the LNG and even father out of the bay, and the SBMA is even helping us restore coral reefs that have been damaged over the years by illegal fishing,” Artagame said.
Ever since the LNG project was approved, only two transfers have been made: the first was made on April 27 and the second on November 19.