Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has called for urgent intervention to address the environmental and regulatory problems surrounding the oil palm plantation operated by Hacienda Asia Plantations, Inc. (HAPI) in Candoni town’s Barangay Gatuslao.
In a letter to Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Lacson highlighted the failure of HAPI to secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) despite prior commitments and directives from multipartite monitoring teams.
The governor expressed concern over HAPI’s continued quarrying and earth-moving activities without the required ECC, which poses potential harm to the environment.
This follows meetings held in November 2024 and January 2025 where HAPI acknowledged the need for the ECC but has yet to obtain it.
“As of the latest reports, the project remains contentious. According to the multipartite monitoring teams, the palm oil project has caused significant environmental degradation. Inadequate erosion resulted in visible soil erosion in nurseries and terraced areas, with no silt traps or vegetation to prevent runoff from entering water bodies,” Lacson said in his letter to Lotilla.
The Provincial Environment Management Office has already issued a cease and desist order against HAPI’s operations, particularly quarrying activities.
The plantation project involves converting approximately 6,652 hectares of forest land in Barangays Gatuslao, Agboy and Payauan into palm oil plantations, including 4,000 hectares managed by HAPI.
The area is home to indigenous peoples and has raised significant opposition from local communities and environmental groups, such as the Negrosanon Initiatives on Climate and the Environment (NICE), which filed petitions calling for the project’s halt due to environmental destruction and lack of proper permits, including free, prior and informed consent.
“Protecting biodiversity and indigenous land in Candoni is crucial not only for the well-being of the local ecosystem but also for the preservation of the cultural heritage and the livelihood of indigenous peoples who have cared for these lands for generations. The ongoing palm oil project threatens to destroy critical forest areas, pollute water systems, displace farming communities, and exhibit blatant disregard of the law,” Lacson said.
NICE and other stakeholders have also raised concerns about potential ecological damage, including water source contamination, riverbank erosion and the use of harmful chemicals.
They urge the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and local authorities to enforce environmental laws strictly and consider suspending or revoking HAPI’s Integrated Forest Management Agreement.
“We need collective action to hold destructive projects accountable and to demand that development respects both ecological balance and human dignity. Let us come together to protect what remains of our forests, rivers and ancestral domains,” Lacson said./JB, WDJ