• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The application of Hacienda Asia Plantations Inc. (HAPI) for the 6,652-hectare oil palm plantation project in Candoni, Negros Occidental, “will be put on hold” over its failure to secure the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of concerned indigenous peoples (IPs).
Forester Vicente Losbañes, OIC regional director of the Environmental Management Bureau-Negros Island Region (EMB-NIR), in his letter to Joshua Villalobos, secretary-general of the Negrosanon Initiative for Climate and the Environment (NICE) dated July 23, said the issue of non-compliance with the FPIC from the IPs “before proceeding with the project will be indorsed to the DENR-NIR for its information and appropriate action.”
“Consequently, the process of ECC application will be put on hold pending the resolution on the issue of non-compliance to the provision of IFMA (Integrated Forest Management Agreement) law by the proponent HAPI as the same may affect the validity of the issued tenurial instrument, which is a requirement for the issuance of the ECC,” Losbañes stressed.
Villalobos told the Negros NOW Daily July 24 that he considered this latest pronouncement from the EMB “a partial victory in our pursuit to uphold justice for the environment and the community affected by this (oil palm plantation) project.”
“We hope that HAPI will comply with this order and show good faith to our government agencies,” he said as he urged the DENR “to look into the violations of HAPI of their own Comprehensive Development and Management Plan and make them accountable”.
Villalobos earlier questioned the conduct of the public scoping of HAPI July 3, particularly the “legitimacy of the consultation process.” The NICE, in a press release, pointed out “the lack of proper engagement with indigenous communities, whose rights must be upheld under national and international law.”
Public scoping is an early stage in the environmental impact assessment process, and is one of the requirements in the application for an ECC.
The application came after HAPI was issued a Notice of Violation Feb. 28, 2025, for implementing the oil palm plantation project in barangays Gatuslao and Agboy in Candoni without an ECC, as well as a cease-and-desist order (CDO) June 5.
The CDO was served June 13, following a letter from Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, who sought the EMB6’s intervention.
Lacson had said that HAPI failed to secure an ECC, which is “a critical document that ensures that projects likely to have significant environmental impacts undergo a thorough assessment and implement measures to mitigate adverse effects”. | CGC
