ZAMBALES – Around ten dredging vessels are currently operating just a few meters from the shoreline of San Felipe, Zambales, sparking opposition from coastal residents, fisherfolk, and local businesses over the project’s alleged “irreversible” ecological impacts.

The dredging activity, implemented by Governor Hermogenes Ebdane as chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), has been criticized for causing marine degradation, noise pollution, and the destruction of coastal structures.

“This unregulated sands extraction has resulted in significant losses to daily income of coastal residents, and worsened the vulnerability of fishing communities to erosion, sea-level rise, among other geological hazards,” said Salvador France, Secretary General of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA).

France said the company, local and provincial government, and concerned agencies that approved the project must be held accountable to affected residents and the environment.

“We urge the appropriate House Committees to look into the ongoing dredging in Zambales,” he added.

PAMALAKAYA, together with the Zambales Ecological Network (ZEN), said they will file a formal complaint before the House Committees on Natural Resources, and Aquatic and Fisheries Resources to seek an investigation into the “cumulative impacts” of the dredging on the environment and the socio-economic lives of residents.

The dredged materials from the site are reportedly being transported to a reclamation project in Manila Bay, specifically in Pasay City.