Environmental group files complaint vs. DENR officials before Ombudsman

Two officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are now facing charges before the Office of the Ombudsman for "slow accommodation" of request for some documents.

Environment advocacy group Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) filed a complaint against Environmental Management Bureau Central Office (EMB-CO) Director William Cunado and EMB-Region IVA Director Noemi Paranada.

Avril De Torres, CEED head for research policy and law program, said Thursday that in July the group requested for copies of some documents concerning a petition filed in 2015 by residents of Atimonan town in Quezon province.

In the petition, the townsfolk call for the revocation the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) issued to the Atimonan coal-fired power plant (CFPP) project.

“It took the DENR two months to issue a simple response denying the request as the documents should be specifically listed,” De Torres said in a statement.

According to De Torres, a CEED representative personally requested the records from DENR-EMB on November 5 with complete details as required by the office.

After three days, the CEED representative made a followup, but still, the EMB did not release the document.

De Torres said November 12 marked a full week since the request, which means it is already a violation of the Ease of Doing Business Act. The request should be addressed within three days from receipt.

The group is also questioning the Atimonan CFFP project for its environmental impacts, as well as the “interests the DENR is really protecting.”

CEED Executive Director Gerry Arances claimed that DENR, instead of conserving the environment, is actually rushing its degradation.

In October, CEED with the P4P Coalition, asked for the revocation of Executive Order 30, which created an energy investment council that streamlined regulatory procedures, through a case filed at the Supreme Court.

With the EO 30, Arances claimed, many measures protecting the environment and host communities are being affected.

“We are reminding the DENR that their mandate is to protect the interests of the public and the integrity of ecosystems,” De Torres said. —Joviland Rita/LBG, GMA News