Dredging caused erosion of Zambales beach, say resort owners

Some resort owners in San Felipe, Zambales expressed dismay as structures that were built along the coastline in Barangay Liwliwa in San Felipe, Zambales were damaged due to erosion that they claim is caused by dredging.

According to Oscar Oida’s Tuesday report on “24 Oras,” a resort owner tied one of the damaged structures to prevent it from collapsing into the sea.

Erwin de Ungria said he was devastated as the waves swept away seven newly built cottages.

“Ang bilis kung baga in a matter of three hours, ang kinakain ay three meters paatras. Kinain na ng dagat yan (It happened quickly. In just three hours, three meters of the beach were lost to the sea),” Ungria said.

His plan to open the resort in August was pushed back to a later date.

Former overseas Filipino workers said they spent their earnings on building the structures on their beachfront properties.

“Forty-five years nasa abroad. Sumugal ako dito pagtapos ganun mangyayari. Dati meron kaming mga regular employee, nakiusap muna kami sa kanila na on call na lang sila. Yun pa yung isang impact. Syempre may kanya-kanyang buhay iyon. Naawa din kami sa kanila kaya lang wala kaming magagawa,” Roger Cortez said.

(I worked abroad for 45 years. I took a gamble, but something like this happened. One impact is that we asked our regular employees to do on-call arrangements. Of course, they have their own lives. We felt bad, but we cannot do anything about it.)

Dredging?

The resort owners blamed dredging allegedly conducted by vessels at night for the beach erosion since it is the first time in 17 years this has occurred wherein th area was not hit by a storm.

“Ilang barko yan tuwing gabi ang kinukuha diyan na puno yung buhangin. Syempre, lumalalim yan. Ang alam ko 40 meters ang lalim niyan. Natural pag yan kinunan mo tapos umalon, kukunin yan,” Ungria said.

(A number of ships took sand every night. Of course, the seabed deepens. I know it is now 40 meters deep. Naturally, if you took some sand, because of the waves, beach erosion will happen.)

“Twenty-four-seven tapos dalawang taon, ganyan ginawa. Yung dati naming beachfront na 70 meters, ngayon 10 meters na lang, batuhan pa,” Cortez said.

(They have been doing that 24/7 for two years. Before, the beachfront was 70 meters. Now, it’s just 10 meters.)

San Felipe Mayor Engineer Reinhard Jeresano said only experts can tell the cause of beach erosion, but he reminded the public that Barangay Liwliwa was once part of the sea.

He said accretion occurred due to the eruption of Pinatubo Volcano and the dumping of sand.

“Sa aking pananaw, ang action ng sea is a continuous erosion and accretion. Accretion pag maraming buhangin na ini-spreadout sa coastal madagdagan ang aming coastal. Erosion kung walang nadadagdag na buhangin, that is, instead na wa-wash yung buhangin towards the sea. It’s a continuous phenomenon, accretion, erosion, accretion,” San Felipe Mayor Engineer Reinhard Jeresano said.

(In my view, the action of the sea involves continuous erosion and accretion. Accretion happens when a large amount of sand is spread along the coast, adding to our shoreline. Erosion occurs when there is no additional sand and the existing sand is washed out to sea. It’s a continuous natural phenomenon.)

He added that before the dredging, a similar incident occurred.

“Even before nag start yung dredging sa Sto. Tomas River that was December of 2023. If I remember correctly, meron nang pinadalang letter ang DENR doon sa isang structure dyan, notice of violation. I think instructed pa sila to leave the coastal area,” Jeresano said.

(Even before dredging started at Sto. Tomas River in December 2023, if I remember correctly, the DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] sent a notice of violation to a structure there. I think they were instructed to leave the coastal area.)

The San Felipe local government unit is coordinating with experts to to determine the proper cause of action to solve the problem.  — Mariel Celine Serquiña/BAP, GMA Integrated News