Green Alert Negros (GAN) has sought the intercession of President Rodrigo Duterte on the expansion plan of geothermal producer Energy Development Corp. at Mount Kanlaon Natural Park (MKNP).
“The matter needs an urgent course of action because it poses imminent danger to MKNP,” said GAN legal counsel Ryan Montoro in a letter to the President.
He added that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through the Environment Management Bureau (EMB) in Negros Island Region has proposed a participatory dialogue to generate solutions and recommendations on the issues affecting the MKNP but to this date, they have not received a positive response, including the documents requested for the environmental compliance certificate of EDC.
“EDC’s encroachment on MKNP is illegal,” Montoro said in a press conference at the Negros Press Club office in Bacolod City Tuesday.
GAN said they will bring to the attention of Duterte the recent relief of Andres Untal as chief of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources in Negros Occidental.
On Monday, Untal was replaced by Edgar Rostata, former head of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Cadiz City.
GAN said Untal’s relief as Penro head is a big loss to the DENR in Negros Occidental, particularly in pursuing illegal structures inside the Northern Negros Natural Park.
