05/06/2025
FULL STATEMENT: Position Statement on the Dumaguete Coastal Road Alignment Project Phase 2
Based on the information given at the public consultation held on May 24, 2025 at the Brgy. Bantayan, Dumaguete City, the proposed “Dumaguete City Coastal Road Alignment Project” of the Department of Public Works and Highways Region 7 (DPWH 7), it:
🌊 It is an approximately 8 km road from the southern to the northern tip of Dumaguete City.
🌊 It aims to decongest the traffic in primary roads and provide access to the seaport located in the adjacent Sibulan municipality.
🌊 It will include a four-lane road that will likely extend seaward, adding to the existing reclamation projects in the City under DPWH.
We stand for marine biodiversity protection and sustainable development. We oppose the Dumaguete City Coastal Road Alignment Project.
This project is not necessary and will cause irreversible damage to the Dumaguete coasts–a critical part of the Southern Negros Marine Key Biodiversity Area, a biodiversity hotspot, particularly due to its diverse ecosystems, high species endemism, and the presence of numerous threatened and endangered species. The DPWH has not presented any evidence-based study to support the project’s necessity. It also has not presented any evidence-based study to justify the inclusion of a four-lane road that will again result to the reclamation of Dumaguete’s coast.
This Coastal Road Project will bury and kill the marine ecosystems and associated organisms, including threatened species in Dumaguete Coast. Documented are more than 200 species of fish, approximately 200 coral species, more than 100 macroinvertebrate species, and seven seagrass species from four marine protected areas (MPAs) and their adjacent fished areas. Using the Red List category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the coral species of the Dumaguete coast includes some endangered, vulnerable, and 20 threatened and 60 near threatened species”. Further, Silliman University – Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences preliminary surveys recorded, approximately 19 individuals of the endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas).
The Coastal Road Project will eliminate Silliman Beach. This is the only beach left in Dumaguete City, a likely nesting site of the green sea turtles. Further, SU Beach including its intertidal and subtidal zones is an ecological laboratory – a learning site for Silliman University BS Marine Biology students. Aside from its educational and economic functions, it is also a recreational place where Dumagueteños - families, groups of friends and individuals, gather to celebrate important occasions or to relax. The maximum number of beach users in a day was observed to reach up to more than 2,000 individuals during a weekend in April 2025.
We call on DPWH 7, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Offices (i.e., DENR7, EMB 7, Negros Island Region or PENRO Negros Oriental and CENRO Dumaguete City) to abandon the Dumaguete Coastal Road Alignment Project. Our plea is for the aforementioned offices to choose a way forward that will keep our rich biodiversity intact and functional, to be able to serve the generation of today and those in the future. We, the Sustainable Environment Alliance for Negros Island, in our institutional and own individual capacities sign in solidarity to our stand.
