24/02/2026
PRESS RELEASE
25 February 2025
Permits Cannot Hide Destruction: Zambales Residents Challenge ‘Compliant’ Dredging Claims
San Narciso, Zambales— Recent claims by the DENR that ongoing dredging operations in Zambales are compliant with environmental laws are not only misleading — they are an affront to the lived reality of coastal communities who are already suffering severe environmental destruction and loss of livelihood.
If these activities were truly compliant, communities would not be witnessing collapsing shorelines, vanishing beaches, dying fisheries, and worsening flood risks. The visible damage on the ground directly contradicts official assurances.
Permits and clearances do NOT equal safety, sustainability, or legitimacy. Regulatory approval cannot sanitize environmental harm, especially when serious questions remain about the adequacy of environmental impact assessments, cumulative impacts of multiple projects, and the integrity of monitoring and enforcement.
Residents report that consultations were rushed, incomplete, or conducted only after projects were already underway — reducing public participation to a mere procedural checkbox rather than a genuine decision‑making process.
Meanwhile, fisherfolk and coastal families are paying the price. Fish catch has declined, fishing grounds are disturbed, waters have become unsafe, and tourism‑dependent livelihoods are collapsing. These are not hypothetical risks — they are unfolding now.
Environmental laws exist to protect people and ecosystems, not to legitimize destructive projects. When enforcement fails, communities are left defenseless against large‑scale extraction that benefits a few while endangering many.
We therefore call for the IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION of dredging activities in affected areas pending:
1) An independent, science‑based investigation of environmental and social impacts
2) Public disclosure of all permits, studies, and monitoring reports
3) Genuine consultations with affected communities;
4) Accountability for damages already incurred;
Development must not come at the cost of irreversible ecological loss, food insecurity, and community displacement. Once coastlines collapse and fisheries are destroyed, recovery may take generations — if recovery is possible at all.
We urge national agencies, local governments, the scientific community, and the public to scrutinize these operations based on evidence on the ground — not merely official statements.
Protecting Zambales’ rivers, coasts, and communities is not anti‑development. It is a defense of public welfare, environmental security, and the rights of future generations.
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