Militants, church groups set probe on Aurora SEZ

Church-based and militant groups will send teams to look into whether a special economic zone in Aurora province is indeed a boon or a bane to local farmers and indigenous communities. Local fishermen have been claiming that the Aurora Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) project in Casiguran town will deprive farmers, fishermen and indigenous people some 13,000 hectares of prime agricultural land. “The Senate President and the House Speaker should be informed and convinced why the creation of Aurora Special Economic Zone Authority is a menace to the people," said Fernando Hicap, leader of the Pamalakaya National Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organizations in the Philippines (Pamalakaya), in an article on the Union of Catholic Asian News website. Citing claims by local farmers and fishermen, Hicap said the project would destroy their homes and livelihoods. UCAN said the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), Promotion of Church Peoples’ Response (PCPR), and Catholic clergy discernment groups will organize a four-day mission to Casiguran beginning Aug. 24. Members of the militant Karapatan human rights group are also participating in the mission. The group plans to lobby Congress to repeal the law that led to the economic zone’s creation. Hicap said his group will also try to get the support of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on the issue. Aside from energy as its future development strategy, the zone envisions a model agro-marine center with a fish port and processing and canning plants.—JV, GMANews.TV