TACLOBAN CITY — The Borongan City council passed a resolution asking the Department of Public Works and Highways regional office to suspend the construction of a 1.6-kilometer seawall aimed at protecting the city from future storm surges.

This came after village officials, fisherfolks and environmentalists complained that its initial construction in a fishing village involved extraction of corals that it used as its foundation and the seawall was mounted too close to reef line.

Vice Mayor Emmanuel Tiu Sonco said the council wants DPWH-8 to suspend the seawall construction and conduct immediate consultations with all stakeholders in compliance to standard procedures in the implementation of government projects.

Sonco said the project has a potential to impact not only to the environment and the livelihood of the people but also the future tourism plans of the city.

According to DPWH-8, the project plans to construct a 1,365-meters barrier that spreads across 2 kms of the city’s beachfront. The seawall construction is divided into six phases with a budget of P144—million for each phase.

Barangay Lalawigan chief Joel Capones said the project contractor has excavated a great number of corrals that it used as foundation.

Capones said they want the project implementer to stop the destruction of corals to protect. He said if the project is really intended to protect his community, it should adjust the location of the seawall.

“They should use land owned by the government, not the corals, not the beach. The extraction of sand alone is prohibited, why would they destroy the corals that fish and shells inhabit? They lay their eggs there,” Capones said.

“Dynamite fishing has long been prohibited because it destroys the corals, and now it is the backhoe that’s destroying the corals, which should not be the case,” he added.

Last Tuesday, the City Environment and Natural Resources Office wrote the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through its Community Environment and Natural Resources Office to seek its opinion regarding possible violations that the infrastructure project might have incurred.