vonjobi: wow, congratulations! kelan ang trip? i hope i'll be around when you come. had a good time with diosa last...
Keith Bacongco: Knowing Nograles and his Big Boss...garapalan na lang talaga.
Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.

Latest Message 3 months, 4 weeks ago

hopeless_race : Lets not just focus sa mga malversation of funds, sa mga overpricing..ating pagtuunan ng atensyon ang diskarte ng mga politiko na umuutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno."Small time" ang ibang pamamaraan ng pangungurakot kumpara sa pag-utang sa gobyerno ng bilyon na tunay ngang masasabing "pinaka big-time" at wala pang sabit.
hopeless_race : Mukhang tikom ang bibig ng lahat pagdating sa diskarte ng mga politiko sa pagutang ng mga bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno na tinatakbuhan. Itong pamamaraan na ito ang tunay na kumakain ng malaking porsyento ng ating national budget batay na din sa sinasabi ng world bank.
hopeless_race : Pakisilip naman po ang mga utang ni Villar sa BSP, ang mga utang nila RAMON JACINTO, RONNIE ZAMORA, JOE DE VENECIA at madami pang ibang mga pulitiko. Iilan lamang yan sa mga nababanggit sa balita na may mga malalaking utang sa gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Nagmimistulang "small time" lamang ang malversation of funds kumpara sa laki ng kinakamal ng mga umuutang sa gobyerno. At ito ay malinaw na natatakbuhan dahil hindi nga naman pwede makulong ang may-ari ng kumpanya sa pagkaka-utang lamang. Tunay na mga tuso at magagaling sa batas itong mga politiko natin. Masasabi ko na malamang lahat ng mga politiko ganito ang diskarte...wala pang kulong.
hopeless_race : PCIJ pkitingnan naman po ang mga gaya ni Villar na my malaking utang sa Gobyerno pero tinatakbuhan. Magtatayo ng kumpanya at uutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno ng walang balak bayaran. Tunay ngang walang nakukulong sa utang...ito ang prinsipyo ginagamit ng mga politiko ntin kaya nakakapagtaka kung san napupunta ang daang bilyong pera ng gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
meow : aside from 168, what other establishments can we boycott that belong to the arroyos and their cronies?
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Piss be with you

Posted by: Avigail Olarte | November 8, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Filed under: Civil Society, Environment Watch, Governance, Public Health, Science and Technology

WOULD you care to dump your piss in the ocean and be known as a “climate warrior” like Al Gore perhaps?

At least this is what “ocean nourishment” advocates seem to claim in planning to pump urea — a nitrogen-containing solid substance in mammalian urine (yes, your piss) — into the seas. Only this time, the dissolved urea will be industrially produced so that massive tons of it will be poured into the ocean, provoke plankton blooms, and draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Urea dumping could apparently address global warming, not to mention increase the number of swimming fish and possibly end, well, world hunger.

But such a geoengineering activity like urea dumping is untested, that is why environmental activists in the Philippines were up in arms when they learned that an Australian firm has started injecting urea in Sulu Sea — home to the Tubbataha Reef Marine Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the few remaining large coral reef ecosystems in the world.

Online news site Wired.com reported yesterday that Ocean Nourishment Corporation (ONC), which has patented the ocean fertilization technique, recently injected one ton of urea into the Sulu Sea. If the experiment would support “claims of plankton nourishment and subsequent carbon dioxide sequestration,” the company will then conduct a 500-ton experiment early next year; if all goes well, ONC will start licensing the technology. (See related articles here and here.)

Whether the government has sanctioned such a “risky experiment” is unclear. Both the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) deny they have given ONC a permit. The government also could not confirm if the dumping has actually started. And ONC has yet to reply to a PCIJ letter inquiring about the matter.

Other reports state that ONC has been given a “go signal” to conduct a large-scale experiment even without an Environment Impact Assessment. The Fisheries Code of the Philippines, as well as Presidential Decree 979 or the law preventing the pollution of seas by the dumping of wastes, also require such projects to be approved.

“Ocean fertilization has potential negative impacts on the marine environment and human health, including increased production of nitrous oxide and methane, unintended changes in the planktons that could result in production of harmful algal blooms (read: “red tide”), and unknown effects on the ocean food chain,” environmental groups Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE), Third World Network, and Greenpeace stated in its petition against the ocean nourishment project.

Even the scientific advisory body of the London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes, to which the Philippines is a signatory, has shown “grave concern for the ecological risks of ocean fertilization.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, also said that the technology is largely speculative and environmental side effects have yet to be assessed.

“We cannot allow the Philippines to be used as an experimental ground for this scientifically questionable technology,” the groups said.

Presently, marine scientists are debating on the possible effects of the fertilization technology, whether involving nitrogen (urea) or iron. Iron seeding is said to be controversial since it could even produce more carbon dioxide.

The oversupply of nitrogen due to agricultural run-off has led to algal blooms, leading to the possibility of dead zones from oxygen depletion, just like what happened in the Gulf of Mexico. Located by the Mississippi River, the dead zone in the gulf was caused by the nitrogen input from the farming estates near the area.

Ruperto Aleroza, chair of fisherfolk organization Kilusang Mangingisda, added: “This technology is dangerous and unacceptable because it could imperil our marine environment — the main source of survival and livelihood for poor fisherfolk in the Philippines.”

How it all started

In a set of documents provided to PCIJ, the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) in 16 August 2007 wrote to BFAR, seeking permission to conduct an experiment for ocean nourishment in the Sulu Sea, to be funded by Climate Research Ltd., a non-profit firm in Australia.

The project, which is in cooperation with the University of Sydney (environmental groups however say the university is a front for ONC), aims to inject into the surface ocean “some amount of nitrogen” and phosphorus some 20 kilometers from the shoreline or any marine reserve.

On 4 September 2007, BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. replied to the letter of Dr. Romeo Fortes, project leader of the Research on Ocean Nourishment Demonstration of UPV. In his reply, Sarmiento said that while the proposal of UPV “is very much welcomed by this office,” such an experiment might result into harmful algal bloom, just like what occurred in Western Samar in January 2005, where the fish killer phytoplankton excessively bloomed due to the presence of dissolved nutrients such as nitrogen.

The letter however added: “Therefore, it is advised that while doing the experimental process, a close monitoring on dominant plankton cell density as well as presence of harmful species should be carefully observed. In an unlikely event, the process should be immediately suspended.”

Sarmiento then asked for a copy of the project proposal. In an interview with PCIJ, Sarmiento said UPV or ONC never submitted one.

“We are still investigating (if they dumped urea). They would be violating our laws if they did,” adding that ONC would have to go through a stringent process.

Fortes, meanwhile, denies that actual dumping has started. “There’s a protocol to be followed. This will be a well-planned ocean nourishment project.”

ONC reportedly acknowledges the ecological risks association with urea-addition. “However, they claim that their technology is controllable,” the groups said. “The company contends that by using satellite imagery plankton concentrations could be monitored and levels of urea adjusted to prevent dangerous algal blooms from occurring. We are highly skeptical of those claims.”

The Australian company is apparently also planning to inject a 1,000-tonne urea in Malaysia and additional ocean sites near the United Arab Emirates, Chile, and possibly Morocco.

Through this experiment, ONC intends to win carbon credits and earn revenue by licensing its technology. It is also reportedly vying for the US$25 million Virgin Earth prize to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2007 and is filed under Civil Society, Environment Watch, Governance, Public Health, Science and Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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[...] of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources — denied giving ONC a permit. BFAR, said Jim Thomas, was going to investigate the company. If they really [...]

Tech News » Blog Archive » Australian Company Under Investigation For Renegade Ocean Fertilization wrote on November 10, 2007 - 1:16 pm | Visit Link

Tech News » Blog Archive » Philippine Government Investigates Australian Company for Renegade Ocean Fertilization wrote on November 13, 2007 - 2:43 am | Visit Link