Right ecosystem, right place

When the Iloilo City Council passed the Coastal Greenbelt Zone (CGZ) ordinance earlier this year, it felt like a massive win for the environment. Banning coastal reclamation and establishing a 100-meter protective buffer around 110 hectares of mangrove forests looks great in press releases seeded in Facebook and other social media platforms. It sounds like we’re finally taking climate resilience seriously.

But policy is one thing. Ecology is quite another.

Right now, the law is laser-focused on mangroves. They are the undeniable superstars of coastal protection, soaking up wave energy and trapping blue carbon. But treating them as a magic bullet for every inch of our 32 coastal barangays ignores how nature actually works. That’s exactly why the sweeping amendments proposed by UP Visayas scientist Rex Sadaba, PhD, aren’t just mere suggestions — they are necessary reality checks.

His core argument? “Right Ecosystem, Right Place”.

It’s a basic science principle that somehow got lost in the legislative shuffle and PR glee. We cannot force mangroves to grow where they naturally don’t belong. Take Villa Baybay in Arevalo. It’s a sandy urban beach. Mangroves need soft, muddy, waterlogged soil to survive and thrive. Forcing a uniform vegetation prescription there, or on any other sandy shoreline, is a waste of time, effort, and taxpayer money. Dr. Sadaba’s push for an ecosystem-based framework means we stop ad hoc, ornamental planting and start relying on a Scientific Advisory Panel to dictate what goes where.

Then there’s the 100-meter elephant in the room.

The ordinance mandates a rigid 100-meter inland buffer from the mean high-water mark. In a perfect, untouched world, sure. But Iloilo is a heavily developed, dense urban center. Imposing a strict 100-meter no-build zone everywhere is frankly impractical. What we actually need is flexibility. The proposed amendments smartly suggest determining the greenbelt width based on real ecological assessments, shoreline geomorphology, and existing land use. For densely packed areas where 100 meters is impossible, we should be looking at ecologically feasible alternatives like vegetated buffers or linear parks. It’s a compromise that respects both our conservation goals and our urban reality.

We also need to talk about the unsung heroes of our coastlines — beach forests and coastal wetlands.

The current law heavily favors mangroves, leaving other native habitats completely vulnerable. By expanding the CGZ to explicitly cover beach forests, dune vegetation, and strand vegetation, we close a massive legal loophole. Beach forests act as vital natural bioshields that buffer against salt spray and wind. They deserve the exact same legal protection, monitoring, and enforcement standards as mangroves.

And speaking of enforcement, an environmental law without teeth is just a suggestion.

The city set aside PHP 5,000,000 for implementation. That covers important things like education and monitoring. But what happens when someone violates the zone? Right now, the penalties don’t distinguish between a minor infraction like unauthorized pruning and severe, irreversible ecological damage. That needs to change.

We urgently need a graduated penalty system. Slapping a standard fine on a major commercial developer who clears protected habitats is practically an invitation to break the law; they’ll just treat it as a minor cost of doing business. We must introduce mandatory ecological restoration at the violator’s expense. Apply the polluter pays principle. Furthermore, adopting a strict “No Net Loss” policy guarantees that if authorized development is absolutely necessary, the equivalent native coastal ecosystem is fully restored elsewhere.

The CGZ ordinance was a solid first step. And to be fair, city officials deserve real credit here for being receptive to these scientific critiques rather than stubbornly defending their original draft. But good intentions don’t stabilize shorelines. Science does. It’s time to amend the law so it actually works for Iloilo City’s diverse, interconnected coastal ecosystems.

Let’s protect the whole coast — not just the parts that look good in a photo op or a vlogger’s reel.