THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is investigating if there were irregularities in the granting of the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) to Manila Bay reclamation projects.
Environment Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said the department should not solely take the blame for failing to protect Manila Bay because “it must be the whole of government that will be involved in preserving our environment.”
“We are currently investigating how these ECCs were actually processed, if there were misdeeds, if there were any kind of infraction in terms of the rules. We will certainly be able to look into possible sanctions,” she said.
“However, at this point, our emphasis is really in reviewing the ECCs and their conditions, of which I have to say there are many and substantive conditions that are actually positive in terms of environmental management,” Yulo-Loyzaga told the House Committee on appropriations’ hearing on the DENR’s P24 billion proposed budget for 2024.
She was responding to Rep. Raoul Manuel (PL, Kabataan) of the militant Makabayan bloc, who said charges should be filed against DENR officials in charge of issuing the ECCs.
President Marcos Jr. has ordered the suspension of 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay amid the alleged questionable grant of permits by the Philippine Reclamation Authority.
The projects are now indefinitely suspended pending an ongoing impact assessment by the DENR and a review of the projects’ compliance with the requirements and conditions stated in their environmental permits.
The United States Embassy in Manila recently raised concerns about the long-term and irreversible impact on the environment of the reclamation activities in Manila Bay.
It also raised concerns about the reported involvement of a Chinese construction firm, China Communications Construction Company (CCC), that had been blacklisted by the US for its involvement in the construction and militarizing of artificial islands put up by the Chinese in the South China Sea.
Yulo-Loyzaga explained that while they are investigating if there are irregularities in the issuance of ECCs, “such a certificate is not tantamount to a permit that would allow a firm to do reclamation projects.
“The ECC is not a permit, it is a planning tool, and therefore it is dynamic and may be changed at any point when a correction needs to be made and whether a management issue needs to be addressed,” she said.
Manuel said that while it is clear to him that the ECC is not a permit to proceed with the reclamation, the DENR remains the government office at the forefront of environmental protection.
When the lawmaker asked if there were sanctions imposed on officials who issued the ECCs, Yulo-Loyzaga said: “If there were misdeeds, if there were any kind of infraction in terms of the rules, we will certainly be able to look into possible sanctions.
“However, at this point, our emphasis is really on reviewing the ECCs and their conditions, of which Mr. Chair, I have to say there are many and substantive conditions that are actually positive in terms of environmental management,” she said. “We are not the office that actually issues the notices to proceed. Those notices come from the Philippine Reclamation Authority. We are merely part of a process which establishes the planning basis for whether in fact environmentally-certain activities can be sustained in terms of the ecosystems.”
On the questioning of Rep. Marissa Magsino (PL, OFW), Yulo-Loyzaga admitted there is a “contradiction” between the reclamation projects and the rehabilitation of the bay.
