FROM their perch in the Senate building in Pasay City, the senators looking in the direction of Seaside Boulevard and Jose Diokno Avenue cannot help but notice the ongoing feverish reclamation of that part of Manila Bay reportedly by Chinese construction firms.
The Senate building itself, along with the nearby GSIS building, big hotels and convention centers in the vicinity stand on land reclaimed from the sea. Since the first reclamation project in Manila Bay in the 1960s to construct the Cultural Center of the Philippines, we have witnessed the development of thousands of hectares of new land both in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, and many never bothered to question the practice.
Only when catastrophic natural disasters such as the series of huge earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria happen do Filipinos and government officials raise the alarm on present construction practices.
‘Many people are still unaware of the 2004 study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency which said Metro Manila was overdue for a magnitude 7.2 earthquake, or the “Big One.”’
Lately, professor Kelvin Rodolfo, a Filipino expert in geology and environmental science, sounded the alarm against business investments in reclamation projects in Manila Bay, citing uncommon risks such as land subsidence, storm surges and tsunamis, and of course, earthquakes. Rodolfo is a professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago and was awarded the Gawad Bayani ng Kalikasan in 2022.
The geologist recently reviewed the proposed P34-billion Manila Waterfront City Reclamation project, a joint venture agreement that involves the reclamation and development of 318 hectares of foreshore and offshore areas of Manila Bay.
“Despite the clear dangers from land subsidence, storm surges, tsunamis and liquefaction during earthquakes, Manila Bay reclamation is proceeding rapidly,” Rodolfo said. He stressed that land subsidence, or the lowering of the surface closer to sea level, delayed runoff from rains and worsened flooding and tidal occurrences.
Construction companies whose desire for profit overshadows safety concerns are reminded by the geologist that increased pressure from the weight of new buildings in reclaimed areas could also speed up the compression of the surface, resulting in subsidence.
In other words, buildings constructed on natural ground have better chances of survival than those standing on reclaimed land, in cases of strong earthquakes.
This is because during temblors, the shaking of the ground tends to break the contact between grains of filler materials so buildings on top of sediments could sink or topple over. This is less likely to occur in buildings standing on original solid ground.
Many people are still unaware of the 2004 study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency which said Metro Manila was overdue for a magnitude 7.2 earthquake, or the “Big One.”
This warning should prompt the government to take a more cautious look at the ongoing Manila Bay reclamation project and those still to come.
