‘Not all reclamation projects are bad per se, but to those that really cross the line of maintaining environmental quality, President Duterte must be heard again with his toxic vocabulary and acerbic tongue to put an end to them.’
FOR environmentalists and activists who have been opposing the various reclamation projects in Manila Bay, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was a welcome relief.
There are at least 25 proposals to reclaim land in Manila, from Cavite to Mariveles, Bataan, but all these hit a snag not only because Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and President Duterte put their foot down, but also due to the raging pandemic. Every large-scale construction project was initially stopped for several months in compliance with stringent health protocols to fight the virus.
Now that Metro Manila has shown signs of defeating the coronavirus and having a capable health care system for those who get sick, the proponents of reclamation projects not just in Manila Bay but also in the Visayas are active again.
Manila Bay, the country’s center of navigational trade and commerce, is under the political jurisdiction of five cities in the National Capital Region and four provinces. This makes the word of local government units important in any reclamation proposal.
Jan Jaap Brinkman, a consultant for the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), said the principal supporters of reclamation are the LGUs. “If they don’t want reclamation, there will be no reclamation,” he said.
Brinkman leads a Dutch study team that the government hired for the Manila Bay master plan.
The Visayan region, too, has reclamation projects that are being revived with the easing of pandemic restrictions.
In a quaint town in Cebu, a mayor has been pushing for a reclamation project called “Seafront City” which is being vigorously opposed by fishermen-residents and shipyards there.
Consolacion Mayor Joannes Alegado is so firm in defending the proposed 235.80-hectare reclamation project that he does not have the time or the inclination to listen to the arguments of the shipyard owners, fishermen, and residents whose livelihoods are threatened by the reclamation.
Alegado reasoned out to his fisherfolk constituents that they should not worry about losing their livelihood because there is no more fish in the proposed reclamation area. This claim was debunked by environment expert Dr. Filipina Sotto who said 75 species of fish will be adversely impacted by the reclamation project if it pushes through.
Not all reclamation projects are bad per se, but to those that really cross the line of maintaining environmental quality, President Duterte must be heard again with his toxic vocabulary and acerbic tongue to put an end to them.
