By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
In the vast expanse of Manila Bay, a concerning conundrum looms large: the proliferation of reclamation projects, each vying for space and prominence. The government’s approach to these developments has been far from pristine, tarnished by critical faults that demand our attention and scrutiny.
Firstly, a lack of foresight and prudence is evident in the absence of a comprehensive cumulative impact assessment for many of the 32 ongoing reclamation projects. Individually greenlighting projects without considering their collective repercussions is akin to steering a ship without charting the waters ahead.
Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga stopped short of pointing fault at the previous administration. But we’re all intelligent enough to know these projects were granted environmental compliance certificates (ECC) by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources during Duterte’s time.
Senator Cynthia Villar, who chairs the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, knows that all too well and is sick to the bone that many of these reclamation projects had secured an ECC without comprehensive environmental impact studies.
Such negligence risks irreversible damage to the delicate bay ecosystem, leaving our coastal communities vulnerable to the turbulent waves of unpredictability.
Compounding the predicament, we find an unsettling maze of overlapping projects — an intricate dance of concrete and ambition, each clamoring for its slice of the bay. This chaotic interplay reflects a governance void, where regulation and coordination seem distant echoes, drowned out by vested interests and political maneuverings. In this ever-expanding mosaic of concrete, the true spirit of sustainable development is lost.
The government’s neglect of community impact is disheartening. Coastal communities, intricately tied to the bay, deserve better than being collateral damage in the pursuit of infrastructural dreams. Eight provinces embrace Manila Bay, and the welfare of the people in each of these provinces is not expendable in the pursuit of grand infrastructural dreams.
Our coastal communities, with their lives intricately intertwined with the bay, deserve better than to be cast aside like driftwood on the high tide of progress.
The DENR leadership will likely commit to its plan to pause, reevaluate and take the proper course of action concerning these reclamation projects. Secretary Loyzaga said she is forming a team this month to review these projects.
I believe some foreign experts will join the team while, in the interim, the DENR shall temporarily halt or reduce reclamation activities until a thorough cumulative impact assessment is completed. That’s a commendable start to charting the bay’s future, guided by wisdom and not blind ambitions.
Before ending, Mayor Honey Lacuna deserves applause for bringing this issue to the fore last month when she sounded the alarm against the reclamation activities pursued by plastic king William Gatchalian, the Tieng brothers, and JR Legaspi.
If you’d recall, the lady mayor called out the sneaky dealings in reclamation projects, slamming these investors’ breach of trust by sidestepping City Hall and directly engaging with the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA). Her message to the PRA was clear: Don’t entertain schemers without her office’s official endorsement.
Bravo, Mayor Lacuna! Keep calling out those who play games in the shadows.
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