Environmentalists hold protest vs Manila Bay reclamation permits

Fishers and environmentalists on Wednesday staged a protest in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) calling for the cancellation of permits for the Manila Bay reclamation and dredging projects.

Members of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment joined the rally.

“Muli naming iginigiit kay DENR Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga na panindigan ang mga pahayag laban sa reklamasyon, agarang repasuhin ang mga environmental permit ng mga proyektong reklamasyon at dredging sa Manila Bay,” Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap.

(We again urge DENR Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga to stand by her statement against reclamation, to immediately review the environmental permits of reclamation projects and dredging in Manila Bay.)

“Ang kailangan ng mga mangingisda ngayon ay katiyakang matitigil na ang reklamasyon na matagal nang pumipinsala sa aming kabuhayan,” he added.

(What fishermen need is the assurance that reclamations will be stopped because they have been destroying our livelihood for so long.)

Aside from this, the protesters also want to make the companies liable for conducting these reclamations as well as the officials who gave them the permits.

Hicap said fishermen should receive compensation from them considering the impact of reclamations on their livelihood.

He urged the DENR to also stop the reclamation projects in other areas such as Sorsogon, Cebu, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Palawan.

On August 10,  Loyzaga said all reclamation projects in Manila Bay are under review and suspended.

"The declaration is really that all of these projects are suspended at this point. So all are under review, we have to take our time, really beginning with those that are ongoing because they're in fact already impacting the areas and then we will graduate to all those in fact still not yet begun," Loyzaga said.

Asked when the suspension took effect, Loyzaga said, "As soon as the President speaks, I think that will be in effect."

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. earlier this week disclosed that all reclamation projects in Manila Bay except one have been suspended due to problems in their implementation.

In a budget hearing at the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Loyzaga said the 22 suspended Manila Bay reclamation projects run contrary to the government's Manila Bay rehabilitation program. —VAL, GMA Integrated News