DENR chief Loyzaga says all 22 Manila Bay reclamation projects suspended

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said Thursday that all reclamation projects in Manila Bay are under review.

At a Palace press briefing, Loyzaga said there are a total of 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay that are under review and thus are deemed suspended.

Loyzaga said that upon clarification, all of the reclamation projects within the Manila Bay region are placed under review.

"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.

Marcos did not specify which projects have been suspended, but he lamented that the sea along Roxas Boulevard could disappear due to the reclamation projects.

The DENR said it has been conducting cumulative impact assessments on the reclamation projects to demonstrate their effects on Manila Bay.

Loyzaga said that a scientific team, which will include social scientists, oceanographers, and geologists, would be part of the review.

"The scientific team that we are actually engaging will be organized by this month, as I have shared with you. And we intend to provide a program of work once they have all met together. Hindi lang po ito simple because cumulative impact assessment involves drivers, it involves feedback, and it involves many different disciplines," she said. 

"I have heard some observations noting that I have not mentioned social scientists. For those who know me, know that I have been an advocate of trans-disciplinary work—not inter, not multi, but trans-disciplinary work—that means discipline needs to intersect, and the results need to reflect the intersections between the disciplines," Loyzaga said.

"And when we say trans-disciplinary work, we learn from communities, we learn from experts, and [we] practice; we don’t just learn from scientists who are professors," she added.

At least three senators have welcomed Marcos’ decision, including Senate environment and natural resources committee chairperson Cynthia Villar who earlier warned that the reclamation projects in Manila Bay may cause six to eight-meter flooding in Las Piñas and other nearby areas. 

During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Villar claimed that Loyzaga is "afraid" of the influential people who are pushing for the reclamation projects in Manila Bay.

But during Thursday's Palace briefing, Loyzaga said she is not "easily scared."

At the House of Representatives, ACT-CIS party-list lawmaker and Deputy Majority Leader Erwin Tulfo has filed a resolution seeking a probe on the status of the Manila Bay reclamation projects.

Tulfo's House Resolution 1171 wants to find out if there is a "national security risk" in the reclamation projects because of the involvement of Chinese firms.
The resolution also mentions that no less than Speaker Martin Romualdez raised concerns about the projects.

Before Tulfo sought inquiry, the US Embassy in Manila, which is situated by the Manila Bay, already raised concerns on the reclamation projects for the projects' ties with China Communications Construction Co.,  a firm cited by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for engaging in fraudulent business practices.

"We are also concerned that the projects have ties to the China Communications Construction Co., which has been added to the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List for its role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea," said Embassy spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay last week. 

In the same resolution, Tulfo noted that while the ongoing land reclamation may offer potential economic benefits and development opportunities, they can also have huge environmental impacts. —KBK/VBL, GMA Integrated News