Marcos admin urged to ban Manila Bay reclamation projects for good

A fisherfolk group, together with some lawmakers at the House of Representatives, on Friday called on the Marcos administration to ban reclamation projects in Manila Bay for good, noting the damage these projects cause to communities.

"To strengthen the verbal declaration of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on the suspension of Manila Bay reclamation projects, the Chief Executive should certify as urgent the House Bill declaring the body of waters as a 'reclamation-free zone'," said Jonathan Hicap, national chairperson of Pamalakaya, in a statement.

"No amount of verbal declaration from the President or even echoing from the environment department could stop all the ongoing reclamation in Manila Bay unless an Executive Order or a law that prohibits them has been issued," he said.

Hicap issued the statement a day after Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga bared that all 22 Manila Bay reclamation projects have been suspended and will be reviewed.

Before that, no less than President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. had said that all but one reclamation projects in the Manila Bay are undergoing review due to problems with their implementation.

House Bill 2026, filed by lawmakers belonging to the progressive Makabayan bloc, bans all forms of reclamation activities in Manila Bay.

Hicap said the bill is consistent with the 2008 Supreme Court mandamus ruling tasking the government to rehabilitate, clean up, and restore Manila Bay for recreational use and fishery resources development.

A bill certified urgent by the President allows Congress to approve it on second and third reading on the same day, speeding up the legislative wheel.

"What the fisherfolk need right now is certainty that reclamation will finally stop, not just lip service," Hicap said. "We are not satisfied by mere suspension, more so by empty pronouncements."

Aside from banning reclamation projects in Manila Bay, Hicap said concerned companies should provide sufficient economic compensation to affected coastal families, and long-term rehabilitation efforts of coastal communities and fishing grounds damaged by the reclamation.

Makabayan member and House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro backed Pamalakaya’s position, saying that temporary shelving of reclamation projects "is not enough."

"If the government seriously wants to address this problem, our bill declaring Manila Bay as a reclamation free zone should be certified as urgent," Castro said in a news conference on Friday.

Another Makabayan member, House Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas, said while suspension is a step in the right direction, the government should "go beyond that and enable our fisherfolk communities to return, restore the mangrove and give them a fair compensation package."

Various sectors, including the US Embassy in Manila, have expressed concerns over the Manila Bay reclamation 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. —KBK, GMA Integrated News