Aquino’s PPPs eye 38,000 hectares of foreshore land for reclamation

All Voices
Manila : Philippines | Feb 24, 2012 at 7:45 AM PST BY GerryAlbert


By Gerry Albert Corpuz
MANILA, Philippines—The activist fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Friday revealed that Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has eyed more than 38,000 hectares of foreshore lands for reclamation projects in Manila Bay, Davao Gulf and 50 other coastal areas all over the country.
Citing documents obtained from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap bared that about 26,234 hectares tapped for 38 reclamation projects is found in Manila Bay spanning the coastal areas of Cavite, National Capital Region (NCR), Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan.
Hicap said there are 7 reclamation projects along Davao Gulf that constitute 238 hectares and 50 other reclamation projects covering 5,800 hectares of foreshore land areas that include additional man-made land areas in Cagayan Special Economic Zone (220 hectares), Albay Gulf (100 hectares), Leganes Reclamation in Iloilo (1,200 hectares), Bacolod City reclamation (250 hectares), Semirara Island Reclamation (980 hectares), Kalibo reclamation (200 hectares), Isabel reclamation (113 hectares) in Leyte, Talisay Reclamation (250 hectares) in Cebu and San Jose de Buenavista Reclamation (300 hectares) in Antique.
“Public interest compels the DENR to refrain from issuing area of clearances to these reclamation activities the PRA want to undertake on a nationwide scale. Imagine the disastrous impact of this across-the-country island making campaign of PRA to the livelihood of small fishermen and to the people’s environment,” the Pamalakaya official said.
On December 5, 2011, PRA General Manager and CEO Peter Anthony Abaya formally asked environment Secretary Ramon Paje to issue area clearances for 50 reclamation projects which the PRA wishes to undertake in soonest time possible.
In his letter to Paje, Abaya said the issuance of clearances by the DENR is necessary so the PRA could process applications to reclaim within areas in the National Reclamation Plan (NRP) to ensure that such areas are free of any legal impediments. The PRA chief said the NRP project was presented to and approved by the Cabinet Economic Cluster Committee sometime in June and July 2011. It said the cluster group had recognized the huge potential investments that reclamation projects in the NRP could generate similar to Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore experience.
Abaya further said other countries are implementing reclamation projects not only by the hundred but thousands of hectares as tool in achieving economic growth and development. He said the PRA is in receipt of a proposal from the Pasay City government for a 50-hectare reclamation project within its jurisdiction along the NRP Manila Bay sector.
On December 12, 2011, DENR undersecretary Atty. Analiza Rebuelta-Teh issued a memorandum to all regional executive directors of the DENR except NCR and Regions IX and XII regarding the request of a programmatic Area clearance sought by PRA for its 50 reclamation projects under NRP.
Undersecretary Teh asked concerned regional directors of the DENR to undertake prompt action on the request of PRA and keep PRA chief Abaya well informed about the status of the request. Pamalakaya had been at logger heads with PRA since the early 90s over reclamation projects in Manila Bay. The group claimed that PRA had approved the reclamation of more than 20,000 hectares of foreshore areas along the stretch of Manila Bay since the era of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
The group claimed reclaimed lands in Manila Bay played host to SM Mall of Asia, the President Diosdado Macapagal-Boulevard and pre-Marcos establishments such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Folk Arts Theater, the Philippine International Convention Center, the Coconut Palace, the GSIS and the current Senate Building, the Manila Film Center and the Philippine Westin Plaza in Pasay and Manila areas.
Pamalakaya said during the term of former President and now Pampanga congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the PRA reclaimed 7,100 hectares of coastal areas in Cavite to give way to the construction of R-1 Expressway Extension Road Project. It said another 5,000 hectares of foreshore areas in Cavite City is being undertaken for the expansion and development of Sangley Point as an international seaport in Southern Tagalog. On June 21, 2007, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 629 directing the PRA to develop Sangley Point in Cavite City into a logistical hub with modern seaport and an airport, citing the R-1 expressway extension project as enabling component.
The group said PRA is “hell bent” to reclaim the 175-hectare mangrove forest along the Manila bay, which serves as shelter for several species of waterfowl and birds. Pamalakaya said the reclamation project in Las Pinas-Paranaque coastal lagoon will also entail the reclamation of additional 635 hectares of coastal waters adjacent to Las Pinas-Paranaque coastal lagoon.
Pamalakaya said during the year 1992-1995, some 3,500 small fisherfolk and their families in Pasay Reclamation Area and another 3,000 coastal and urban poor families along the coastal shores of Parañaque were evicted by the government of former President Fidel Ramos to give way to reclamation projects which is now home of the commercial buildings.
Pamalakaya also disclosed that in Navotas City, there are also some reclamation activities going on. It said that the national government is pushing the North Bay Boulevard Project (NBBP) in Navotas City that will entail the reclamation of not less than 5,000 hectares of foreshore lands to the detriment of more than 20,000 fishing and urban poor families who will be immediately displaced once this national project proceeds. @


GerryAlbert is based in Manila, National Capital Region, Philippines, and is an Anchor for Allvoices.