Manila Today
Save our sunsets. Defend Manila Bay.
Hundreds of environmental defenders, rights advocates and church workers formed a human chain armed with those calls along Roxas Boulevard to protest the Manila Bay reclamation on October 18.
According to the environmental group network NILAD, the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration has only given lip service after more than two months of the bold proclamation of the suspension of all reclamation activities in Manila Bay. The group noted that there has been no actual legislation or clear legal guidelines given the adverse effects of reclamation not to mention its contribution to geological hazards and adverse effects on food security.
Fisherfolks group PAMALAKAYA added that there has been a dramatic economic loss because of the irreversible environmental impacts of reclamation such as fish catch depletion, massive destruction of fish habitats such as mangroves, seagrasses, and corals, and the worsening water quality.
Earlier this month, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga affirmed that the review of the 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay is nearly finished. PAMALAKAYA expects that the result of the evaluation would be in favor of the small fisherfolks and the environment.
“If the result of the evaluation is to pursue reclamation projects, then the DENR clearly consulted the wrong people, and we will contest it accordingly,” said PAMALAKAYA in a statement.
Among projects that have environmental permits are the 420-hectare Bacoor Reclamation project; the 2,500-hectare Bulacan Aerotropolis project; the 360-hectare reclamation project in Pasay City; the 650-hectare reclamation project in Navotas City; and the 419-hectare Horizon Manila project.
Reclamation leads to demolition
Communities in Manila would be affected by the 50-ha. expansion project of Manila Harbour Center by the R-II Builders, Inc., the 50-hectare project of Baseco Rehabilitation and Dev’t., Inc. (Bradi), the 40-hectare PRA reclamation project, and the biggest 407-hectare City of Pearl project, proposed by a Chinese firm UAA Kinming Dev’t. Corp.
“Hindi nakakatulong itong mga reclamation at dredging activities dahil malaki ang epekto nito sa kabuhayan at kabayahan ng maralitang naninirahan sa mga komunidad sa Manila Bay. Kaunting ulan lang ay lubog agad kami sa baha laluna doon sa mga naninirahan sa Baseco beach dahil diyan sa mga dredging activities,” shared Anakbayan Manila spokesperson Michael Villagracia.
[These reclamation and dredging activities do not help because it has a great impact on the livelihood and livelihood of the poor living in the communities in Manila Bay. Just a little rain and we are immediately flooded, especially those who live in Baseco beach because of the dredging activities.]
Villagracia added that these flooding issues are among the cited reasons for communities like Baseco where residents are told to be occupants of ‘danger areas’ that should be demolished.
Baseco is Barangay 649 Zone 68 of the City of Manila. It is a reclaimed section of the Port Area of Manila. The community has 56 hectares, as indicated in Ordinance No. 7931, which is a property of the National Government and is under the jurisdiction of the Philippines Ports Authority.
According to KADAMAY NCR, at least 100,000 residents in Manila will be affected by the reclamation project. Baseco alone has a population of 64,750 tallied in the Philippine Census in 2020.
Villagracia also slammed the recent pronouncement of the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) when it said that the suspended reclamation projects are “expected to generate over P24 trillion in investments.”
“Itong sinasabi nilang kaunlaran ay hindi naman mga mahihirap ang uunlad bagkus ay ang mga mayayamang negosyante. Hindi naman school ang itatayo kundi ang mga magagarang buildings na hindi naglilingkod sa interes ng mamamayan ay lalo lang naglulubog sa mahihirap na lalo pang maghirap,” Villagracia added.
[This development they say is not for the advancement of the poor but the rich businessmen. They are not building a school, but luxurious buildings that do not serve the interests of the people, only make the poor even poorer.]
Human rights violations in communities affected by reclamation
Like Villagracia, AKAP Ka Manila Bay organizer Jonila Castro echoed that the reclamation projects would only benefit big companies including foreign ones.
“Ang nangyayari ngayon, ang mga mangingisda ay mawawalan ng hanapbuhay, mawawalan pa ng tirahan, masisira pa ang kalikasan. Hindi lang sa Maynila, Bulacan, sa Cavite mayroong reklamasyon. bago kami dukutin ay nagsasagawa pa lamang kami ng paunang imbestigasyon sa Bataan,” said Castro.
[What is happening now is the fishermen will lose their jobs, they will lose their homes, and the environment will be destroyed. There is reclamation not only in Manila, Bulacan, Cavite. Before we were abducted we were just conducting a preliminary investigation in Bataan.]
Castro along with Jhed Tamano are environmental defenders who were abducted in Orion, Bataan while they were conducting consultations with fisherfolks last September 2. The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) presented the two in a September 19 press conference as “surrenderers” who wanted to get away from their activist groups and sought help from the authorities. But given the chance to speak, the two exposed that they were abducted by the military in a van and were forced to “surrender” because the military threatened to kill them.
“Dalawang buwan pa lamang ako naroon [sa Bataan] at mayroon talagang nangyayaring reklamasyon na kailangan nating patambulin at tutulan. Napakaraming reklamasyong nangyayari sa Bataan,” Castro added.
[I’ve only been there for two months in Bataan and there are ongoing reclamation projects that we need to expose and oppose. There are a lot of reclamations going on in Bataan]
In Manila, KARAPATAN NCR reported cases of profiling, red-tagging, and harassment since the 11th and 12th Civil-Military Operations (CMO) Battalion began encamping in various communities in Tondo, Manila.
On September 11, GABRIELA Deputy Secretary General Rose Bihag filed a complaint in the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) amid “surveillance harassment” against the military.
In the dialogue set by CHR on the same day, 11th CMO cited no clear reason other than their presence was part of the program of the NTF-ELCAC.
Villagracia noted that the NTF-ELCAC along with the police and military forced organizers and even residents to “surrender” and point out several others to be identified as “terrorists”.
On October 17, several tarp materials were put up in Brgy. 101 in Tondo which red-tagged several candidates in the upcoming Barangay at Sangguniang Kabataan Election.
“Si Phil Tiozon, Fe Crisostomo, Rey Dimaano at Isko Manaog ay kilalang mga lingkod bayan mayroon o walang eleksyon. Nagtatanggol sila para sa trabaho, kabuhayan, paninirahan at serbisyo. Si Nanay Fe ay hindi kandidato at naiulat na sya ay nakaranas ng harassment mula sa military nitong nagdaang mga buwan,” said GABRIELA Tondo in a statement.
[Phil Tiozon, Fe Crisostomo, Rey Dimaano and Isko Manaog are well-known public servants with or without elections. They advocate for jobs, livelihoods, housing and services. Nanay Fe is not a candidate and it has been reported that she has experienced harassment from the military in recent months.]
The group accused the NTF-ELCAC of the circulation of tarps and posters red-tagging activists, labor and women leaders, and human rights defenders in various communities in Metro Manila since 2019.
