Altermidya
Fisherfolk marked the fifth anniversary of the implementation of the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program by storming the main office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on January 19.
Led by Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the protest called on the agency to be accountable for the drastic income loss they have experienced in recent years.
The Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program was kickstarted in January 2019 by then DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu and was touted as a “comprehensive plan” to improve the bay’s water quality.
Pamalakaya stressed that it was ironic for DENR to implement a rehabilitation program while at the same time allowing about 22 reclamation projects around Manila Bay to continue.
“As far as the small fisherfolk and coastal residents are concerned, the rehabilitation program has not significantly improved the Manila Bay ecosystem. The DENR has failed the people and the environment it has sworn to protect by consistently keeping mum over the destructive reclamation projects,” PAMALAKAYA national chairperson Fernando Hicap said.
The big-ticket reclamation projects include the Php735-billion Bulacan Aerotropolis Project of San Miguel Corporation, which covers 2,500 hectares in coastal Bulacan; the Php55.5-billion Bacoor and Diamond Reclamation Project, which spans 420 hectares in Bacoor City, Cavite, spearheaded by the Frabelle Fishing Company and the Cavite local government; and the Php34.3-billion Manila Waterfront City Project of the Waterfront Manila Premier Development Inc., which spans 328 hectares in Manila.
In August 2023, President Marcos Jr. issued a verbal proclamation to suspend Manila Bay reclamation projects. However, sans a written order, the projects continued months after the president’s proclamation.
Dwindling income
During the protest, members of Pamalakaya from Navotas and Cavite testified how the government’s rehabilitation program “did not bring any significant improvement” to Manila Bay’s ecosystem and biodiversity.
Instead, fisherfolk have lost over 80 percent of their daily income because the reclamation projects damaged major fishing grounds and fish habitats, including mangroves, coral areas, and seagrasses.
Ricardo Bagonggong, a fisherman from Bacoor, Cavite, recounted how just five years ago, fisherfolk used to catch up to five bañeras of kapak (mullet) and tilapia a day, which they could sell for around Php700-Php900. A bañera or fish tub contains about 35–40 kilos of fish, depending on the species and size of the fish.
Each fisherfolk could take home a minimum of Php600 for a day’s catch during that period.
“Limang taon pa lang ang nagdaan, ang laking pagbabago na. Ngayon, masaya na kami kung makaisang bañera kami sa isang araw,” Bagonggong said, explaining that the dredging activities of the reclamation projects are destroying fishing grounds.
With fisherfolk barely being able to catch one bañera of fish a day, their daily income has also fallen drastically, with many taking home less than Php100 a day.
“Bigas na nga lang mabibili namin doon. Hindi na kami nagkakarne, ‘yung huli naming isda na lang din ang ulam,” Bagonggong said.
Beyond economic losses, Pamalakaya also reported that the reclamation projects had forced more than two thousand coastal families from their communities.
“Five years of supposed rehabilitation and our fisherfolk continue to bear the brunt of the bay’s deteriorated fishery resources. Reclamation does not only inflict harm to our livelihood that is reliant on the environment, it also makes coastal communities at risk and more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as sea-level rise and storm surges,” Hicap said.
“Ang panawagan namin sa DENR, sa gobyernong Marcos, talagang ipatigil na ‘yang reclamation. Dadami ulit ang huli namin kapag natigil ang dredging,” Bagonggong stressed.
