MANILA, Philippines — Civil society groups, consisting of 37 organizations and 424 people, appealed to Manila Mayor Isko Moreno yesterday to reconsider the construction of the Southern Access Link Expressway project.
Petitioners, led by the Stop SALEX Movement, urged Moreno to reconsider the issuance of a certificate of no objection for the 40.65-kilometer, six-lane elevated expressway.
Stop SALEX Movement co-convenor Menie Odulio said the construction of the expressway would pass through a “significant portion of Manila’s core districts” and “directly over roads where heritage structures are located.”
Among these structures are the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Ospital ng Maynila, Ramon Magsaysay Center, Supreme Court, University of the Philippines-Manila, Girl Scouts of the Philippines, Paco Park, St. Vincent Parish and Adamson University.
“These structures house institutions that provide health, judicial and educational services essential to a progressive society,” Odulio said.
Odulio added that SALEX will have negative impacts on public health, urban heat, air pollution, heritage structures, road congestion, tree cover and overall livability in Manila.
The city government was asked to conduct thorough consultations with the affected communities, institutions, and establishments.
Several groups voiced their opposition to the project after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said 523 trees were to be cut and 94 trees were subject to earth-balling, totaling 617 trees affected to yield construction.