Cynthia Villar vs reclamation

Senator Cynthia Villar has filed Senate Resolution 294 directing the Senate Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, with the view to introduce reforms, revisions and amendments in the mandate, powers and responsibilities of the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA).

Villar calls attention to the government’s National Reclamation Plan (NRP), made  by PRA,  which will involve 102 projects or 38,000 hectares all over the country. Thirty eight of these reclamation projects encompassing 26,234 hectares, will be implemented in the Manila Bay area alone — or 70 per cent of the entire NRP.  This creates another Metro Manila along Manila Bay, she said in her privilege speech delivered before her peers last week.

Villar has an ongoing petition (backed by the signatures of 315,849 residents of Las Pinas) vs. a Manila Bay reclamation project. which would result in the reclamation of 635.14-hectares of Manila Bay, around the 175-hectare Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area or LPPCHEA, which is a protected area by virtue of Proclamation Nos. 1412 and 1412-A and included in the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance, along with Tubbataha and the Palawan Underground River. The said reclamation could affect 65 barangays in three cities (37 in Bacoor, 11 in Paranaque, and 17 in Las Pinas.

Villar elevated her petition to the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling of the Court of Appeals, which favored the planned reclamation project in Manila Bay.

Besides the 38 reclamation projects in Manila, there are other big reclamation projects planned in Cebu, Antique, Iloilo, Bohol, Negros Occidental, Aklan, Albay, Davao gulf, Leyte, and Cagayan.

Villar questions whether there was public consultation about the National Reclamation Plan, how the projects under NRP were approved, and if  environmental risks had been taken into consideration.

From the outset, this is a fight reminiscent of David and Goliath – of a legislator and communities vs. Big Business  who wants to reclaim big portions of Manila Bay  and other coastal areas in the country and convert them to huge, profit-making enterprises.

The idea of new cities rising from the sea seems  nice and compelling, but a serious study of Senator Villar’s resolution makes us rethink our position.  

Villar cited  the damage rendered by reclamation projects on multiple ecosystems, such as mangroves, sea grass, coral reefs and intertidal zones and depletion of fish stocks. Also, scientists have declared the subsiding of Manila Bay land due to reclamation.

She cited a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) study which said that  Metro Manila is overdue to experience a catastrophic magnitude of 7.2 earthquake and the coastal areas to suffer the most due to liquefaction (the reclaimed land reverts to a liquid state).

The question is, who gives the final go-signal for reclamation? The Philippine Reclamation Authority, which she said, has a questionable legal basis.

The PRA was established on February 4, 1977  under President Marcos, to provide a coordinated, economical and efficient administration of lands, especially reclaimed lands, that belong to, are managed and/or operated by the government, with the object of maximizing  their utilization and hastening their development consistent with the public interest. Executive Order no 525 issued on Feb. 14, 1979, provides that all reclamation projects  shall be approved by the President upon the recommendation of PRA.

But PRA was given tremendous powers when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Executive Order 380 on Oct. 26, transforming  PEA into the Philippine Reclamation Authority, and, on June 24, 2006, issued EO 543, delegating to PRA the power of the President to approve reclamation projects.

Subsequently, on Feb. 25, 2001, the PRA Board of Directors approved the National Reclamation Plan under PRA Board Resolution No. 4161 covering a total of 102 reclamation projects over a total area of 38,272 hectares within Manila Bay, Visayas, Mindanao and other locations.

PRA’s NRP and the multiple issues attached to reclamation have gained so much alarm from different sectors, Villar said. In a People’s Summit held in October 2012  attended by experts from relevant fields, a  call was made for a moratorium on reclamation projects under the NRP.  

PRA’s NRP would result in the loss of  one-tenth of our coastal and marine habitats, a scientist reported to Villar. The reclamation projects could potentially translate to a loss of value of nearly P30 billion per year in seagrass and ecosystems alone.

Villar cited the “grandmother of all scams” — the PEA-AMARI deal , as a basis for a change in PRA policies. The deal was signed April 25, 1995, which allowed AMARI, a private corporation to develop the three reclaimed islands known as the “Freedom Islands” along the Las Pinas-Parañaque portion of Manila Bay and includes the reclamation of additional hectares of submerged areas surrounding the islands.

Upon investigation in aid of legislation, the Senate Blue Ribbon and the Senate Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises ruled that the joint venture was  illegal because the reclaimed lands  that PEA sought to transfer to AMARI are lands of the public domain which the government cannot alienate.

Any land reclamation, regardless of who initiates it (i.e. PRA, private sector, LGU), is considered “unclassified public land” and therefore part of the public domain, which is now under the DENR, Villar said.

Villar  asks, why reclaim in the first place? Why not develop the blighted areas of the metropolis instead? The amount to be used to reclaim instead of destroying ecosystems and driving reclaimed lands to sell for sky  high prices, could be used for inclusive development and urban renewal of Metro Manila.

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The prestigious Makati Garden Club, in collaboration with the Philippine Business for Social Progress,  will be auctioning, in addition to fabulous Christmas trees, precious art pieces donated by prominent  Filipino artists and painters. The art pieces are by National Artist  in sculpture Napoleon Abueva, and well-known  painters Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Manuel Baldemor,  Romulo Galicano, Ben Cabrera, Elmer Borlongan, Edgar Doctor, and Jose Ignacio.

This year’s  Festival of Trees continues MGC’s 17 year-old tradition of raising funds for countless marginalized Filipinos. Past festivals raised a total of P65 million. This year, the target set at P6.5 million, will go to a fund that will be  ready any time, for use of  victims of future disasters. MGC member Josephine Gallego said at a press con, “We want to have funds even before a calamity happens.”

 Makati Garden Club is based at the corner of Ayala and EDSA,  where lectures on horticulture and the environment are held. It maintains plant nurseries, a flower shop, a boutique showcasing Ruby Diaz Roa’s finely crafted fashion jewelry, a library, and Maria Luisa’s Garden room, a restaurant owned by Sandra Fernandez.

PBSP was established in 1970 as the largest  business-led social development organization committed to poverty reduction.

This year’s FOT  will be held on November 14, at 5:30 p.m. onwards, at the Jaguar/Land Rover Showroom, 32nd and 4th Crescent Park West, Bonifacio Global City. At the showroom, patrons will be treated to a first green social design fashion tableau, a project of sustainable lifestyle designer PJ Aranador. Also to  be auctioned are plane tickets  to Japan, overnight accommodations at Sonya’s Garden, MGC’s signature “mystery boxes,” jewelry by Ruby Diaz Roa, ethnic  footwear and accessories.

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