Groups call out government to stop reclamations, including 174-hectare project in Dumaguete City

CEBU, Philippines —  More than 80 civil society organizations (CSOs) are calling on the national government to stop the various reclamation projects in the country, including two in Cebu and the controversial 174-hectare reclamation along the coastline of Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental, that were allegedly approved without regard to environmental safeguards provided for by the Constitution.

“We call on the Philippine government to immediately halt the irregular approval of these projects that will destroy the rich biodiversity in coastal and marine ecosystems of the country, our source of life and livelihood, particularly for the undernourished and impoverished coastal communities among our people,” Oceana Philippines quoted the groups collective statement sent to the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the concerned government agencies.

The CSOs also called out all concerned local government units (LGUs) that hastily approved “without adherence to the requirements of regularity, transparency, accountability, and participation by public and private proponents” of the following large-scale land reclamation projects: 174-hectare reclamation along Dumaguete City’s coastline;230-hectare reclamation in Consolacion, Cebu;  100-hectare reclamation in Minglanilla, Cebu; and  23 reclamation projects in Manila Bay which are in various stages of development.

They explained that despite the social justice provision in the Constitution that gives small-scale fisherfolk preferential access to marine resources of the country, similar projects in the past were still able to push through and these destroyed fishing grounds and displaced fisherfolk and their families. These groups said these projects have already devastated thousands of hectares of mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs.

“The Philippines is known as the center of the center of marine biodiversity as it is found at the apex of the Coral Triangle. However, this reputation may soon be lost with the wholesale approval of large-scale reclamation, aptly described as dump-and-fill projects all over the country,” said the CSOs in a statement released through Oceana Philippines.

“At direct risk in all these dump-and-fill projects are the food security and self-sufficiency of coastal residents, especially the municipal fisherfolk and other sectors whose livelihood are directly dependent on the fisheries and aquatic resources of their prime fishing grounds. These projects will literally decimate their means of survival and adds to their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, which have to be factored in this time of the covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis,” they added.

The statement was recently sent to the Philippine Reclamation Authority, Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Biodiversity Management Bureau, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, League of Cities of the Philippines, and League of Municipalities of the Philippines. — FPL (FREEMAN)