It is gratifying that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has suspended 22 Manila Bay reclamation projects, except one, following what the government perceives as problems in implementation.
The presidential suspension allows space for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to have a comprehensive review of proponents’ compliance with environmental regulations.
Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said: “We have to take our time, really beginning with those that are ongoing, because they are in fact, already impacting the areas. And then, we will graduate to those that are in fact, still not yet begun,” she added.
Loyzaga said the suspension is already in effect. “As soon as the President speaks, I think that will be in effect… and we now have a formal (order).”
According to President Marcos, the sea along Roxas Boulevard could disappear because of the projects, approved when the incumbent president was Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022).
Loyzaga said a scientific team, formed to conduct a community impact assessment, would be composed of a physical scientist, oceanographers, geologist, climate scientist and social scientist.
Asked about DENR’s target, Loyzaga said, the DENR would know once the scientific team converges and the work program is laid out.
The suspension followed the US embassy’s concern the Manila Bay reclamation projects have ties to the China Communications Construction Co., which was blacklisted by Washington in 2020.
The Chinese firm has been included in the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List for its role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize the artificial islands in the South China Sea.
The US embassy added the CCCC had also been cited by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank for engaging in “fraudulent” business practices.
It is unsettling that in a Senate hearing last week, Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan said his department was not involved in the approval of the reclamation projects, indicating a possible overreach by the Local Government Units.
“Is it proper for LGUs to award the contracts for the reclamation projects? From what I know, all bodies of water, including Manila Bay, are patrimonial assets owned by the state,” he said in a radio interview.
“That’s why I don’t understand what happened here and why the LGUs were authorized to grant the contracts,” he said. “It’s one of the contentious issues here.”
Then here comes Senator JV Ejercito who has urged the Senate blue ribbon committee to look into the “midnight gold rush” approval of 22 reclamation projects round Manila Bay.
Ejercito lso questioned the authority of local government units to enter into contracts with private companies, many of which are owned by the Chinese government, to dredge and dump sand off the shores of Manila Bay.
“If we want to get to the bottom of these reclamation projects, all stakeholders and agencies concerned have to be summoned [to a Senate investigation],” Ejercito said, but stopped short of raising a time frame.
We hope something really bold and positive would be done – and fast – to correct the disquieting scenario.