Las Piñas City Councilor and congressional candidate Mark Anthony Santos asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to authorize the P103.8-billion Las Piñas-Paranaque Coastal Bay Reclamation Project of the national government.
Santos said the clearance to proceed with the project remained unresolved by the members of DENR’s Protective Area Management Board, despite the SC decision three years ago.
“The status of the project remains at the detailed engineering stage,” he said.
Santos said that in an en banc decision on Oct. 21, 2021, the Supreme Court, voting 11-2, approved the reclamation project of around 530 hectares of the Manila Bay coastline in Las Piñas- Parañaque, ruling that the supposed threat to environment was not sufficiently established.
Alltech Contractors proposed the project to develop 321.26 hectares of land in Las Piñas and 174.88 hectares in Parañaque, both along the coastline of Manila Bay in 2009. The Philippine Reclamation Authority approved the project in 2010 subject to compliance to environmental rules.
Alltech submitted an amended environmental performance report management plan (EPRMP) in December that year and expanded the project to cover 203.43 hectares in Parañaque and 431.71 hectares in Las Piñas.
The DENR-Environmental Management Bureau issued the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for the project In March 2011, after Alltech Contractors submitted scientific and expert studies that assessed the potential flooding and flushing impact that may arise from the coastal bay project.
The SC decision suggests that the city government of Las Piñas may proceed with the reclamation project despite residents’ objections, said Santos.
Santos said the city councils of Las Piñas and Parañaque issued the corresponding resolutions authorizing their respective city mayors to explore the proposal under a joint venture agreement (JVA).
The cities of Las Piñas and Parañaque eventually accepted Alltech’s proposal, and the parties executed their respective JVAs, he said.
“The reclamation project as this initiative would generate additional income for the city, enabling the implementation of various pro-poor projects, including socialized housing,” he said.
