Sen. Cynthia Villar wants reclamation projects to have the approval of government agencies such as the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Department of Finance (DOF) before these projects are issued an Environmental Certificate Compliance (ECC) by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
“Under the current set-up, the DENR will issue an ECC. But unfortunately, those ECCs were issued without consultations. That’s the problem. Maybe, we can include not only DENR, but also NEDA, or the Department of Finance,” Villar said. She also said government agencies should make it “harder” for reclamation projects to get ECCs because only one DENR subagency—the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)— is issuing the said clearances.
Villar also said the EMB director issues the ECC “without consultations.” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier said all 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay, except for one, have been suspended.
The ECCs were issued during the time of DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu, Villar said.
Villar said 15 of these reclamation projects are found in Metro Manila (Region 4-A) and 4 are found in Cavite (Region 4).
She said she has been strongly fighting the two planned reclamation projects in Las Pinas as it will impede the flow of water from four rivers – the Paranaque River, the Las Pinas River, the Zapote River and the Molino River.
Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, cited warnings by experts about massive floodings in the areas of Las Pinas and the nearby Bacoor City if reclamation takes place.
She also mentioned the Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park, a protected area, which will be adversely affected by reclamation projects.
“And if we allow that reclamation, also the mangrove forests in our Las Pinas Paranaque Wetland Park will be destroyed, and it’s the biggest spawning ground of fish for Manila Bay which is giving livelihood to 300,000 fisher folks,” Villar said.