By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter
A FISHERFOLK and environmental group on Wednesday asked the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) to stop two-dozen reclamation and seabed quarrying projects in Manila Bay, citing long-term irreparable effects on the environment and livelihood of 300,000 fishermen.
Groups Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment also cited damage to your complete country by way of food security and patrimony in in search of a writ of kalikasan and continuing mandamus from the high court.
“The environmental and socioeconomic impacts of dredging and reclamation have a domino effect on the historical, cultural and nostalgic values and other uses of Manila Bay,” the plaintiffs said in an 87-page pleading.
“With buildings standing soon on reclaimed lands, the bay would lose its historical and cultural value as the location of the Battle of Manila Bay, which is said to Filipinos’ national essence and integrity,” they added.
Named respondents were the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA).
“The DENR stays committed to fulfilling its mandate in step with the Supreme Court’s 2008 mandamus order for all named 13 agencies to scrub, rehabilitate and improve the water quality in Manila Bay,” the agency said in a Viber message.
“We’re fully dedicated to implementing measures that ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations, in addition to the rights and livelihoods of local communities, including fishermen,” it added.
PRA had not received a replica of the pleading and would “reply to the correct forum,” spokesperson Omni R. Gruba told BusinessWorld by telephone.
Within the lawsuit, the plaintiffs asked the tribunal to declare all reclamation permits, environmental compliance certificates and area clearances for reclamation projects within the bay as void.
DENR approved 10 of seabed quarry permits from 2019 to 2023 for using marine sediments in Manila Bay for construction materials, a few of them for various projects including the Recent Manila International Airport in Bulacan, in keeping with the lawsuit.
“A dozen more seabed quarry projects are within the pipeline.”
PRA approved the 13 of 25 applications for reclamation permits through the period, it said.
“The combined size of those reclamation projects including those within the pipeline can be around 9,000 hectares, which is sort of thrice larger than the entire land area of Macao and greater than twice the scale of your complete city of Manila,” the plaintiffs said.
They added that two of the reclamation activities proceed despite a moratorium ordered by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
They asked the high court to compel agencies to reveal all documents concerning seabed quarrying and reclamation projects in Manila Bay, including project descriptions, environmental impact statements and assessments.
Additionally they said the respondents should stop processing applications for reclamation and seabed quarrying for reclamation in Manila Bay until these are proven secure to the environment, climate and folks.
The plaintiffs said the reclamation and quarrying activities have led to fewer catch amongst fishermen. “They didn’t change their traditional methods of fishing, bait, or location through the period, however the catch was unusually low.”
“Squids, in actual fact, were completely gone.”
The environmental groups said reclamation destroys mangroves and ends in the mass migration of fish and birds, generating a dramatic change within the ecosystem. “Reclamation activities don’t only harm marine life but in addition their habitats just like the mangroves,” they said, citing green advocate Oceana.
DENR and PRA didn’t immediately reply to a Viber message and e-mail in search of comments.
A writ of kalikasan is a legal treatment for people whose right to a balanced ecology is violated by the act or omission of one other person or entity involving environmental damage of such magnitude as to prejudice the life, health or property of inhabitants in two or more cities or provinces.
