Manila Bay rehabilitation, reclamation

Fishers' group PAMALAKAYA reports that fishers witnessed a dredging vessel closely passing by their fishing boat off Cavite last night, October 7.

The continued dredging or reclamation off Manila Bay comes two months after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the suspension of reclamation in Manila Bay.

In its report, the group says the dredging vessel is involved in seabed quarrying in Cavite to fulfill several dump-and-fill projects in Manila Bay, particularly for the airport reclamation project in Bulacan. 

It condemns the act saying it is "a proof that Marcos Jr's suspension order on reclamation is a sham, especially with the absence of an official Executive Order." — Rosette Adel

A fishers' group slams the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for issuing an environmental compliance certificate to a reclamation project in Bulacan.

The DENR has granted San Miguel Corp. a permit for its P700-billion aerotropolis project that would cover over 2,500 hectares of Manila Bay.

Pamalakaya says the aerotropolis project is "on the opposite track" of the Manila Bay rehabilitation program.

“Reclamation defeats the purpose of rehabilitation as it endangers vital marine resources that keep Manila Bay abundant and biodiverse," Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap says.

Akbayan is calling on the original parties in the 2008 environmental protection case over Manila Bay to join them in questioning the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources' dolomite beach project.

The party does this in a statement after the Supreme Court denied its motion to intervene in the case, adding the court "has taken, quite sadly, a hands-off approach on an issue of transcendental importance."

It adds: "Even the high tribunal's statement that it found no violation of its continuing Mandamus is discouraging. It limited its findings to the reports submitted by the DENR on its specific directive to clean the waters of the bay and perform maintenance measures." 

"It failed to include in its assessment the DENR's dumping of fake sand as a polluting act violative of its order."

Akbayan party-list will hold a "bicycle action" on November 3 "coinciding with the Supreme Court's en banc session to deliberate on the petition Akbayan filed on the dumping of dolomite sand along Manila Bay."

Bikers will meet at Plaza Salamanca in the morning and head to the Supreme Court gates in Padre Faura.

In its announcement, Akbayan says it is calling for the SC to "hold the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in contempt for dumping fake white sand in Manila Bay, which is in violation of the court's continuing Mandamus on the area, as well to save Manila Bay the right way." 

Opposition Sen. Leila de Lima slams the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for ordering the closure of two mining firms after acquiring dolomite from the two companies and dumping it on Manila Bay.

"Nakakatawa naman talaga ang DENR. Pagkatapos nilang isabog at ikalat ang dolomite sa dalampasigan ng Manila Bay, saka pa lang nila ngayon ipapa-imbestiga kung sanhi nga ba ng pagkamatay ng mga bahura ang natatapong dolomite ng dalawang minahan sa Alcoy, Cebu," De Lima says in a statement.

The fish kill in the Baseco portion of the Manila Bay is an indication that it is degraded as it is, fisherfolk group Pamalakaya says.

"It‘s environmental degradation is supposed to be the main concern that the DENR should be seriously addressing, not busying itself with some kind of beach nourishment' that is actually ephemeral aesthetics, but irrelevant to rehabilitation," Pamalakaya says in a statement.

The group calls on the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to conduct water sampling and laboratory analysis for possible water pollution. However, there is no established connection yet between the fish kill and the "white sand" project.

The Department of Health assures the public that "no untoward incidents" will occur as a result to the use of crushed dolomite rocks as "white sand" in the Manila Bay coastline.

The agency clarifies that dolomite is not known as a health hazard in its bulk state but can have harmful effects if it is in dust form, like any other dust particle.

"As stated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the dolomite material that is being used in Baywalk is 2-5mm or 100 times bigger than dust, therefore does not get suspended in air," the DOH says in a statement.

House members under the Makabayan bloc file a resolution seeking for an inquiry into the suitability and sustainability of the Manila Bay rehabilitation program following the dumping of crushed dolomite boulders on the coastline.

Rep. Eufemia Cullamat (Bayan Muna Party-list), Rep. Carlos Zarate (Bayan Muna Party-list), Rep. Ferdinand Gaite (Bayan Muna Party-list), Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women's Party), Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers Party-list) and Rep. Sarah Elago (Kabataan Party-list) filed the resolution.

The seven lawmakers cited people's opposition due to the project's impact to the environment, public health and injudicious utilization of public funds.

JUST IN | Naghain ng resolusyon ang Makabayan Bloc para imbestigahan ang "white sand" project ng DENR sa Manila Bay. pic.twitter.com/CdRxf7lrux

— News5 (@News5PH) September 9, 2020

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno seeks clarification from Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu over the pronouncement of the Department of Health that using crushed dolomite rock for the beach nourishment project of Manila Bay can cause respiratory problems.

In a letter dated Sept. 7, 2020, Moreno cited the remarks of Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire that the material used as white sand in filling Manila Bay coastline may be harmful to people's health.

"Hence, pursuant to the faithful discharge of my duty to promote health and safety, enhance the right of the people to a balanced ecology and preserve the comfort and convenience of the city inhabitants, may we seek your clarification on this declaration of Usec. Vergeire to make sure that the health, comfort and convenience of the city inhabitants and other neighboring local government units are properly taken care of," Moreno says in the letter.

A writ of kalikasan plea may be filed against projects that bring potential harm to the environment, including the white sand project at Manila Bay, lawyer Jay Batongbacal says.

Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, says mining companies have long been warning against the use of crushed dolomite boulders, which contain mercury and lead that could be harmful to marine life.

"Dahil sa potential harm na possible niyang gawin puwede pang habulin... Maraming batas na potentiall involved," Batongbacal tells radio dzBB Monday morning.

By seeking an exemption from its own environment compliance regulations, DENR violated Presidential Decree No. 1586 (Environmental Impact Statement System Law) and DENR Administrative Order No. 2003-30, the agency’s own implementing rules and regulations governing environment compliance certificates in the white sand project at the Manila Bay, says infrastructure watchdog InfraWatchPH convenor lawyer Terry Ridon.

Under PD No. 1586 and DAO No. 2003-30, projects that require an ECC are those located in Environmentally Critical Areas such as areas set aside as aesthetic potential tourist spots,  Ridon points out, further citing, Executive Order No. 69, series of 1999, designates portions of the waters in Manila Bay and its foreshore area as a special tourist zone.

Ridon, a former House of Representatives members says, “there is absolutely no basis for the DENR to say that its project is not covered by ECC rules,” explaining that,  “the proponents should have applied and received an approved ECC before starting the project.” — The STAR/Artemio Dumlao

AGHAM (Advocates of Science and Technology for the People), an activist group of science advocates, is calling on Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to revoke the Environmental Compliance Certificate issued to a contractor for the Bulacan Aerotropolis Project, saying land-filling for the project will displace fishing communities and destroy fish habitats.

"It will displace fishing communities in an area found by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute to be vital to the sustainability of fish production of the entire bay, which is a primary contributor to Philippine food security and self-sufficiency," AGHAM says.

"Moreover, reclaimed areas are highly vulnerable to storm surges, and liquefaction during earthquakes; and they increase flood risks inland. This is because such developments destroy the mangrove environment that mitigate the risks of the aforementioned geohazards," it also says.

Manila Mayor-elect Isko Moreno Domagoso says the reclamation of Manila Bay is not going to be a priority of his administration.

"Instead, we want to maximize and develop the land we already have, particularly in Ermita and Binondo. The City of Manila needs to catch up with our neighboring cities because we are falling behind," Domagoso says in a statement sent to Philstar.com.

(Photo from Isko Moreno Domagoso/Facebook)

A group opposing the reclamation of Manila Bay is protesting the silence of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, designated to safeguard the rights of local fishers, on the issue saying that the "24,000-hectare reclamation... [will] affect over 200,000 fisher families."

The group Manila Bay Para sa Tao, composed of fisherfolks, non-government organizations, women, students and other civil society organizations, will march to the Agriculture department on Tuesday, February 26, to voice their opposition to the reclamation project. 

"Ang Manila Bay ay hindi pribadong pag-aari ninuman. Anumang hakbang na ipapatupad sa Manila Bay ay dapat ikonsulta sa mamamayan sa paraang demokratiko na hindi gumagamit ng mga taktikang panlilinlang (The Manila Bay is not privately-owned. Any plans concerning the Manila Bay must be consulted from its constituents in a democratic way that does not use deceptive tactics),” the group says in a unity statement.

Philippine microsatellite Diwata-1 can help monitor water quality in Manila Bay, the Department of Science and Technology's Science and Technology Information Institute says in a release.

Images collected on February 19, 2018, DOST-STII says, show turbidity—or the degree to which water loses its transparency due to particulates in it—at the mouth of the Pasig River.

"Using a baseline of less than 5 Formazin Nephelometric Unit (FNU, to measure water clarity) based from Figure 2, which generally indicates clear waters, more than 25 FNU units are shown to move out from the mouth of the river even extending inside the river," DOST-STII says.

Turbid waters are also seen along the shores of Bulacan and Pampanga, which, DOST-STII says, is caysed by aquaculture.

"In the figure, we can see the environmental impact of the growing demand for food to supply the growing Philippine population. To keep up with supply, masses of aquaculture farms have to be set up for intensive fish farming which is an activity commonly associated with using fish feed and fertilizers."

Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu says the government is in the process of conducting a census of informal setllers -- there are around 230,000 in Metro Manila-- in preparation for relocating them.

He says the census includes around 30,000 located along the waterline of Manila Bay.

Cimatu says, though, that relocation will take years, since "the maximum statistical number of informal settlers relocated per year is 10,000." That means relocating all the informal settlers in Metro Manila could take more than two decades. 

Cleanup of Manila Bay has raised concerns that this, and the relocation of informal settlers, could be a prelude to massive reclamation works that activist groups say will have a huge impact on the environment and on the livelihoods of people who collect and sell mussels or tahong.

The Department of Health issues an advisory for the public to wait until the Manila Bay is deemed safe for recreational swimming after photos showing people dipping into its waters amid its rehabilitation.

Fisherfolk group Pamalakaya (Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya sa Pilipinas) is calling for a moratorium on reclamation projects in Manila Bay, where a clean-up campaign was launched over the weekend, saying reclamation work could have "socio-economic and environmental impacts."

The fisherfolk group said there are plans in Bacoor, Cavite for a 320-hectare reclamation project and another one that will cover 100 hectares . It said the reclamation projects would kill off the mussel industry in Bacoor and may also displace 7,000 people.

"The DENR should show its sincerity inr estoring the abundant life of Manila Bay by issuing a moratorium on all reclamation projects that will further destroy the historic bay," Pamalakaya chairperson Fernando Hicap says.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources orders the closure of Aristocrat restaurant in Roxas Boulevard for "generating and discharging pollutive wastewater" amid the government's move to rehabilitate Manila Bay.

The Manila Bay rehabilitation program involves cleanup activities, relocation of illegal settlers as well as apprehension of establishments that violate the Philippine Clean Water Act and other environmental laws. 

Last January 22, the Manila City government has ordered the temporary closure of Manila Zoo to allow the reconstruction of its sewer lines. The zoo is located near Estero de San Antonio Abad in Malate, Manila, which directly drains into the Manila Bay.

DENR ordered establishments around the bay to put up their own sewage treatment plants last January 11.