Erap, Isko: Reclamation project will save Manila

MANILA, Philippines - The Solar City reclamation project will save the city of Manila, which is in debt and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, city officials said yesterday.

Mayor Joseph Estrada and Vice Mayor Isko Moreno said the project is crucial to reversing the deterioration of the country’s capital city through job creation and revenue generation.

“Right now, the study shows that Manila has the most number of jobless people. A hungry stomach knows no law. Through this we can provide employment and (thus) eliminate crime,” Estrada said.

The project’s developer, Manila Gold Coast Development Corp., said Solar City – which will span 148 hectares in the middle of Manila Bay – will feature a park and a Boracay-inspired man-made beach as well as a terminal for international cruise ships.

Manila Gold Coast said the project would be able to provide 100,000 jobs during its construction and another 500,000 when it is operational.

The developer said the project would provide the national government with P17 billion in tax revenues yearly and some P10 billion worth of real estate taxes for the local government.

“This is one way of answering the fiscal situation of the city. Mayor Erap (Estrada) was left with a city that has an outstanding debt of P3.5 billion ... Manila is about to be bankrupt. We have to offer Manilans better things. If not, we will continue to deteriorate,” Moreno said.

Green groups hit project

Environmental groups earlier asked Estrada to junk Ordinance  8223, which allows Manila Gold Coast to proceed with the reclamation.

The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas, Koalisyon Kontra Kumbersyon ng Manila Bay, Anakpawis party-list, Sagip Manila Bay Movement and Save Freedom Island Movement have actively fought reclamation projects along Manila Bay.

They alleged that the Solar City project would destroy the habitat of several species of birds, including some of the most endangered species in the world, such as the Philippine duck and the Chinese egret.

The Court of Appeals (CA) recently dismissed a petition by Sen. Cynthia Villar to stop a similar reclamation project along the Las Piñas shoreline.

Villar, who asked the CA to reconsider its ruling, said the project would destroy the wildlife habitat in the area and “inundate two-thirds” of Las Piñas, Parañaque and the municipality of Bacoor, Cavite.

The government declared the Las Piñas bird sanctuary as a critical habitat in 2007. The sanctuary was also included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance in March.