DENR urged: Stop granting permits for reclamation projects

MANILA, Philippines — Fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) yesterday called on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to stop granting permits for reclamation projects in coastal areas.

In celebration of World Fisheries Day, members of Pamalakaya and environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment trooped to the DENR main office in Quezon City to call for a stop to reclamation projects, especially in Manila Bay.

The groups claimed that more than 100 reclamation projects are pending throughout Philippine waters, 70 percent of which are in Manila Bay “where hundreds of thousands of fishermen subsist by fishing.”

“The DENR under the leadership of Secretary Roy Cimatu must cease and desist from issuing environmental compliance certificates for reclamation projects,” Pamalakaya chairman Fernando Hicap said. 

Hicap said land reclamation or conversion of coastal waters destroys marine and aquatic resources, which affects the livelihood of fishermen by depleting their catch.

The Philippine Reclamation Authority earlier announced that it targets to complete 80 percent of the reclamation projects within the term of President Duterte.

“Reclamation is not only a destruction of the environment, but a sell-out of resources to corporate aggressors with the backing of laws and programs to legalize such activities. We demand the DENR to exercise its mandate in preserving the environment by rejecting destructive projects such as reclamation,” Hicap said.