REALIZING significant economic gains, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave the green light for two Pasay City land reclamation projects which will enable the host locality to create one million jobs, on top of the whopping P2.5 trillion revenue for the next 35 years.
According to the Palace, President Marcos has decided to exempt two reclamation projects under the Pasay Eco-City Coastal Development from a suspension order after acquiring an environmental compliance certificate and area clearance from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA).
However, what should have been a welcome development raised suspicion on the integrity of the so-called cumulative assessment over what appears to be more like a selective policy beholding the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Strangely though, other similar land development projects which include the 148-hectare Solar City, the 419-hectare Horizon Manila, and the 318-hectare Manila Waterfront in Manila, have all gone through the same process and rigid inspection by at least 17 government agencies, paid the necessary fees, and got approved – but still fell short in securing a DENR nod.
From how it looks, the City of Manila in its capacity as the proponent, is being singled out by the Task Force created by the DENR to administer the cumulative assessment of Manila Bay reclamation projects.
Why did I say so? Taking a closer look at each of the 20 pages of ‘confidential’ documents addressed to the President, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga cited the proponent’s (Manila) failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the ECC.
If that's the case, why the hell did DENR issue the ECC for the Manila land development projects in the first place? They could have spotted the glitch in the masterplan before the actual reclamation started.
Second point, the DENR appears to have been tamed by what looks more like a promissory note coming from the Pasay City government – “Given the undertaking in the City of Pasay’s letter dated 31 October 2023, the project is considered compliant with the ECC terms and conditions.”
Whoa! Does that mean, the Manila City government should write a similar ‘promissory note’ to earn Loyzaga’s recommending approval? Pangako lang pala sapat na?
Taking into consideration the fact that Manila is more famous than the Philippines itself (foreigners book their flight to Manila, not to the Philippines), the country’s capital deserves all the help of the national government because this is where the President holds office. This is also where a long list of national government agencies are situated. This is where many historic events unfolded.
Finally, DENR may have forgotten that Manila Bay was named after this city.
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