(Schematic plan of the Bulacan aerotropolis. Photo courtesy of San Miguel Corp.)
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Some 700 fishing and coastal families in seven sitios of a village are to be displaced by the pending construction of a P700-billion “aerotropolis” in Bulakan town Bulacan province.
The fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) noted yesterday that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued last Monday an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) to the San Miguel Corporation’s (SMC) Bulacan Aerotropolis which, the group noted, would cover “reclamation of 2,500 hectares of coastal waters of the town of Bulakan.”
The group noted that the project would be the fourth reclamation project to be given by the DENR an environmental permit under the present administration. The others are the 419-hectare Horizon Manila Project, the 148-hectare Manila Solar City, and the 318-hectare Manila Waterfront Project.
“How ironic that the agency that leads the task force to rehabilitate Manila Bay is the one giving a go signal to reclamation projects that will effectively destroy the environment,” Bobby Roldan, Pamalakaya vice-chair for Luzon, said in a statement.
He reported that in Bulakan, “more than 600 mangrove trees were already cleared in Barangay Taliptip where the airport will be built.”
Pamalakaya cited a study on coastal resources management conducted by Agham, a group of scientists, that at least 670 kilos of fish catch will be lost for every hectare of mangrove that will be destroyed for reclamation projects.
It also noted that an existing 25-hectare fishing reservation area in the affected barangay was established by the DENR itself.
“Twenty-five hectares of fishing reservation areas are at stake and this would mean loss of traditional fish species and depletion of fish catch by small fisherfolk in the entire province of Bulacan,” the group added.
Roldan noted that “on top of the existing fishing reservations, Manila Bay is currently undergoing a massive rehabilitation program by the government and building infrastructures through dumping landfills will defeat the purpose of restoring its pristine state.”
“We reiterate our call to revoke all the ECCs issued to reclamation projects in Manila Bay and promote a genuine rehabilitation program that will restore its traditional use as communal fishing grounds,” he said.
