CLARK FREEPORT — The fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said yesterday government agencies should comply with the 2008 Supreme Court mandate to cleanup, rehabilitate and preserve Manila Bay by stopping plans for a new international airport in Bulacan.
“Being one of the defendant-government agencies of the 2008 Supreme Court’s (SC) continuing mandamus to clean-up, rehabilitate, and preserve Manila Bay, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is compelled to carry out the highest SC’s order, by rejecting the reclamation projects in Manila Bay,” Pamalakaya said in a statement.
The group noted that “BFAR was tasked by the Supreme Court to revitalize the marine life in Manila Bay and restock its waters with indigenous fish and other aquatic animals.”
Pamalakaya said BFAR should therefore “oppose the New Manila International Airport, also known as the Bulacan Aerotropolis, a 2,500-hectare reclamation project of the San Miguel Corp. (SMC) that will be located in Bulakan, Bulacan.”
It noted that the project would also “render displacement of not less than 700 fishing and coastal families in the said town, and would result to environmental destruction of marine and aquatic habitats in the northeastern part of Manila Bay.”
“The BFAR is politically, legally, and morally obliged to protect Manila Bay’s marine biodiversity and ecology against any destructive types of activities, especially reclamation which is long proven to be disastrous not only to the environment, but also to the socio-economic rights of the fisherfolk. BFAR should carry out at any cost the SC order by issuing a public statement rejecting reclamation, or an administrative order strengthening the protection of marine conservation areas against reclamation in Manila Bay,” Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap said.
Pamalakaya also noted that “BFAR has an existing conservation area for sardines in various parts of Manila Bay, in which also lies the concentration of fish larvae, phytoplankton, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, and silicate that all play significant role to the marine ecosystem.”
“Aside from BFAR, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which is the lead agency tasked to uphold the SC Mandamus, has an existing 25-hectare fishing reservation areas across Barangay Taliptip, in Bulakan town, a coastal community that will be mainly affected by the international airport,” it said.
Pamalakaya also expressed fears that “reclamation in Bulacan might bring scarcity of domestic fish supply as the province accounts for 41 million metric tons of aquatic and marine products every year, primarily milkfish (bangus) and prawn.”
“There is more than enough reason for the BFAR to oppose this one of the biggest reclamation projects to hit the precious and historic Manila Bay. They should strongly defy this plan the blatant conversion of Manila Bay from traditional fishing use into a commercial and business establishment hub,” Hicap also said.
