ANGELES CITY – The plight of some 620,000 folk in several Bulacan towns would be jeopardized if the government allows the construction of the 2,500-hectare “aerotropolis” project in the coastal areas of Bulakan, Bulacan.
The fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) raised yesterday this alarm, as it cited Bulacan’s government-prepared hazard and vulnerability map and the coastal flooding map that the towns of Obando, Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue at Bulakan are prone to flooding.
The proposed international project in Bulacan, slated to be launched this December, would dam up these towns during the flooding season, the group warned.
Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap said such scenario is “based on the very flood maps published by the Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.”
He also said that government hazard and vulnerability maps show that storm surges of one to four meters affect the towns and that Meycauyan, Marilao, Bocaue and Sta. Maria are “vulnerable to river flooding from upstream sources, as one of the maps indicates.”
“The aerotropolis would act as dam to deter the flow of waters during the rainy season, so the project is not merely an issue confined to Barangay Taliptip in Bulakan, but an issue affecting the entire province of Bulacan,” he noted.
Hicap also said that “another map indicated that Bulakan, Bocaue, and Marilao towns are prone to flooding due to ponding of waters similar in a dam. Also Bocaue, Marilao, and some parts of Meycauayan are prone to flashfloods that will trigger landslides.”
Hicap urged Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando to “oppose the aerotropolis project and uphold the welfare of his constituents.”
Hicap recalled that in August last year, the Bulacan government declared a state of calamity after tropical storms and monsoon rains inundated eight towns of the province, affecting more than 120,000 families or 620,000 population.
He warned of a worse scenario if the aerotropolis is built in the coastal town of Bulakan.
He urged the people of Bulacan “to decisively oppose the aerotropolis project and defend their communities and sources of livelihood.”
