CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – For the first time, fisherfolk from Bulacan and Cavite stormed Thursday the main office of the San Miguel Corp. (SMC) in Ortigas, Mandaluyong City to protest the firm’s proposed aerotropolis project in Bulakan, Bulacan.
The protesters, supported by the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the 2,500-hectare aerotropolis project whose centerpiece is the New Manila International Airport (NMIA) “threatens the communities and sources of livelihood of at least 700 fishing families in Barangay Taliptip of the said town, as well as the ecosystem of northern part of the Manila Bay.”
“This project will undoubtedly destroy the ecosystem of Manila Bay, as well as wipe out thousands of fisherfolk who subsist in the productive waters of Manila Bay by catching and culturing various types of fish, crabs, and shellfish,” Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap said in a statement issued during the rally.
Hicap warned the public against supporting the SMC project as “it runs counter to the ideals of corporate social responsibility amid their claim that they help communities by caring for the environment and contributing to countryside development.”
“This firm’s means of development is to wipe out an entire fishing community and displace its coastal residents for profit. We caution sectors from being involved in this project to avoid the people’s outrage,” the fisherfolk leader added.
Pamalakaya noted “the more serious threat when productive rice lands in Bulacan fall under the control of real estate brokers and developers and subjecting them to land-use conversion.”
Hicap said “this is very probable given that the Duterte government itself brought bankruptcy to rice farmers via his Republic Act 11203 or Rice Liberalization Law.”
Bulacan has remained in the Top 5 Rice Achiever Awardee for four years until 2018 got the province’s high average yield of 250,000 metric tons per hectare for 500,000 hectares of harvested area. The province posted more than 365,000 metric tons in 2018.
“Hindi na lang ang panganib ng pagbaha at pagkawasak ng mga ari-arian ng mga mamamayan ng probinsya ang idudulot ng aerotropolis, kundi mismong kagutuman,” Casilao said.
He also warned that “the province will be forced to rely on outside sources for its rice requirement, instead of aiming for self-sufficiency” if the aerotropolis project is done.
After the protest at the SMC in Ortigas, the groups headed to the central office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to demand the rejection of all the reclamation projects in Manila Bay.
Pamalakaya said a total of 42 projects covering more than 30, 000 hectares of its fishing waters.
