Reclaiming the people’s right to a balanced and healthful ecology

(Speech delivered on October 16, 2013 at the Senate of the Philippines)

Mr. President, I rise on a matter of personal and collective privilege . . .

During the period when I was preparing this privilege speech, I received a letter from an octogenarian, 89-year-old Mr. Rodrigo De Los Reyes, who has been a resident of Las Piñas City for 51 years or since 1962. His property stands along Aldana Avenue in Manuyo Uno, in an area which is almost the boundary line between Paranaque and Las Piñas.

In his letter, Mr. Delos Reyes narrated that during the earlier decades, living in the said area was sheer joy for him and especially for his wife (a polio victim) who was confined to a wheelchair. They enjoyed the company of good neighbors in an almost idyllic surrounding. The frontage in their backyard provided them (in his own words) “with an unobstructed view of the Manila Bay and the fabulous sunset over the far horizon.”

He said the idyllic scenario changed with the development of Manila Bay, specifically the Cavite Coastal Highway that started in the early 1980s and succeeding reclamations and constructions that took place. According to him, the poor planning and implementation of the project, has caused damage and so much inconveniences for those living around their area in Las Piñas/Paranaque. Foremost of which is massive flooding as even the lagoon near their area was reclaimed, rendering their area as a virtual catch basin. Mr. Delos Reyes provided us with photos to substantiate his complaints.

Mr. Delos Reyes, over the decades, has discussed his problems personally to those involved in various development/construction works that were implemented around his property — including with the Public Estates Authority (PEA) and recently (on August 12) to its new entity, the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA).  But until now, his letters and pleas were met with unresponsiveness and inaction.

The plight of Mr. Delos Reyes is actually nothing new to me. I have heard hundreds of similar stories. I highlighted his situation because he really exerted effort in diligently documenting everything— from copies of his correspondence with authorities, sketch  of the development projects and various photos — which put everything in context and perspective.

Also, we are struck by the fact that if this man who lives in better circumstances in his solidly built, well-off property was heavily inconvenienced (almost to the point of being tormented) by the reclamation going on around him. We can only imagine what the less privileged residents go through? The families in poorer communities around the areas in question, whose houses are not made of strong granite and heavy wood such as the home of Mr. Delos Reyes. These folks, unlike Mr. Delos Reyes— who has the financial means to repair the damages to his property, have no such recourse.

Ang karamihan sa mga residente na nakapanayam ko ay walang ibang magawa kundi lumikas kung kinakailangan na at maglimas ng baha sa kanilang mga tahanan pagkatapos ng bawat pagbaha.

Maaari ko nang idadagdag si Mr. Delos Reyes sa 315,849 na mga residenteng Las Piñas na naninindigan laban sa reclamation. Sila ang mga taong sumuporta sa aking petisyon laban sa planong patuloy na reclamation sa Manila Bay na makakaapekto sa 65 na barangay sa tatlong syudad (37 sa Bacoor, 11 sa Paranaque, at 17 sa Las Piñas). As most of you are aware of, we have just recently elevated our petition to the Supreme Court. On October 10, we filed a petition for review on certiorari to again challenge the ruling of the Court of Appeals, which favored a planned reclamation project in Manila Bay.

This leads us to the question: how far along are we in our bid to reclaim portions of our seas and coasts? We know that the government’s National Reclamation Plan (NRP) will involve 102 projects or 38,000 hectares all over country. And 38 of these reclamation projects encompassing 26,234 hectares will be implemented in Manila Bay area alone — that is 70 percent of the entire NRP.  They are building another Metro Manila in Manila Bay. As I cited earlier, I and other residents of Las Piñas, Parañaque, and parts of Cavite are opposed to one of those 38 reclamation projects planned in Manila Bay — the proposed reclamation of the 635.14-hectare of Manila Bay, around the 175-hectare  Las Piñas-Paranaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area or LPPCHEA, which is a protected area by virtue of Presidential Proclamation Nos. 1412 and 1412-A and included in the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance, along with Tubbataha and the Palawan Underground River.

I believe that this esteemed body, or us as legislators, needs to be informed and updated about the extent of reclamation, those that will be undertaken in the near future and those in the pipeline. After all these reclamation projects will affect our constituents. Those planned for Metro Manila will have far-reaching impact on several nearby provinces of Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, and Bataan.

Of course, there are other big reclamation planned in Cebu’s Mactan Channel, covering 6,000 hectares in Cordova, Talisay, Lapu-Lapu, Naga, Minglanilla, Mandaue, and Consolacion; 1,280 hectares in Antique and 1,200 hectares in Leganes, Iloilo. The others will be in Panglao, Bohol (650 hectares), Negros Occidental (253 hectares), Aklan (240 hectares), Albay (240 hectares), Davao Gulf (238 hectares), Leyte (233 hectares), and Cagayan (220 hectares).

Of all people, we do not want to be remiss in this government plan (the NRP) that will affect not only majority of Filipinos but will also create an impact in the very communities that we live in. Were the people consulted about it? How were the projects under NRP approved? Was there due diligence done? Were environmental risks taken into consideration? And to quote the question posed by a geologist: Is “science again being blithely ignored by the financial interests and government authorities promoting the various reclamation projects”? These are questions that need to be answered.

Mr. President, the right to a balanced and healthful ecology is an enforceable legal right under the Philippine Constitution, which contains various environment-related provisions. To think also that the Philippine environmental legislation has also been considered as among the most progressive in South East Asia. But the various degradation, depletion and destruction of ecosystems in the country provides a stark contrast to those constitutional provisions and legislations.

Let us take as an example the coastal areas, where multiple ecosystems (such as mangroves, sea grass, coral reefs, and intertidal zones) co-exist. These narrow strips of land and sea, critical elements of the food-producing capacity of our islands, are continuously threatened by a paradigm that is totally inappropriate for our archipelago: Reclamation.

“The 1987 Constitution, for instance, mandates that the State should protect the nation’s vast and diverse marine wealth. In contrast to this pronouncement, resource depletion and destruction of the country’s coastal and marine ecosystems within the Philippine exclusive economic zone has left fish stocks depleted by as much as 90%, sea grass beds destroyed by as much as 50%, and coral reefs degraded by as much as 96%, all in the past 50 years.” (based from a paper drafted by the Center for Environmental Concerns — Philippines)

Coastal areas in urban ecosystems are even more vulnerable to deterioration of natural habitats. We have also lost 75.6% of mangroves in the past 82 years. We all know that a thriving mangrove cover is one of the best indications of a healthy environment or if nature can still support life in an area.

Ang mga mangroves ay ang pinakamabisang pananggalang natin sa mga bagyo at ang mga tinatawag na mga storm surges. Mas matibay pa sa kahit anong pinakamatibay na semento o sea wall. Nabalitaan at nakita din ninyo marahil kung paano gumuho ang mga sea walls sa kahabaan ng Roxas Boulevard noong tayo ay sinalanta ng bagyong Pedring noong 2011. Ang iba pang istruktura, pati na ang nasa US Embassy, ay nasira dahil sa storm surges. Samantala, sa amin sa Las Piñas, ang mga mangroves na aming itinanim ay nagsisilbing sapat na proteksyon laban sa mga storm surges.

Ang mga mangroves na ito rin ay mahalaga sa ating mga mangingisda, dahil dito nangingitlog ang mga isda at kung saan namamahay ang maliliit na isda. As cited by Center for Oceans Solutions, “the destruction of large areas of mangrove forest can result in lower incomes from fishing, reduced local food production and extreme poverty; destructive fishing techniques produce the same impacts.”

Eminent mangrove expert Dr. Primavera says that mangroves will survive only if the tidal flow does not change, they remain at or above mean sea level and they are the right mangrove species for that site. And reclamation will change all that, which will lead to the death and the destruction of the mangroves.

It cannot be overemphasize that any reclamation constitutes a triple strike within a triple strike against our remaining natural areas. 1) It destroys the source of the fill material by scraping and quarrying; 2) the part of the sea to be filled consisting of at least three types of ecosystems will no longer be viable nor life-supporting and; 3) the surrounding areas that will be forever changed due to hydrologic and migratory route changes. 

Academician Fernando Siringan of UP Diliman’s Marine Science Institute and his colleagues have documented that Metro Manila’s coastal areas are sinking as fast as 3 ½ inches every year. And Dr. MaharLagmay’s Volcano-Tectonics Laboratory at UP Diliman’s National Institute of Geological Sciences has used sophisticated, precise satellite data to verify subsidence over wide areas of Metro Manila, with the proposed reclamation areas experiencing up to 2 inches per year.  

In short, lumulubog na po ang Metro Manila at iba pang bahagi ng ating bansa, na talagang nakakaalarma. Leveling data from the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (Namria) reveal areas in Metro Manila that sank 0.68 meter to 1.34 meters in 30 years (from 1979 to 2009).

In fact, Dr. Kevin Rodolfo cited that “The land is subsiding about 30 times faster, mainly from over-pumping of groundwater. Reclamation may well speed up the sinking of the land, from withdrawal of groundwater, or from the added weight of new buildings, or both.”  

At  hindi naman pwede tambakan ng tambakan lang natin lagi ang mga ito. In fact, ang walang kapararakan na pagtatambak ay isa rin sa mga problema, katulad nga ng inireklamo ni Mr. Delos Reyes. He cited in his letter that PEA ground-filling “raised their developed land level by some 12-13 feet above the ground level of adjacent lands”. Kaya naging catch-basin ang kanilang area, sinasalo nila ang lahat ng tubig-baha mula sa mas matatas na kalye o lugar.

We should also remember that all bayfill materials, natural or man-made, are masses made up of pieces of rock ranging in size from tiny particles of clay to large boulders.  Spaces between the solid pieces are occupied by water.  Under normal conditions, the solid particles are in contact, so that the lower ones bear the weight of other grains above them as well as any buildings on top of them.  Nagkakaroon ng surface movement at pati na pagguho na delikado kapag lumindol. Nagiging shaky ang foundation at ang mga buildings o bahay ay maaaring lumubog o tumumba. (To be continued)