Marikina files complaint over reclamation project

MANILA, Philippines — The Marikina government on Thursday filed an administrative complaint before the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) against a firm owned by a lawmaker over a reclamation project along the Marikina River that it blamed for the massive flooding in the city.??

In a three-page complaint obtained by The STAR, the City Environmental Management Office (CEMO) asked the DENR to issue a ?notice of violation with a cease and desist order against Bright Future Realty Corp. or BF Corp., owned by Marikina Rep. Bayani Fernando, for violation of environmental laws.

“Immediately order the restoration and rehabilitation of the natural ?topography of the river, including the flood plain and its easement,”?the complaint read.

The city government said the reclamation project is situated on the side of Provident Village in Barangay Tanong. Fernando denied the allegations.

Mayor Marcelino Teodoro believes the reclamation project is one of the reasons for the flooding during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses as it reduced the width of the 100-meter-wide river by about 20 meters.?

The city government alleged that BF Corp. violated Presidential Decree 1586 or the Environmental Impact Statement System when it did not secure an environmental clearance certificate from the DENR.

The construction of roads, artificial embankments, retaining walls and other structures disrupted the natural flood plain and topography of the river, it added.

?Even if the city’s planning office denied BF Corp.’s application for a locational clearance, the firm still continued with construction and development activities of the area, the city government said.

“They have utterly disregarded the intent of the law to submit to the process in order to be evaluated and ultimately, predict the likely impacts of their project to the environment,” the complaint further reads.

Teodoro explained they are not looking for sanctions to be imposed against BF Corp.

“We only want the reclaimed area restored and rehabilitated,” he said in a phone interview.