A MILITANT FISHERFOLK ALLIANCE has thumbed down Environment Secretary Lito Atienza’s P100-billion drive to rehabilitate Manila Bay as “nothing but a money-making scheme.”

According to the Pambasang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the revival of Manila Bay was “never” a priority of the Arroyo administration and this was shown by its ambitious reclamation plans.

“All of a sudden, Atienza has transformed himself into a crusader for the environment, calling on the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other funding agencies here and abroad to finance his P100-billion Manila Bay rehabilitation plan. This is money-making at its best,” said Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap in a statement.

The fisherfolk group said it doubted the drive would result in anything tangible and added the funds raised could end up in private pockets.

“P100 billion is P100 billion and it’s a huge fortune for a corrupt regime,” said Hicap.

On Friday, Atienza called on various donor agencies to support the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ plan to put up water treatment facilities that would clear the waste before the water is released into rivers and the bay.

The secretary said setting up a water treatment facility alone would cost the national government at least P25 billion. He said water service providers Maynilad and Manila Water had yet to comply with their agreement to set up water waste treatment facilities.

The DENR chief said waste water and other sewage continued to be dumped by residents into public waterways in Metro Manila, Cavite, Bulacan and Bataan.

Atienza also ordered the demolition of all illegal fishpens along the coast from Manila to Bataan starting on Aug. 26.

Pamalakaya, however, said Atienza’s “theories” on the deterioration of the bay were incorrect and charged him with “misleading” the public.

The group said the full-blast commercialization of the Manila Bay area that started during the Marcos years and has been continued by subsequent administrations was the main reason the 190-km bay was now polluted.

“The real score about Manila Bay is that 80 percent of the untreated water wastes that are thrown or dumped into the bay come from industries and commercial establishments situated along the bay.

The reclamation activities of the government are also destroying Manila Bay, preventing the marine life from regenerating,” Hicap explained.

Pamalakaya said it was unfair of government to blame small fishing communities for the bay’s deterioration.

“Why us? We can’t destroy our main source of livelihood. It’s impossible for us to do that, because destroying Manila Bay is like destroying our basis for existence. In fact, we’re the victims here,” Hicap said.

The militant group countered that about 20,000 hectares of Manila Bay waters have been reclaimed over the years to give way to special economic zones in Bataan and Cavite, the commercial spaces presently occupied by Manila Film Center, the GSIS Building in Pasay City, the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Folk Arts Theater in Manila, and the SM Mall of Asia and other commercial companies in Pasay and Parañaque City.

Pamalakaya recalled that Atienza had given the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) an environmental clearance certificate (ECC) to develop the 90-ha reclaimed casino and resort complex on reclaimed Manila bayland. Operations are expected to begin in the third quarter of the year.