Students and residents protest against a proposed reclamation project that will affect 174 hectares along the coastline of Dumaguete City. (Photo courtesy of MATTHEW VINCENT TABILOG)
MANILA, Philippines — The government should stop “dump-and-fill” reclamation projects that had “disregarded environmental safeguards” prescribed by the Constitution and various laws and regulations, at least 80 civil society organizations said in a collective statement issued on Tuesday.
“We call on the Philippine government to immediately halt the irregular approval of these projects that will destroy the rich biodiversity in coastal and marine ecosystems of the country, our source of life and livelihood, particularly for the undernourished and impoverished coastal communities among our people,” the statement said.
The groups called out all local government units that “hastily” approved “without adherence to the requirements of regularity, transparency, accountability, and participation by public and private proponents” the following large-scale reclamation projects:
- 174-hectare reclamation along the coastline of Dumaguete City
- 230-hectare reclamation in Consolacion, Cebu
- 100-hectare reclamation in Minglanilla, Cebu
- 23 reclamation projects at Manila Bay that are in various stages of development
According to the groups, the social justice provision in the Constitution gives small-scale fisherfolk preferential access to marine resources. And yet, similar projects in the past were still able to push through and these destroyed fishing grounds and displaced fisherfolk and their families.
The groups said these projects had already devastated thousands of hectares of mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs.
The Philippines is known as the center of marine biodiversity as it lies at the apex of the Coral Triangle.
However, this reputation may soon be lost with the wholesale approval of large-scale reclamation, aptly described as dump-and-fill projects all over the country,” said the groups said.
“At direct risk in all these dump-and-fill projects are the food security and self-sufficiency of coastal residents, especially the municipal fisherfolk and other sectors whose livelihood are directly dependent on the fisheries and aquatic resources of their prime fishing grounds,” they said.
“These projects will literally decimate their means of survival and adds to their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, which have to be factored in this time of the covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis,” they added.
The statement was also sent to the following government agencies:
- Philippine Reclamation Authority
- Department of Agriculture
- Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
- Department of Environment and Natural Resources
- Biodiversity Management Bureau
- Department of the Interior and Local Government
- members of the House of Representatives and the Senate
- League of Cities of the Philippines,
- League of Municipalities of the Philippines