Suspend reclamation, DENR urged

An environmental group reiterated its call for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to put the ongoing reclamation projects in Manila Bay on hold as the agency conducts a cumulative impact assessment on these activities.

Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) expressed alarm over the involvement of a Chinese construction company in the reclamation activities in Manila Bay. The same company was found to be involved in the construction of artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea.

“It is quite alarming that the very same company wrecking ecosystems in the West Philippine Sea is operating right here, legally, in plain sight in Manila Bay,” Jon Bonifacio, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE, said in a statement on Sunday.

“This is an insult not only to our natural heritage but also to our national sovereignty,” he said.

The group urged the government to suspend China Communications Construction Co. and called for a moratorium on all ongoing reclamation projects. INQ