President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (MALACAÑANG FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed a former official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as the new general manager and chief executive officer of the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA).
The Presidential Communications Office announced on Friday night the appointment of Cesar Siador Jr., who used to head the regional office of the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau in Cagayan Valley.
Siador, a chemical engineer, will head the PRA which is tasked to regulate all reclamation projects in the country. He will also sit on the agency’s board of directors.
According to the PRA, part of its mission is to “create environmentally sustainable reclaimed land, promote coastal resilience and develop government properties to advance the country’s development goals.”
READ: Group calls for PRA’s abolition, transfer of reclamation functions to DPWH
Suspension, review
In August this year, Marcos suspended all the 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay, pending a review of their environmental and social impacts.
Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga earlier said the review would include how the reclamation projects had been compliant with the conditions set in their environmental compliance certificates.
The suspension also came after the US Embassy, in a rare statement of such tone about local projects, expressed “concerns about the potential negative long-term and irreversible impacts’’ of ongoing reclamation activities on Manila Bay, citing their possible effects on “the environment, the resilience to natural hazards of Manila and nearby areas, and to commerce.”
The embassy, which faces the bay, then also noted the involvement of the China Communications Construction Co. in one of the projects, saying it had been added to the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List for its role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea.
READ: Manila Bay reclamation projects cause more harm than good – Pamalakaya
New board members
In August this year, PRA Assistant General Manager Joseph Literal maintained that the reclamation projects on Manila Bay were designed to protect the communities along its coast from tsunamis and storm surges.
Aside from Siador, the President also appointed former Quezon City Rep. Anthony Peter Crisologo and Alexander Lopez to the PRA board
Crisologo lost in the 2022 congressional race in Quezon City, while Lopez lost to Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna in last year’s elections.