SC asked to clarify ruling on Manila Bay

A militant fisherfolk group on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to issue a legal opinion on whether its order for a clean up of Manila Bay was strictly to rehabilitate the bay or also to pave the way for reclamation and privatization.

“What is truly their (high court magistrates) opinion? Is it a clean up in Manila Bay or conversion and privatization?” Fernando Hicap, national chair of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), told reporters after filing the four-page appeal addressed to the justices.

Hicap signed the appeal as the convenor for the Koalisyon Kontra Kumbersyon ng Manila Bay (KKK-Manila Bay). Pamalakaya vice chair Salvador France also signed the letter.

Pamalakaya said the proposed reclamation of the 175- hectare bird sanctuary along the coastline of Manila Bay by the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) to pave the way for a business project center was “grossly unacceptable, a major threat to the marine environment and totally inimical to the cause of social justice and livelihood rights of the Manila Bay fisher people.”