Fisherfolk fear loss of homes, jobs to planned air, sea ports

MANILA, Philippines—Some 26,000 fisherfolk families living by Manila Bay will be displaced by the planned Aquino-Sangley International Airport and Aguinaldo-Sangley International Seaport projects on reclaimed land off Cavite City, the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) has warned.

In a statement to the Inquirer, the left-leaning fisherfolk group said the multibillion-peso projects of local consortium All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. (ARRC) would “hasten the death” of the polluted fishing ground.

The twin projects “will send the fishing villages ringing Manila Bay to the death bed of environmental catastrophe and destruction,” Pamalakaya said.

“Twenty-six thousand families, or roughly 156,000 people, will be dislodged from their livelihood and communities in exchange for the government’s offer of a measly P15,000 for each of the displaced families,” the statement said.

A Pamalakaya-affilated group, the Alyansa ng Mandaragat ng Bacoor, Cavite (Alyansa), also urged Malacañang not to give the projects the go-ahead.

Instead, the Aquino administration “should think of other ways to address the hunger and poverty plaguing coastal communities and fishing villages” in the Manila Bay area.

Sought for comment, Lito Beriña, ARRC president and chief executive officer, said that “in consultation with the affected Manila Bay communities and local government units, we will formulate a social development plan that will address their livelihood, relocation and environmental concerns.”

“We will strive to develop the Sangley airport and seaport projects along the principles of green and sustainable technologies,” the former top official of the Public Estates Authority (PEA) told the Inquirer.

The PEA is now the Philippine Reclamation Authority.

William Tieng, chair of the Solar Group of Companies, the lead local partner of ARRC, earlier said their foreign partners were “bullish about the Philippines and its development prospects, particularly the construction of the country’s newest international gateway, one that will be responsive to the nation’s booming economy and thriving tourism industry.”

On Jan. 10, the ARRC submitted letters of intent (LOI) to undertake the projects to the Department of Transportation and Communications and the PRA.—Jerry E. Esplanada