Reclaimed land or not, storm surge beyond control, says councilor

Saying storm surges are natural forces that can sow destruction on land, whether reclaimed or not, a Manila councilor defended the city government’s contract with a private developer to reclaim and develop 148 hectares of Manila Bay.

“Personally, I think there’s no shield against a storm surge. Even if there’s no reclamation, when a storm surge happens, we will be affected,” said Councilor Joel Chua, one of the principal authors of City Ordinance No. 8233 which in 2011 lifted Manila’s 18-year-old ban on reclamation projects.

“Look at Tacloban City, there’s no reclamation there and yet it was ravaged by storm surges. Nobody can stop that kind of catastrophe. It’s an act of God. It’s beyond the control of men,” Chua said, referring to one of the Visayan urban centers hard-hit by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” two weeks ago.

The council passed Ordinance No. 7777 in 1993 which banned reclamation activities in the city’s portion of the bay. It was repealed by Ordinance 8233, which gave then Mayor Alfredo Lim the authority to enter into a contract with Manila Goldcoast Development Corp.

Councilor Ali Atienza last week filed a resolution calling on his colleagues to oppose reclamation projects and restore the ban.

On Monday, Goldcoast’s project proposal was discussed in a public hearing organized by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which is evaluating the developer’s application for an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

In the hearing, groups opposed to the project presented Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo, a marine geologist who had worked on a storm surge mapping project for the government.

Told of Chua’s reasoning, Rodolfo said that while storm surges may be a natural phenomenon, reclamation projects “are deliberately making an area susceptible” and putting it in disaster’s path.

Aside from storm surges, he stressed, there was also the threat of liquefaction, wherein the soil loses stability after an earthquake. “Reclaimed areas are most susceptible to liquefaction,” he said.

Monday’s hearing also featured a video of Manila Archbishop Luis Cardinal Tagle, who cited the importance of good governance and stewardship in the use of resources for the common good.

“It’s not enough to implement a project just to reap profits for a few,” said Tagle, whose archdiocese, through its Ministry on Ecology, has joined groups opposing the Goldcoast proposal.

But Chua explained: “With all due respect, our concern is how the project will benefit the city. How the government can keep up so it can respond to the needs of its constituents.”

“It’s not just the city council. We’re just one of the branches of government where the project proposal will go through. If the DENR thinks it’s not environmentally sound, it can deny the ECC,” the councilor said.