THE Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) last Thursday lauded Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte -Carpio for rejecting the Mega Harbour Project, a massive land-reclamation project approved by her father, President Duterte during his stint as city mayor.
The project was a result of a joint-venture project signed by Duterte with Mega Harbour Port and Development Corp., his last official act as mayor of Davao City.
Pamalakaya said the massive land conversion threatens to destroy the coastal ecosystem and cause economic dislocation and displacement of people living in the communities.
Massive land conversion requires the dump-and-fill of coastal areas, often leading to the killing of mangroves, known as the breeding ground and sanctuary of small fish.
The P40-billion Mega Harbour project involves the reclamation of 200 hectares of coastal areas for the development of a property for mixed commercial and residential use. It covers areas in the Santa Ana Port and Barangay Bucana.
Duterte-Carpio terminated the project in July for its adverse impact on the environment and livelihood of the people living along its target coastal area.
“We welcome Mayor Carpio’s decision to reject one of the most destructive corporate activities to our fishing waters. Coastal reclamation always leads to the destruction of marine biodiversity and moreover, wide dislocation of fishers and coastal settlers in exchange for business ventures of a few developers,” Pamalakaya National Chairman Fernando Hicap said in a statement.
Hicap added President Duterte should follow the path of his daughter by terminating all the reclamation projects packaged under the National Reclamation Plan by the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), including some projects that have already started in Manila Bay, such as the 650-hectare Navotas Boulevard Business Park (NBBP).
The NBBP is expected to displace more than 20,000 fisherfolk and urban poor in the two barangays of Navotas City.
“President Duterte must declare all reclamation projects illegal and disastrous to the environment and the people. His daughter’s step was a welcome development, but it would be more beneficial to the Filipino fishers if all reclamation projects nationwide would be totally terminated,” Hicap said.