A fisherfolk group has not given up its fight to stop the Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) project in Cavite City.
The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) appealed to Cavite Governor Juanito Victor Remulla to reconsider the provincial government’s agreement with the China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC), one of blacklisted firms in the Unites States.
“We call on Governor Remulla not to lay open Manila Bay to a Chinese firm that is involved in a massive reclamation and construction of military facilities in the West Philippine Sea,” Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap said.
Hicap said the China-backed project could displace 26,000 fishing families living along the coastline from Bacoor City to Cavite City should it push through.
Pamalakaya also warned the airport construction could be a “prelude to Chinese takeover of Philippine waters.”
“He (Remulla) should not compromise the sovereignty, environment, and most especially the socio-economic rights of tens of thousands of Caviteño fishermen,” Hicap, who hails from Rosario, Cavite, said.
The fisherfolk group made an appeal to Remulla despite the pronouncement by Malacanang on Tuesday that all China-backed projects in the country will continue even if the U.S imposed trade sanctions on its firms.
CCCC was among the 24 Chinese state-owned firms involved in the massive reclamation activities in the contested waters of the South China Sea.
The Sangley airport project is a joint venture between CCCC and the consortium of Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp.
“The people of Cavite, most especially the fisherfolks and coastal population, do not need an airport, but a coastal community integrated to a sustainable livelihood,” Hicap said.