Reclamation projects at Manila Bay should consider the possibility of a major earthquake, described as the “Big One,” the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Wednesday, Aug. 2.
DENR Secretary Antonia Yulo Loyzaga (Photo from the Presidential Communications Office)
During a Palace press briefing, DENR Secretary Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said that the “Big One” is among the geological events needed to be considered when dealing with the current reclamation projects at Manila Bay.
While there would be a cumulative impact assessment composed of Filipino scientists and foreign experts, the DENR chief underscored the need “to do the cost benefit analysis in terms of the impact to the ecology and the longer term impact in terms of possibly what could result from climate change.”
“For example: sea level rise needs to be considered, the different possible geological events that could actually take place – as you know, there has been a lot of talk about the ‘big one’ ‘no,” she explained.
The official furthered that any reclamation project without taking into consideration the rising sea levels could also derail the “Oplan Yakal Plus,” the Metro Manila Earthquake Contingency Plan that illustrates and defines the roles of each government agency in case of the “Big One” hitting the country’s capital.
“All of these need to be taken to consideration in terms of scenarios for reclamation as well as the subsidence that is ongoing because of the extraction of groundwater from the coastal areas of Manila Bay,” Loyzaga said.
Currently, the DENR is assembling the team that will do the cumulative impact assessment to determine the impact of the Manila Bay rehabilitation projects on ecology.
She also shared that the agency had already asked companies engaged in the reclamation project alleged of non-compliance to submit the necessary documents.
The official explained there could be “challenges” to this because the permits given during the previous administration came with conditions that have to be reconciled with conditions required by different government agencies for the issuance of a certificate of no objection.
“So, while on the surface, there may have been processes wherein no objection from certain agencies was elicited, we are now looking into actually the compliance of the conditionalit(ies) that were imposed in order for those certifications of no objection to actually be valid,” Loyzaga added.
Her comments came amid concerns raised by the United States Embassy in Manila about the ecological impact of the rehabilitation project.
The embassy also raised concerns over the involvement of a Chinese company in the projects.
"We are also concerned that the projects have ties to the China Communications Construction Co., which has been added to the US Department of Commerce's Entity List for its role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea," the embassy said.
"The company has also been cited by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for engaging in fraudulent business practices," it added.
At least 5,000 hectares of Manila Bay will be needed for the total of 13 reclamation projects that have been approved.