Saying storm surges are natural forces that can sow destruction on land, whether reclaimed or not, a Manila councilor defended the city government鈥檚 contract with a private developer to reclaim and develop 148 hectares of Manila Bay.
鈥淧ersonally, I think there鈥檚 no shield against a storm surge. Even if there鈥檚 no reclamation, when a storm surge happens, we will be affected,鈥� said Councilor Joel Chua, one of the principal authors of City Ordinance No. 8233 which in 2011 lifted Manila鈥檚 18-year-old ban on reclamation projects.
鈥淟ook at Tacloban City, there鈥檚 no reclamation there and yet it was ravaged by storm surges. Nobody can stop that kind of catastrophe. It鈥檚 an act of God. It鈥檚 beyond the control of men,鈥� Chua said, referring to one of the Visayan urban centers hard-hit by Supertyphoon 鈥淵olanda鈥� two weeks ago.
The council passed Ordinance No. 7777 in 1993 which banned reclamation activities in the city鈥檚 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 It was repealed by Ordinance 8233, which gave then Mayor Alfredo Lim the authority to enter into a contract with Manila Goldcoast Development Corp.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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 reasoning, Rodolfo said that while storm surges may be a natural phenomenon, reclamation projects 鈥渁re deliberately making an area susceptible鈥� and putting it in disaster鈥檚 path.
Aside from storm surges, he stressed, there was also the threat of liquefaction, wherein the soil loses stability after an earthquake. 鈥淩eclaimed areas are most susceptible to liquefaction,鈥� he said.
Monday鈥檚 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.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough to implement a project just to reap profits for a few,鈥� said Tagle, whose archdiocese, through its Ministry on Ecology, has joined groups opposing the Goldcoast proposal.
But Chua explained: 鈥淲ith 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.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the city council. We鈥檙e just one of the branches of government where the project proposal will go through. If the DENR thinks it鈥檚 not environmentally sound, it can deny the ECC,鈥� the councilor said.