President Rodrigo Duterte had reservations over the proposed reclamation projects in Manila Bay due to their potential impact on the environment.
Almost 10,000 hectares of the Manila Bay would be reclaimed to give way to 25 projects.
In a recent interview with ABS-CBN News, Duterte said there needed be an audit on whether the environment could “absorb the waste and where would it go after being treated.”
“If it’s an investment to infuse more money into the Philippine economy, it seems to be OK. But the hugeness of the area you are trying to reclaim to me is almost mind-boggling,” he said.
“I am not ready even to say that I will grant it, not in my time, as long as there is no guarantee that the environment will be protected and the health of the people also safeguarded.”
In February last year, Duterte gave the power to approve reclamation projects back to the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), which, in turn, had been placed under the Office of the President.
The PRA was also mandated to seek advisory opinions from the National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Finance, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources on any reclamation project.
No reclamation project would be approved by the PRA without the required area clearance and environmental compliance certificate from the DENR and all reclamation projects had to undergo "competitive" public bidding, according to the EO.
The EO applied to reclamation projects, including those initiated by local government units and all other agencies, government-owned or controlled corporations or any government entity allowed under existing laws to reclaim land. — Virgil Lopez/DVM, GMA News
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/722007/lorenzana-no-need-for-foreign-aid-yet-amid-taal-activity/story/
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