‘… the President may not know that 70 percent of ship maintenance from Cebu and Northern Mindanao are being done in the shipyard in Tayud, Consolacion.’
FOR five years now, no proposed reclamation project in Manila Bay moved ahead because President Duterte put his foot down on these proposals. The Chief Executive did not believe in all the well-written project proposals and videos made by proponents, curtly dismissing them as business schemes without regard to their impact on the environment.
No amount of convincing and assurances such as high-tech design, well-managed carbon footprints, big drainage mains, city revenue contributions, business growth, etc. could change the President’s mind.
In his speech at Camp Crame, QC last week, the President emphasized that he has stopped the processing of permit applications for Manila Bay reclamation projects due to reports of corruption.
“Thousands have applied but because of the corruption that I’ve heard early last year, there’s no more processing of papers,” Duterte said in a speech last month during the launch of the National Coalition of Lingkod Bayan Advocacy Support Groups and Force Multipliers at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Duterte warned: “I told you, do not give money to the people in government. If I know you have given even a single centavo, I will throw your application to the waste basket.”
The Chief Executive’s objections to reclamation are as valid in Manila Bay as in Cebu or elsewhere. Duterte might not be aware that in Consolacion, Cebu, residents and shipping industry stakeholders are protesting a 235-hectare reclamation project reportedly because Mayor Joannes Alegado allegedly railroaded it without proper documents and skirting usual procedures.
The project, it was reported, will cause shipyards to lose an area where ships can stay during storms and emergencies. Ship maintenance facilities are not addressed, even as the President may not know that 70 percent of ship maintenance from Cebu and Northern Mindanao are being done in the shipyard in Tayud, Consolacion.
Cebu’s status as the shipping hub of the Visayas is at risk if shipyards are displaced by a reclamation project that allegedly serves only the officials.
Reclaiming land from the sea brings and shares the same headaches, whether in Manila or in Cebu — the reason why Duterte will have none of it.
