Twelve people’s organizations joined forces and formed the Kilusan para sa Makataong Rehabilitasyon ng Manila Bay to demand a propeople rehabilitation of Manila Bay.
The organizations that signed the unity statement included Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Mangingisda (Pangisda), Greenpeace, Oceana Philippines, Focus on the Global South, Tambuyog Development Center and Lilak.
The alliance demanded that the government “put the people back into the discourse” and develop a “truly sustainable plan” that included more than 200,000 families in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) that depended on the bay for their livelihood.
Questions
Pangisda spokesperson Pablo Rosales said the billion-peso reclamation projects in the pipeline raised serious questions.
President Duterte last week signed Executive Order No. 74 that transferred the power of approving reclamation projects from the National Economic and Development Authority to the Philippine Reclamation Authority.
On Jan. 29, the Makabayan bloc in the House filed Resolution No. 2452 seeking a postponement of the bay rehabilitation.