Time to junk Parex

GIVEN the manifold problems associated with the Pasig River Expressway (Parex) and overwhelming negative sentiment, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) should do the right thing and cancel the project without delay. The signals, from project stakeholders and from the Marcos administration are abundantly clear: the proposed road does not belong anywhere near the Pasig River.

The Pasig River Expressway is clearly incompatible with Executive Order 35 of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., approved on July 25, 2023, to develop the river’s potential for tourism, green public space, new housing development, mass transit, riverside bike lanes, promenades and heritage preservation.

This incompatibility was further underscored during the January 17, 2024 ceremonial opening of the showcase section of the proposed Pasig River Esplanade — a major part of the “Pasig Bigyang Buhay Muli” Urban Development Program. In the President’s speech, there was not one mention of Parex. Instead, Marcos spoke of the river’s historical role as a “nautical expressway” and its future as a “maritime highway.”

The President described his administration’s vision: “We are here to consecrate ourselves to the mission of transforming Pasig River to what it is supposed to be: A living river of multiple benefits for the multitude, featuring safe walkways and bikeways along its banks, a green corridor that will serve as lungs for our city’s needs, a string of parks for communities nearby. Along the 25-kilometer stretch will judiciously sprout commercial enterprises, run by the best stewards and strongest stakeholders of the river’s development — the people themselves.”

“We envision civic spaces where our children will play, our seniors will relax, families will exercise, artists can showcase their talents, and the creative can display their wares. We want it to be a permanent exhibit area of green technology that works — from solar lights to rain harvesting facilities — sustainable practices like urban gardens. We will also maximize this ready-to-use but underutilized maritime highway, by deploying more ferry boats and stations, because, if you build them, the riders will come.”

Within this vision of the Pasig River, there is obviously no place for an ugly massive concrete structure that will ruin the vista irreparably and funnel noise, air pollution and heat from thousands of motor vehicles along the entire length of the waterway.

In addition to the incompatibility of Parex with the Marcos government’s plans for the river, the TRB has several other grounds for rescinding the Supplemental Toll Operation Agreement (STOA) for Parex– No agreement, especially by a national government agency such as the TRB, should be contrary to law. Parex violates Presidential Decree (PD) 1277 providing for the preservation of the walls of Intramuros and the restoration of its original moat and esplanade. Section 3 of PD 1277 requires the maintenance of a “clear space of 55 meters from and along the outer face of the walls, bastions and ravelins” of Intramuros.

This violation was already pointed out by the Intramuros Administration in a March 30, 2022 letter to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) Environmental Management Bureau (EMB). The westernmost section of Parex including its exit ramps come right beside the walls of Intramuros without any provision for the 55-meter clear space required by law. This unlawful alignment alone dictates cancellation of the STOA.

– The project proponent, SMC Infrastructure, committed an outright violation of PD 1586 establishing the environmental impact statement system when it conducted a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 23, 2021 prior to receiving an environmental compliance certificate (ECC). To hold a project groundbreaking in the absence of an ECC from DENR is not only unlawful, it sets a bad example.

If such behavior is condoned or ignored, it invites other proponents of major projects to believe that they are exempt from government rules and regulations because of their political influence or the size of their project. The TRB should not let such a violation pass without imposing a meaningful sanction such as cancellation of the STOA.

– The draft Parex environmental impact statement (EIS) submitted by SMC Infrastructure to the EMB was found to have several plagiarized sections, an infraction that should merit outright rejection of the document plus disciplinary action (e.g., suspension, blacklisting). The plagiarism was discovered and reported to the EMB by Joven Jacolbia in a March 29, 2022 letter, also copied to the TRB.

The plagiarism was subsequently acknowledged by SMC Infrastructure consultants in a letter dated April 12, 2022 — an indication of their incompetence and the lack of integrity as well as the weak quality control of SMC Infrastructure project managers. In either case, it calls into question the company’s capacity to execute a complex project with significant negative economic, social and environmental impacts.

– SMC Infrastructure failed to include a directly affected local government unit, the municipality of Taytay, Rizal, in the preparation of the project and in related consultations with stakeholders. Because the Parex alignment passes through Taytay, the town should have been automatically considered a direct impact area; the local government and affected communities should have been informed from the very start of project details and consulted on its impacts.

SMC Infrastructure’s failure to do so is a major deficiency that invalidates the draft EIS. It is yet another example of the project proponent’s weak capacity and lack of attention to detail.

For TRB to ignore these violations and the fundamental undesirability of Parex likely qualifies as gross negligence, requiring appropriate action by the Office of the Ombudsman. It’s time for the agency to junk the project.