Bacoor mayor sticks to Manila Bay reclamation plans despite oyster, mussel farmers’ opposition
BACOOR Mayor Lani MercadoRevilla has assured various stakeholders that the city’s oyster and mussel industry will not perish under her watch.
This as Revilla, wife of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla, said environmental protection and sustainable development are the paramount considerations in pursuing two development projects that will involve the massive land reclamation of coastal and marine areas in Manila Bay.
The mayor is pushing for the implementation of the Bacoor Reclamation and Development Project (BRDP), consisting of a total of 320-hectare island, and the Diamond Reclamation and Development Project (DRDP), consisting of one 100-hectare island via publicprivate partnership under the PPP Code of Bacoor.
Residents of coastal barangays in Bacoor City, however, strongly oppose the development projects, saying it will affect around 100 hectares of existing oyster and mussel farms in Manila Bay.
The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas-Cavite Chapter, through its spokesman Joel Falcis, said the twin land-reclamation projects will surely cause the death of the already threatened industry which suffered a severe blow with the construction of the Cavitex R-1 Extension Road Project several years back.
The local government of Bacoor earlier boasted that these two projects are the only projects along Manila Bay that carry with it a program for relocation and resettlement of squatters.
Bacoor City, considered as the birthplace of mussel farming in the
Philippines, produces around 6,000 gallons of mussels daily.
She assured that the city’s oyster and mussel industry would continue to thrive along with the promised economic benefits of the land-reclamation projects.
“It is not true that the oyster and mussel industry in Bacoor will die,” she said, explaining that Bacoor has 750 hectares of offshore municipal waters and only 330 hectares of these will be reclaimed. She said 90 hectares of the foreshore, or coastal areas, will be reserved for mangrove plantation, while the remaining 330 hectares will be set aside for growing oysters and mussels.
Revilla said the preservation of the city’s mangrove plantation is important not only in reducing the pollution in the Manila Bay area, but also in ensuring sustainable fisheries in the area.
Sustainable fisheries are another priority measure the National Economic and Development Authority pinpointed under its Manila Bay cleanup master plan, she noted.
According to Revilla, mangroves, specifically the underwater habitat their roots provide, offer critical nursing environments for juveniles of thousands of fish species. She added that mangroves also help prevent erosion by stabilizing sediments and maintaining water quality and clarity as they filter pollutants and trap sediments originating from land.
According to Revilla, water pollution had triggered episodes of algal blooms known as “red tide,” that threatened the mussel and oyster industry in the country.
From January to May 2019 alone, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has issued eight bulletins indicating shellfish in the covered areas are contaminated with organisms carrying paralytic poison, making them unsafe for human consumption.
Facing this challenge, Revilla assured the mussel and oyster farmers of continued support through the City Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (CFARMC) of Bacoor.
Moreover, she said, the reclamation plans designed with the help of leading European engineering firms and scientific consultants, pose no significant adverse impact on the ecology of the adjacent areas, including the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA).
Scientific studies note the nearest project site of the proposed reclamation is about 500 meters away from the protected area.
The development projects, which integrate environmental protection measures, are expected to provide Bacoor with an additional P1.8 billion annual revenues from tourism activities alone and create about 700,000 jobs for its residents and the entire province of Cavite, according to Revilla.
Aside from creating new jobs, the proposed projects incorporate incity relocation, assuring the directly impacted informal settler families (ISFs) and fishermen against dislocation of job or livelihood.
Under the proposed projects, affected squatter residents would be relocated at Ciudad Kaunlaran in Molino II where a livelihood center will also be established. On the other hand, Fisherman’s Village would be built in Barangay Alima for the affected fisherfolks. A wharf will be developed along the coast for their fishing activities.
Moreover, Revilla said the city government would bring to the resettlement sites its institutionalized “Alagang Ate Lani” program, which includes various forms of social services, including job fairs and free livelihood skills training.