Manila, Pasay agree on 3 bay projects
The mayors of the cities of Pasay and Manila has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for a joint "utmost effort to cooperate with each other and extend mutual assistance" in connection with their separate partnerships with private groups to reclaim huge swathes of the Manila Bay to generate valuable coastal real estate as well as provide employment and other economic opportunities in the two premier coastal cities in Metro Manila.
The signing of the MOA by Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, and Pasay Mayor Antonino Calixto, along with the representative of the three groups with reclamation proposals in Manila Bay, namely Manila Goldcoast Development Corporation (MGDC), SM Prime Holdings, Inc.; and the Pasay Harbor City consortium, clears the way for the reclamation projects getting traction and moved forward by the different project proponents.
As stipulated in the MOA, the three "Manila and Pasay Reclamation Projects" were identified as:
• MGDC's 148-hectare reclamation project in joint venture with the Manila LGU "involving the southern parcel of the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road and Reclamation Project-North Sector, otherwise known as 'Solar City' Project."
• SM Prime Holdings, Inc.'s 300-hectare and 60hectare projects in joint venture with Pasay LGU, otherwise known as the "SM Project"
• Pasay Harbor City consortium's 265-hectare reclamation project in joint venture with the Pasay LGU, otherwise known as the "Pasay Harbor City project."
In a statement, Estrada trumpeted the MGDC's Solar City Manila's reclamation project as one that will generate an estimated 150 billion in revenues and create 500,000 jobs once the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) issues a notice to proceed to the project.
During the Manila City Development Council Convention held at the Manila Hotel on October 20, Estrada said that the 148-hectare Manila Solar City Reclamation Project will start early next year, the biggest reclamation project between the Manila-Pasay border in the south and Roxas Boulevard in the east.
The project will cover around 3.5 kilometers of Manila Bay’s shoreline.
“Not only will these reclamation projects substantially increase the revenues of our city, it will also generate approximately 500,000 new jobs for our residents,” Estrada said in his speech.
Based on the study made by UP professors, Manila has the highest poverty incidence in the national capital region because many of them are jobless, he said.
“So in a sense, these reclamation projects are the answer to our prayers. We will be able to provide decent jobs opportunities to our citizens,” Estrada said.
“With this milestone project, we are getting close to achieving our dream of regaining the City of Manila’s old title, the Pearl of the Orient. This will mean a lot to us in terms of revenues and employment and business opportunities,” Estrada said.
Work on the three 140hectare islands in the bay is expected to start next year.
“As a positive consequence, the RPT share of Barangays will increase accordingly. In the first year, expected additional share will amount to 15 million and 115 million per barangay after 5 more years,” Estrada said.
Not only barangays will benefit but the project will likewise expand such as social services, state-of-the art medical equipment, additional salaries increases for city employees and more parks and playgrounds for children will be constructed, Estrada said.
The mayor also issued executive order 39 creating the Task Force Malinis na Kapaligiran, where a Unit will conduct strict implementation of a city-wide cleanliness drive through the enforcement of the city’s anti-littering ordinances and arrest violators.
He also confirmed that the Department of the Interior and Local Government cleared the city of “ghost barangays.”