Las Piñas City Councilor and congressional candidate Mark Anthony Santos asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Saturday to proceed with the much-delayed P103.8 billion Las Piñas-Paranaque Coastal Bay Reclamation Project.

Voting 11-2, the Supreme Court (SC) En Banc approved on 21 October 2021 the reclamation project of around 530 hectares of the Manila Bay coastline in Las Piñas-Parañaque, ruling that the supposed environmental threat was not sufficiently established.

In 2009, Alltech Contractors proposed developing 321.26 hectares of land in Las Piñas and 174.88 hectares in Parañaque, both along the coastline of Manila Bay. The Philippine Reclamation Authority approved the project in 2010, subject to compliance with environmental rules. 

Alltech submitted an amended environmental performance report management plan (EPRMP) in December of that year and expanded the project to cover 203.43 hectares in Parañaque and 431.71 hectares in Las Piñas.

In March 2011, the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau issued the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for the project after Alltech Contractors were able to establish scientific and expert studies that assessed the potential flooding and flushing impact that may arise from the coastal bay project.

To recall, in March 2012, the late Las Piñas Mayor Vergel “Nene" Aguilar expressed disappointment with the legal action taken by his sister, Cynthia, against a 635-ha reclamation project, which she said poses environmental threats to the city.

However, it is a loss for Sen. Cynthia Villar, who, along with residents, petitioned the SC to stop the project because it would allegedly make their communities prone to flooding.

The lawmaker claimed it would impede the flow of the rivers of Las Piñas-Zapote and Parañaque. The SC granted a Writ of Kalikasan in 2012 but allowed the Court of Appeals (CA) to hear the full merits.

In 2013, CA denied Villar’s petition, saying the project underwent the full and proper process because, as the appellate court said, the submission of an Environmental Performance Report and Management Plan (EPRMP) is a valid form of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

The SC decision suggests that the city government of Las Piñas may proceed with the reclamation project despite Villar's objections, according to Santos.

He further disclosed that the city councils of Las Piñas and Parañaque issued the corresponding resolutions authorizing their respective city mayors to explore the proposal under a joint venture agreement (JVA). 

The cities of Las Piñas and Parañaque eventually accepted Alltech's proposal, and the parties executed their respective JVAs, he explained.

Santos said Villar failed to support her claim with any competent, credible, and reliable evidence that the proposed reclamation project would expose her and the Las Piñas and Parañaque residents and their properties to catastrophic environmental damage.

The incumbent city councilor also supports the reclamation project, saying that more than increasing the risk of flooding, it will help generate employment and increase income for the city.

“The reclamation project as this initiative would generate additional income for the city, enabling the implementation of various pro-poor projects, including socialized housing,” he explained.

But Santos learned that the clearance to proceed with the project remained unresolved by the members of DENR’s protective area management board until today, when the SC rendered its en banc decision three years ago.   “The status of the project remains at the detailed engineering stage.”. 

He said that he was informed by an incumbent DENR undersecretary that the members of the PAMB are being pressured by a powerful politician not to deliberate the clearance certificates of the project despite the SC decision.