Writ shields fragile ecology

She remained firm on the need to halt the major reclamation of the 635.14-hectare area along the Bacoor-Las Piñas-Parañaque coastline.

A petition for the issuance of Writ of Kalikasan was needed to permanently stop the reclamation of the Bacoor-Las Piñas-Parañaque coastline to save the wetland’s Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area, Sen. Cynthia Villar reiterated yesterday.

In a letter to Daily Tribune, the lawmaker also raised the need to ensure that residents of three neighboring cities be spared of the possibility of massive flooding.

Villar, who garnered the most number of votes among senators in the recent midterm elections, remained firm on the need to halt the major reclamation of the 635.14-hectare area along the Bacoor-Las Piñas-Parañaque coastline as the project would allegedly endanger communities.

She fears flooding would worsen along the portions serving as water basin of the Las Piñas, Zapote and Parañaque rivers.

The senator said 431.71 hectares of wetland in Las Piñas and 203.43 hectares in Parañaque will form part of the project. This stretch, Villar said, is a critical bird habitat.

In her missive, Villar said the project would encroach upon the Las Piñas-Parañaque critical habitat and ecotourism area. She said 82 species of birds, including those in the endangered list, and eight species of mangrove would be threatened by the project.

She also disclosed that the area had been declared a “Wetland of National Importance” under the Ramsar Convention, or the Convention for the Conservation of Wetlands.

This, she said, underscored the significance of the preservation of threatened wildlife species and the critical role the area plays in the earth’s overall ecology.

The Philippines is among the countries that have committed to the Ramsar Convention in 1971.

It was also declared a protected area under Republic Act 11038 of the Expanded National Integrated Protected Area Systems (E-NIPAS) Act in June last year.

Villar wanted Alltech Contractors Inc., the Philippine Reclamation Authority and the local governments of Las Piñas and Parañaque to stop the project, which had initially attracted the potential construction of an airport, which business mogul Ramon S. Ang decided to transfer to Bulacan.