The earliest memories I have of Manila Bay was me in Pantalan wondering why I am in this smelly bay and why my mother wants to bathe me in it. The rocks, the sea louses, the free admission. Oh that's why. Why should we save this bay? For sentimental reasons? So that the seaside properties will still be continued to be called a seaside property? These are the questions that I ran across my head on my trip to the Manila Yacht Club to attend the press conference for the SOS Manila Bay Coalition.
At the back we have, I'm told the artist groups. So I stood in a corner waiting for the press conference to happen.
20 years ago Goldcoast tried to reclaim Manila Bay and they failed due to lobbying of the previous incarnation of the coalition. Last year, Goldcoast is trying the same thing with the first part of the reclamation to build "Solar City" which is I'm told two times the size of Luneta. The whole project stretches from the US Embassy up to the CCP Complex.
These are the new trustees of the SOS Manila Bay Coalition. They are composed of Lory Tan from World Wildlife Fund (WWF), John Leydon from Malate Parish, Doris Ho President and CEO of Magsaysay Maritime, Emily Abrera the chairman of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Paulo Algazaren urban planner, Nan Henares of the Heritage Conservation Society, and Atty. G. Pe Benito from the church.
The concerns over the reclamation can be classified into three:
- The Manila Bay is a heritage and a public space
- Scientific Issues
- Societal Impact
The first to talk on the conference was Lory Tan. He cited that if the reclamation pushes through it would cause the city to sink/land subsidence which has already happened in Hagunoy, Orani, and Malolos. Already the Manila Bay has the highest liquefaction in Manila. He also claims that the plan is culturally insensitive, socially noninclusive, and the reclamation will make a new flood zone.
John Leydon a priest from the Malate Parish laments the privatization of the commons and reiterates that the bay belongs to everyone. He claims that the reclamation is financially motivated.
Nora Juat, a representative from the Parochial of Malate biggest concern is about flooding that might occur. The project should benefit inhabitants too. Will the new "Solar City" allow people like her to enjoy the sunset just like Manila Bay?
Emily Abrera wants to preserve the place for the children. She cites that the project does not appeal to culture and sentiment of the people.
Ivan Henares has cited that the Manila Bay was declared ass a historical landmark. It is historically significant with its role during Spanish colonial times up to now. It is also the remaining beauty of Manila.
Atty. G. Pe Benito has pointed out that the project has undergone no public bidding and the sharing of the profit between Goldcoast and the City of Manila is 70/30 in favor of Goldcoast. He also has iterated that Manila Bay is declared as a national park, the project will be a violation of the Clean Water Act. People have the right to aesthetics he also claimed.
Paolo Alcazaren presented a slideshow of Manila Bay through the years and is also visible in his Facebook account here. On his presentation he said that none of the plans for Manila Bay was followed through since 1905. The planning became too political. He also showed us that the Manila Bay was the template in which Lakeshore Drive came from. So there's a picture of what could have been.
The remainder of the conference was also interesting with opinions from the audience and more tidbits about the reclamation like the plans for the reclamation is confidential. Which is silly when since it is a city property we're talking about. A comment from one of the audience was that if plans go through, Manila Bay would just be another Taft Avenue.
There are also talks of strategy. Mostly it involves raising public awareness and put the fact that it is election season into leverage like when they did with Lito Atienza and the city council back then. Others include getting City Hall to revoke the ordinance, file a petition on Comelec, and invoking a Writ of Kalikasan. What took the most applause on my opinion is the one calling the abolition of the
Afterwards we got documents about the project, studies on land subsidence a copy of the petition against the reclamation, and the list of the members of the SOS Manila Bay Coalition.
Later on after lunch and many many flans. I sat down with the trustees to hear more about the situation. Just a talk about how much it would suck that the first phase of the plan would make the Yacht club be a cesspool more than it is now. The city could have fixed this but nah. Put a huge city block on it.
My thoughts on this is I really enjoy the view going through Roxas Boulevard. Not fan of the rocks and the stinky water but maaan it would really be cool if we clear those up. I concur that the reclamation is just a money tree because let's face it. There's nothing impressive on reclamation. Look at the reclamation at Baclaran. How many tall corporate buildings are there in that massive area? This will take City Hall out of bankruptcy? Well if you're giving away land with 70/30 share with you getting the scraps it's no wonder you would go bankrupt. So it's not that. Greed driven politics killed the bay.
On the issue that there is nowhere in Manila where a corporation can make their base, I don't think that's an issue at all. There are spaces left where they could set up shop other than a reclaimed area in my opinion. There's the port area which has been looking bad for years. Retail shops that sells the same things over and over again. Repaired second hand appliances, cheap plastic helmets? Then there's a lot of vacant buildings ready to be toppled over and rebuilt into a new one. Maybe they should check with the Philippine Ports Authority on those properties?
Anyways as always I await the City Hall's side of things and update if it comes. Until then we just didn't utilize this city as we should and cleanup the bay. There's not even a beach there!
Thanks to Carlos Celdran on bringing this to MY ATTENTION
Comments
Post a Comment