Fisherfolk alliance has thumbed down Environment Secretary Lito Atienza’s P100-billion drive to rehabilitate Manila Bay. According to the Pambasang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the revival of Manila Bay was “never” a priority of the Arroyo administration and this was shown by its ambitious reclamation plans. Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap in a statement said that Atienza has transformed himself into a crusader for the environment, calling on the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other funding agencies here and abroad to finance his P100-billion Manila Bay rehabilitation plan. This is money-making at its best.
According to the fisherfolk group the plan would result in anything tangible and the funds raised could end up in private pockets. Hicap told that P100 billion is P100 billion and it’s a huge fortune for a corrupt regime. Last week Atienza called on various donor agencies to support the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ plan to put up water treatment facilities that would clear the waste before the water is released into rivers and the bay.
Atienza also ordered the demolition of all illegal fishpens along the coast from Manila to Bataan starting on Aug. 26. Commenting on that Pamalakaya said that Atienza’s “theories” on the deterioration of the bay were incorrect and charged him with “misleading” the public. While the group told that the full-blast commercialization of the Manila Bay area that started during the Marcos years and has been continued by subsequent administrations was the main reason the 190-km bay was now polluted.
