The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is undertaking a cumulative impact assessment on the reclamation projects in Manila Bay.

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said in a recent Palace briefing that they are now looking at the compliance of those who have already begun their reclamation projects in the bay.

This as several groups urged President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to unconditionally revoke all Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECCs) for the Manila Bay Reclamation.

“Right now, what I have been given some latitude to do is to actually present a cumulative impact assessment of the different individual projects,” Loyzaga said, noting that the past project evaluations were done on an individual basis.

“Globally po, ang (the) practice whenever you have several projects in a single ecosystem, you need a cumulative impact assessment and so we are undertaking that,” she added.

The DENR chief said they are using the baseline of the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan and comparing it with the technical descriptions of all the different reclamation projects in Manila Bay.

The Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan was contracted during the previous administration.

Complicating the matter, she further said, was the Supreme Court’s decision tasking the DENR, together with other agencies, to rehabilitate Manila Bay.

“What we are concerned about is that our task in terms of implementing that mandamus, okay, is actually going to be impeded by some of these developments,” Loyzaga pointed out.

“We have a mandamus that we need to implement, that by law, already by the decision of the Supreme Court, and we need to also now actually evaluate the cumulative impact of all of those projects together,” she added.

The DENR Secretary said "there are discussions ongoing with at least one party" on compliance issues.

"They will be called in for a technical conference to see whether may explanation po sila sa mga in-observe na potential non-compliance (they have an explanation on the potential non-compliance that was observed)," Loyzaga said.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by BETHEENA UNITE

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