The fight to keep Freedom Island free: a must read

photo coutesy of Coastal Lagoon Las Pinas - Paranaque

Last week was the first time I've heard about the already approved plan of building a 625 Hectare reclamation area right in front of Freedom Island, the last remaining coastal periphery of salt marshes, mangrove frontier and avian refuge for over 80 species of birds in the whole Metro Manila area. Being able to house such a biodiversity, it was declared a critical habitat in 2007 through Proclamation 1412. The environmental impact assesment office of the DENR said that the company who already won the bid to construct the reclaimation area for 14B pesos has already passed the necessary documents and has already submitted the necessary data to comply with environment regulations. He candidly said on TV that if there will be a time that something goes wrong, they can easily fine and incur penalty to the company responsible for any damages done.
Now, I wonder:
Can we really pinpoint those people who will be responsible for any environmental loss?
Make them accountable for anything? Can we really put a price on environmental damages?
Does somebody really care enough?



Knowing our country's history, there is a slim chance that nobody will be made accountable for anything much more convict them. There will be a trial though, and it will make headlines. It will be on the news, radio, newspapers probably for a couple of days, months  and years if we're lucky. But apparently, like any other news, it'll just fade away and get whitewashed with the latest news about Kris Aquino or  President Noynoy's love life. Many will laugh away their time on Vice Ganda's funny jokes and discuss whether or not they will ever find Elisa on the soap opera "Nasaan ka Elisa" (Where are you Elisa?).
But, when the rain comes, all of us will be clueless why our houses gets flooded even with the smallest amount of rainfall, everybody will have a conspiracy theory why the prices of the sea foods in the market are so high, why the temperature in Metro Manila so humid and why the air so polluted.
Today, let me tell you why.
 Freedom island serves as a natural shield against typhoons. And, despite of the mountain of trash and garbage it collects when the tides rolls in its shores, it has been blessed with a vast number of mangroves. These mangroves believe it or not helps clean up our very polluted air and water. It also serves as fish hubs and aquatic sanctuary for many marine life. It also houses the many birds that migrate from the north part of the world when it's winter there and in turn helps preserve their existence in the world. The area also serves as the major outlet for waterways in our cities. Sadly, if we cover the surroundings of the island with soil, water will not freely flow out to the ocean unless we have the capability to build the same sewage system like that of Japan which I doubt we can (we still can't even fix those within the Metro). Hence, the inlands of Cavite, Manila, Las Pinas, Pasay and Paranaque will be prone to more flooding. Apart from that, affected as well are the many local fishermen who makes their living catching fishes in these parts of the waters. Giving us reasonably priced fishes as they supply the many wet markets in the metro. And, If we cover a vast part of the ocean to build a logistics port hub and convert the area to an airport. It will not only limit the area where fishermen can fish and affects prices in the market, the noise will drive the fishes away. A little disturbance in the surroundings can make a huge effect in the ecological balance of Freedom Island. :(

The effort of the government to put a logistic port and convert Sangley point (Cavite City) into an airport is really senseless and thoughtless. We don't need new land, we already have plenty of land. Look at SBMA freeport and facilities, we already have an existing airport there and a good logistics port. Already made and  ready to run, it only needs a bit of upgrading and improvement and a much better design to expand it. It is also very near Manila and just next to Manila bay.
An already existing land ready for re-purposing.

I don't want to get political, but I think this is just an attempt of  President Noynoy to make a mark perse. A known contribution of his to the world of infrastructures just like what GMA did with her RORO, STAR LRT 2 and SCTEX projects or that of former Pres. Ramos with his SKYWAY project in the south. But, unlike those that preceded him, he doesn't have my vote on this one. In addition to that, isn't he aware of the Supreme Court's order in 2008 to restore and clean up Manila Bay? For three years, people have been cleaning up the bay just like running the marathon for the restoration of Pasig river. And now, how can we restore something if you're going to kill it by burying it?

I am no expert, and I know that not all reclamation area projects turned out bad. Japan have done it. But, I think I have to trust my guts on this one. The affected parties are just too many and the risk too high. I think it will be best if he just build a cable bridge from Subic to Manila bay just like in San Francisco than covering up our merely surviving bay.  Why not set a budget to clean up all the garbage, make more efforts to preserve it through eco-tourism and make use of what we already have. After all, our coastlines and marine life are still our country's greatest assets.
Surely, if he does this, PNOY will earn the praise, respect and will truly be remembered by the Filipino people.


PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE FREEDOM ISLAND ON MY BLOG LINK.
Make some noise people!
Thank you!