PRESS STATEMENT OF SENATOR M.A. MADRIGAL ON PAMALAKAYA

PRESS STATEMENT OF SENATOR M.A. MADRIGAL ON PAMALAKAYA

Senator Jamby Madrigal welcomed the members of the militant fisher folk alliance, Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) as they docked at the breakwater near the Philippine Senate grounds this morning.

PAMALAKAYA held a 10-boat fluvial parade from Bacoor, Cavite to the Philippine Senate to present to Senator Madrigal, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, the fisher folk legislative agenda that include their call to stop the dismantling of fish pens, fish traps and mussels aquaculture structures in Manila Bay.

The fisher folks accuse the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and local government officials of misinterpreting the December 18, 2008 Supreme Court Ruling ordering concerned government agencies to coordinate the clean-up, restoration, and preservation of the water quality of the Manila Bay. It was, according to the group, a "cloak to justify the intention of the DENR to get rid of the structures in order to give way to the construction of R-1 Expressway Extension Project of the Philippine Reclamation Authority.

The 7-km R-1 Expressway Extension will involve the reclamation of 7,500 hectares of submerged public lands and mangrove areas.

"I personally went to Bacoor and Binakayan towns in Cavite two weeks ago to inspect the supposed implementation of the Supreme Court Order to clean up Manila Bay. I was appalled at how the involved government agencies are exploiting the Manila bay clean up order to destroy the livelihood of the fishermen living along the coast of the bay!" exclaimed Madrigal.

Sen. Madrigal went to Bacoor Cavite on board Philippine Coast Guard boat from the ferry terminal at the Mall of Asia. She witnessed the "clean-up operation" of the DENR and the dredging of sea sand in Cavite.

In a dialogue with the residents of Bacoor, she was told of the P4.3 billion R-1 Road Extension Project that, the residents claimed, resulted to the diminished fish catch and destruction of remaining corals and mangroves in Bacoor Bay (part of Manila bay in Bacoor town). The road project is also being blamed for the flooding in Bacoor and nearby coastal towns in the province.