|
|
Taking
cues from SC decision voiding PEA-Amari deal:
Militants Want Halt to all Reclamation
Projects in Manila Bay
Following the recent Supreme Court decision that reaffirmed as null and void the
controversial PEA-Amari deal, fisherfolk activists are pressing government to
scrap all other deals and projects that claim billions-worth of public lands
along Manila Bay. They have also asked for the investigation and prosecution of
former President Fidel V. Ramos under whose administration the PEA-Amari project
was made.
By
Gerry Albert Corpuz
Bulatlat.com
Taking cues from the May 7 Supreme Court decision that reaffirmed as null and
void the joint venture agreement between the Philippine government and the
Thailand-based development group, Amari Coastal Development Corporation,
fisherfolk activists from Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas
(Pamalakaya) last week urged the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to stop all
reclamation projects in Manila Bay area.
The militant group Pamalakaya pressed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to cease
and desist from pushing all reclamation projects undertaken by the Public Estate
Authority (PEA) with foreign corporations.
"Not
only was the PEA-Amari deal the grandmother of all scams, it was also a tragedy
of national proportions brought about by the regime's obsession to please the
corporate players of imperialist globalization," Pamalakaya told
Bulatlat.com
The controversial PEA-Amari deal involved the acquisition of 158 hectares of
reclaimed land on Manila Bay that was to be converted into so-called Freedom
Islands. The deal was forged in April 1995 as part of the Ramos administration's
Manila Bay Master Development Plan (MBMDP).
The PEA-Amari deal – in addition to other projects in Manila Bay - displaced
over 3,000 fishing and coastal families in Manila Bay just to give way to what
Pamalakaya described as “an immoral, illegal and grossly unconstitutional
state venture."
Quoting the high tribunal's decision on the PEA-Amari deal that the constitution
bans a private corporation from acquiring any kind of alienable land of the
public domain, Pamalakaya insists that all reclaimed lands in Manila Bay are
alienable lands and part of the public domain and therefore should be spared
from commercial activity and corporate takeovers.
Fernando Hicap, the group's chair, said the high tribunal made clear that lands,
which are part of the public domain, should be protected from any state auction.
He said Pamalakaya since the very start had insisted the same argument in
opposing deal and had invoked principles of social justice, national patrimony
and sovereign rights to spare Manila Bay areas from rigid reclamation, massive
privatization and conversion.
”From the start, we have been telling the government that Manila Bay areas are
part of the public domain and the rights of the people fishing and residing
along the bay should be respected and upheld,” Hicap said. “But the
government dismissed our correct position to pave way for the transformation of
the bay into an international gateway to meet the narrow and criminal interests
of foreign and local exploiters."
Hicap added: "At this point, the most logical thing the government can do
is to stop all reclamation projects in Manila Bay and allow bay fishers and
coastal people to fish and live without any threats of demolition."
The high court stressed the PEA-Amari deal if implemented would set a very
dangerous precedent since it would open the floodgates for private entities and
individuals to acquire public lands through PEA. The SC, voting 8-5, said the
deal from the start was illegal due to constitutional limits on foreign entities
owning public lands.
The high tribunal said PEA's action on its deal with Amari would effectively
nullify the constitutional ban in Section 3, Article 12 of the 1987
Constitution, which bans foreign entities from owning alienable lands, which are
part of the public domain.
The SC court first nullified the renegotiated deal between PEA and Amari on July
9 last year. Under the negotiated deal, Amari was to reimburse PEA by P1.9
billion pesos, representing the actual cost of partially reclaiming Freedom
Islands in Parañaque City.
Crimes of corruption
The project, Hicap added, also violates the principle of social justice, the
PEA-Amari deal involves “the crudest form of corruption among bureaucrat
capitalists in the government in conspiracy with their business clients."
Data obtained from PEA revealed that the property was sold to Amari for P1.9
billion or P 1,200 pesos per square meter although the value of properties in
adjacent areas were pegged at P90,000 per square meter. The Senate in its
inquiry in 1998 found a paper trail representing commissions paid to certain PEA
officials amounting to P1.7 billion.
Former President Ramos denied accusations that the PEA-Amari deal was clinched
to benefit members of the ruling Lakas-NUCD as alleged by opposition groups.
However, ex- solicitor general Franciso Chavez filed a petition to nullify the
PEA-Amari deal because the government stood to lose billions of pesos in the
sale of reclaimed lands to Amari.
On April 25, 1995, PEA entered into a joint venture with Amari to develop
Freedom Islands and on June 8 of the same year, Ramos okayed deal. On Nov. 29,
1996, then Senate President Ernesto Maceda delivered a privilege speech
assailing the deal as the "grandmother of all scams."
Charge
Ramos, PEA over Amari deal
The PEA-Amari deal was renegotiated during the administration of ex-President
Joseph Estrada that would allow Amari to reclaim another 592.15 hectares of
submerged areas of Manila Bay but it was former President Fidel Ramos and his
PEA officials who provided the muscle for PEA's illicit deal with Amari group.
"It is only just and logical to charge ex-President Ramos and his minions
in PEA over this horrible crime. We strongly urge this administration to drop
its political loyalty to the Ramos camp and sue him and his cohorts before the
court of justice," Pamalakaya stressed.
Pamalakaya assailed President Arroyo for maintaining a silent posture on the
issue despite the wide clamor to prosecute ex-President Ramos and the rest of
his officials implicated in the scam.
Dried fish paraded at PDMB
To dramatize their protest against the massive reclamation of coastal areas in
Manila Bay, Pamalakaya paraded several kinds of dried fish in their
"round-around, round-the-clock protest" held at the President Diosdado
Macapagal Boulevard (PDMB), another controversial PEA project which was
overpriced by at least P600 million.
Activists from KMP(Peasant Movement of the Philippines), the worker-peasant
political group Anakpawis (Toiling Masses), supporters from National Network of
Agrarian Reform Advocates-Youth Sector (Nnara-Youth) and Peasant Education and
Studies Center (PESC) joined the group.
"The PDMB project should also be declared illegal, immoral and
unconstitutional," the group said. Pamalakaya asserted the PDMB was heavily
ridden with scam and that the 5.1 km asphalt road was part of the alienable land
and therefore part of the public domain.
"If the PEA-Amari deal was the grandmother of all scams, the PDMB was the
mother of all scandals," the group stressed. Bulatlat.com
Back
to top
We
want to know what you think of this article.
|
