From Duterte to Marcos Jr., Manila Bay has been sacrificed for profit.

By Shan Kenshin Ecaldre 
Bulatlat.com 

CABUYAO, LAGUNA — For coastal fisherfolk, Manila Bay’s much-publicized “rehabilitation” has brought neither recovery nor relief.

They described a bay choked by reclamation, dredging, and corporate-backed infrastructure projects carried out under the banner of environmental protection.

In 2019, the government launched the “Battle for Manila Bay,” promising ecological restoration through massive cleanups and stricter pollution control. State agencies, led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), set targets to reduce fecal coliform levels and framed the effort as a decisive response to decades of neglect.

According to Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, the government cleanup is a public relations exercise as reclamation and dredging projects continue to inflict permanent damage on Manila Bay.

Law twisted, fisherfolk displaced, ecosystems destroyed

The government has been accused of twisting the 2008 Supreme Court Writ of Continuing Mandamus, originally intended to clean up and protect Manila Bay. Now they use it to justify reclamation, demolitions, and displacement of coastal communities.

“The mandamus was meant to rehabilitate Manila Bay, not to legitimize reclamation and destroy people’s livelihoods,” Kalikasan said in a statement, adding that mechanisms like the Manila Bay Task Force became “fast-track lanes for corporate projects, not environmental protection.”

More than 1,000 mussel harvesters in Navotas City lost their livelihoods in 2024 after all mussel farms were demolished to make way for the 650-hectare Navotas Coastal Bay Reclamation Project, a partnership between the local government and San Miguel Corporation. 

In Taliptip, Bulacan, over 700 fisherfolk families were forcibly removed for the New Manila International Airport project.

“This is not development but the systematic destruction of community-based fisheries to serve big business,” Kalikasan said. Beyond displacement, reclamation has intensified flooding and ecological collapse, as dump-and-fill operations alter water flow, bury marine habitats, and drive fish away from traditional fishing grounds.

Fisherfolk in Cavite reported massive dredging vessels off the coasts of Bacoor and Cavite City, while Metro Manila communities link reclamation to worsening floods, including a major oil spill during heavy flooding in July 2024.

“Even if coliform levels go down on paper, reclamation causes irreversible damage that no cleanup can undo,” Kalikasan said. “You cannot claim rehabilitation while destroying the bay’s natural defenses and breeding grounds.”

Harassment, sham suspensions, worsening conditions

Fisherfolk in Navotas opposing the demolition of their mussel farms reported harassment, surveillance, and threats by state forces, while environmental defenders Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano were abducted after opposing reclamation projects.

“These are clear environmental and human rights violations,” Kalikasan said, accusing the state of using intimidation to silence critics of Manila Bay’s “fake rehabilitation.”

Fisherfolk groups also dismissed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 2023 suspension of reclamation projects as “lip service,” citing continued dump-and-fill operations across the bay.

As of 2023, more than 200 reclamation projects had been proposed in Manila Bay, with 26 already able to secure Environmental Compliance Certificates. While several projects are supposedly suspended, including those in Pasay and Navotas, their operation continues. “This proves the suspension is a sham,” Kalikasan said.

Seven years into the rehabilitation program, fisherfolk said that conditions only deteriorated. Fish catch has declined, flooding has worsened, and coastal communities face displacement instead of protection. The Commission on Audit flagged the DENR for failing to produce an updated operational plan and clear timelines for Manila Bay’s cleanup and restoration.

 “From Duterte to Marcos Jr., Manila Bay has been sacrificed for profit,” Kalikasan said. “The longer reclamation continues, the farther genuine rehabilitation becomes.”

Communities fight back

In January, Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) members in Navotas staged a fluvial protest near an active reclamation site, denouncing the ongoing dump-and-fill operations. Days later, fisherfolk groups marched to the DENR to demand accountability for the destruction of marine ecosystems and livelihoods.

In December 2024, Kalikasan, together with fisherfolk organizations and affected communities, filed a Writ of Kalikasan, seeking to hold the state accountable for its failure to protect Manila Bay and its people.

“Our demand is simple,” Kalikasan said. “Stop reclamation and dredging. Uphold the Supreme Court’s mandate. Rehabilitation, not reclamation.”

For fisherfolk whose lives are bound to Manila Bay, the struggle is far from abstract. It is about survival, about reclaiming not land, but the sea that once sustained them. (RTS, DAA)