Fisherfolk says no to Bulacan international airport

Fisherfolk says no to Bulacan international airport

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Proposed airport in Bulacan | Photo by San Miguel Corp.

Manila, Philippines – The national fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA-Pilipinas) opposes the international airport project in Bulacan that has been approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

With NEDA’s approval, Ramong Ang’s San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is set to build, operate, and maintain the P700-billion international “aerotropolis” which involves an airport covering 1,168 hectares and a city complex to be built at a 2,500-hectare area along Manila Bay in Bulacan, Bulacan.

For its part, PAMALAKAYA Chairperson and former Anakpawis Partylist solon Fernando Hicap said the project will lead to environmental disaster in Manila Bay threatening the livelihood of more than 20,000 fisherfolk in the municipality of Bulacan, Bulacan and other neighboring towns.

This project will not only destroy marine ecosystem, but also the livelihood of thousands of fisherfolk who subsist by fishing in the rich fishing hub of Manila Bay,” Hicap said, also lambasting President Rodrigo Duterte for selling out fishing waters and coastal communities to foreign investors and giant developers trough his Build, Build, Build (BBB) program.

President Duterte is on a roll in selling our coastal waters to big-time business magnates; not less than 5 destructive reclamation projects have been approved in Manila Bay since he assumed post as chief executive, all at the expense of socio-economic rights of hundreds of thousands of fisherfolk and coastal settlers,” added Hicap.

PAMALAKAYA said the BBB program is disastrous to the environment and the Filipino people, as it serves as the instrument of local and foreign developers to takeover public lands and coastal areas that provide shelter and livelihood for millions of Filipinos especially farmers and fisherfolk.

The progressive fisherfolk group vows to oppose all the infrastructure projects under the BBB program especially those which involve land reclamations and conversions of fishing waters.

In the name of our fishing and community rights, and in preserving Manila Bay and other coastal areas, we vow to expose and resist Duterte’s destructive reclamation projects at any cost,” ended Hicap. ###

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3 comments

  1. Reblogged this on and commented:
    A major aerotropolis has been approved in Bulacan, Manila Bay, with the airport covering 1,168 hectares and the airport city even larger at 2,500 hectares, Land reclamation would destroy marine ecosystems and the megaproject threatens the livelihoods of more than 20,000 fisherfolk. Pamalakaya, the national progressive fisherfolk group, vows to oppose the aerotropolis and other infrastructure projects under President Duterte’s Build, Build, Build (BBB) program.

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