National Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organizations in the Philippines
“All the DENR has to do is to acknowledge that this controversial beach nourishment project is actually a farce and is failing miserably. It even failed on its supposed objective to beautify, more so to rehabilitate Manila Bay as it is irrelevant to reducing the coliform levels of its waters. Moreover, the project has to be terminated to avoid further expenses,” Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA National Chairperson said in a statement.
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Suspend ‘beach nourishment’ project, Cimatu urged Manila, Philippines – The militant fishers group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas[…]
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“We have been always at the forefront of guarding our traditional fishing grounds against destructive government and corporate projects. We fought past reclamation projects such as the one intended for the Navotas dumpsite in 2004, which is actually the culprit behind ton-loads of garbage that continue to pollute the bay,” Hicap added.
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First of all, some of the dead fishes found in the shorelines of Baseco were actually the hybrid tilapia, locally known as “arroyo”. It belongs to euryhaline species, a type of aquatic organism that can adapt to high levels of salinity. It is not the common tilapia that can be cultured and only suitable in freshwater and low-salinity waters. But most of the dead fishes were Manila Bay’s endemic such as the common whiting or “asohos”, biya, kanduli, among others.
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This fish kill is an indication that Manila Bay is degraded as it is. It‘s environmental degradation is supposed to be the main concern that the DENR should be seriously addressing, not busying itself with some kind of “beach nourishment” that is actually ephemeral aesthetics, but irrelevant to rehabilitation.
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“How about declare the Manila Bay a reclamation-free zone to save it from further ecological destruction and revive its marine and fishery resources? The proposed “discipline zone” along the stretch of the Manila Baywalk reeks poor-blaming while exonerating government agencies that facilitate destructive projects and those actual big-business environmental plunderers from accountability,” Hicap added.
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