A forum was held on theMinglanilla Reclamation Project in the chapel in Sitio Lawis, South Poblacion in San Fernando, Cebu, in the covered court in Tungkop, and in the chapel in Calajoan, Minglanilla last Sept. 11, 17, and Sept. 18, 2022, respectively.
A staff member of the Farmers’ Development Center, a non-government organization, Michael Isidto, enlightened the women participants regarding the costs of the reclamation in terms of impact of damage to our marine biodiversity, loss of livelihood for fishermen and demolition of houses in the coastal areas.
He said that for people who live near the seas, corals and mangroves are important because they form barriers that weaken the impact of sea waves so that reclamation will take a toll in terms of higher sea waves.
Another speaker, Atty. Kristine Joy Argallon, said that since a dump-and-fill project needs minerals from the ground, it will create another environmental problem as it will need to quarry land from the mountains. Quarrying is required to get the gravel and sand needed to complete the reclamation project. However, in the long run, the foundation of the lands in the quarrying area will get weaker.
Aside from destroying the marine resources, these dump-and-fill projects also ruin the mountains where rocks and soil used to fill the seas are taken. In the process, reclamation projects will displace not only fishermen but also farmers whose main sources of livelihood depend on the mountains.
The loss of our natural resources will also harm the poor the most, such as the fisherfolk who rely on the sea for their income and sustenance. Fisherfolk will lose their only source of income as the project will kill the fish and other marine resources that they rely on to feed their families, that aside from flooding and other environmental issues.
Another speaker, Dacel Ordaneza, president of the Seawall Homeowners Association in Calajoan said that personnel from the Assessor’s Office had gone to their houses last July and August 2022 to tell the residents that they face demolition once the construction starts. Houses in the coastlines directly facing the proposed reclamation, particularly those living within 12 meters from the shoreline will be demolished. In Calajoan, they include Sitio Tabay, Sitio Tabuan, Sitio Noah and Sitio San Pedro. There are more than 200 households in these four sitios whom the Assessor’s Office personnel said will have to have their houses demolished due to the reclamation. There are more than 500 households living in these four sitios in Calajoan.
Purok Jasmine and Purok Geranium in Tungkil with more than 100 households in each purok will also be affected by the reclamation since their houses which are directly facing the sea will have to be demolished as well.
During the visit of the Assessor’s Office personnel to these sitios, Ordaneza said that the residents had many questions to the personnel, such as how the demolition will take place, will they be paid, will there be a relocation site and where is it, and how will the relocation process be. But the answers of the personnel were vague and were not satisfactory to the residents. One resident in Sitio Tabay was told that their relocation site was somewhere in Minglanilla but no exact place was given. Ordaneza said that her neighbors complained that there was no public hearing or any meetings with government officials with them regarding the reclamation and the impending demolition of their houses and their relocation sites. They are at a loss if the demolition pushes through.
