Stop Manila Bay reclamation; value lives, heritage of Filipinos

The petition filed before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is clear, urgent, and moral: halt the proposed Manila Bay reclamation projects before it inflicts irreversible harm on the people, the heritage, and the environment.

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This, in a nutshell, is the call of a broad coalition of church groups, environmental advocates, fisherfolk, youth organizations, and civil society leaders to the President, urging him to stop 10 reclamation projects in Manila Bay planned between Rizal Park and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Their message resonates with scientific warnings and actual experiences—reclamation threatens to worsen flooding, trigger environmental disasters, and place countless lives at risk.

Flooding has become routine, not exceptional, with even moderate rains paralyzing Metro Manila. Reclamation will only make this worse. Filling vast portions of Manila Bay with artificial land blocks natural waterways and drainage routes, effectively turning the bay from a buffer into a bottleneck. Higher reclaimed land will push floodwaters inlandinto communities least equipped to cope.