Senator Cynthia Villar yesterday warned that a six- to eight-meter flood in Las Piñas City and other nearby areas could likely happen if the ongoing reclamation in Manila Bay reaches her hometown.
Villar, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on the Environment and natural resources, has been strongly objecting to any reclamation project at Manila Bay.
“I’m taking them [to the Supreme Court]. If they don’t revise [their plan], we have no choice. Will I allow my hometown to be submerged in a six-foot flood?” she said.
“If they continue with the reclamation in our part of Manila Bay, there will be no outlet for our four rivers. It was predicted there will be six to eight meters of flooding. Six meters is [equivalent to a] three-story building,” Villar added.
She said she already raised her concern with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga.
“I told them we are a legislated protected area. We are entitled to a buffer zone of three kilometers provided for by the DENR,” she said.
The Las Pinas-Parañaque Wetland Park is a protected area recognized as a Wetland of International Importance during the Unesco Ramsar Convention.
According to the senator, her committee will conduct a public hearing on the ongoing reclamation project.
She said she agrees with the observation of Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla that the awarding of the contracts for the reclamation project was rushed.