By Jenniffer B. Austria, Maricel V. Cruz, and Vito Barcelo
Property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPH) has halted work on its 600-hectare reclamation project in Manila Bay following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s order to suspend all such projects in the area to review their environmental and social impact.
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) head of investor relations Timothy Daniel said Wednesday in a forum SMPH remains committed to the reclamation project but has put its development on hold to listen to government suggestions and requirements.
Daniels said SMPH has been working on this project for over a decade now and it has secured all the documentation needed for the project.
“From our point of view, we are committed to this reclamation but we are also committed to good governance and to things being done right. So we will announce what is next for this reclamation after the government has studied it and we will listen to what they have to say,” Daniels said.
SMPH earlier said it is spending P100 billion for the Manila Bay reclamation project to create a mixed-use community with residential, institutional, and commercial components.
The property firm was looking to fund this development from the planned real estate investment trust (REIT) offering initially targeted in the second of 2023.
But Daniels said the REIT offering may also be moved to 2024 because of market conditions.
“We are still planning to do it. But we are not going to commit to doing it before the end of the year,” he said.
SMPH earlier said it plans to raise as much as $1 billion from the REIT offering which will have initial assets of between 12 and 5 shopping malls.
Shares of SMPH on Wednesday rose P0.30 to close at P30.40 per share. A party-list lawmaker, meanwhile, urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to file charges against individuals responsible for the release of environmental certificates of compliance (ECCs) to companies that are reclaiming parts of Manila Bay.
Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel made the suggestion during the deliberations on DENR’s proposed budget for 2024.
DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, however, said the ECC is not a permit, but a planning tool “that may be changed at any point when a correction needs to be made.”
At the same time, Loyzaga said the 22 suspended Manila Bay reclamation projects run contrary to the government’s rehabilitation program in the area.
“In our view, there is a contradiction between the reclamation projects and the rehabilitation of the bay,” Loyzaga said.
She said a cumulative impact assessment is being conducted to mitigate the possible impact of the changes in the environment that the reclamation may actually cause.
“The intention of the conduct of the cumulative impact assessment is that instead of evaluating each and every project, we will create a situation where all these reclamation will actually occur, and what impact that would bring to the baseline condition of the Manila Bay as we know it,” Loyzaga said.
Loyzaga said the DENR was scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon with the impact assessment team for the Manila Bay reclamation projects.
“We will be meeting with the first batch of scientists invited for the cumulative impact assessment led by Filipinos. We will also tap foreign experts in advisory roles, but the team will be led by Filipino oceanographers, marine biologists, social scientists, and other disciplines,” she said.
But Caritas Philippines, the Catholic church’s social arm, called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to ban land reclamation projects nationwide.
Caritas president Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said that the projects “are not in the best interest of the Filipino people.”
“We call on President Marcos to issue an executive order banning all reclamation projects, not only in Manila Bay but across the country,” Bagaforo said.
“Reclamation projects displace fisherfolk and coastal urban communities, destroy coastal ecosystems, and contribute to food insecurity,” he said.
The bishop made the appeal after Marcos ordered an indefinite suspension of at least 22 major land reclamation works in Manila Bay to assess their social and environmental impact.
Instead of relying on reclamation projects, the church official urged the government “to invest in sustainable development that will benefit all Filipinos, not just a few wealthy individuals.”