After the US expressed public concern over environmental damage from the projects and the involvement of a Chinese company on its blacklist, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered an indefinite suspension of 22 major land reclamation in the Philippines projects in Manila Bay, an official said on Thursday.
Manila Bay Philippines (Photo: pna)
Following widespread concern from the United States, Marcos issued his order to Suspend Land Reclamation in the Philippines
As per the report of US News, 22 significant projects of land reclamation in the Philippines specifically in Manila Bay have been suspended indefinitely by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in order to assess their environmental impact and legal compliance, an official said on Thursday.
Marcos’s order came after the United States expressed public concern over environmental damage from the projects of Land Reclamation in the Philippines and the participation of a Chinese company that Washington had blacklisted for its role in developing militarized Chinese island bases in the South China Sea, which further heightened tensions in the disputed waters.
According to a statement made last week by the U.S. Embassy, it has expressed its worries to Philippine authorities “about the potential negative long-term and irreversible impacts to the environment, the resilience to natural hazards of Manila and nearby areas, and to commerce” from the Land Reclamation in the Philippines.
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Environmental organizations have protested against land reclamation in the Philippines projects.
According to the Diplomat, a group of scientists, including oceanographers, geologists, and specialists in climate change, has been formed because of land reclamation in the Philippines to examine current and future land reclamation in the Philippines projects that the previous administration had authorized.
Due to the projects of land reclamation in the Philippines, numerous shantytowns, factories, businesses, and residential areas have been discharging their waste directly into the bay for decades. In 2008, the Supreme Court ordered government organizations to clean the tainted water so that it was safe for swimming.
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