Senator Cynthia Villar could not hide her annoyance with an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) about a reclamation project in Cavite that she said could cause severe flooding.
During the DENR’s P23-billion budget proposal hearing for 2023, Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) director William Cuñado’s failed to specify the areas in Cavite that will be affected by the reclamation project.
“T—ina ‘to. Ano ‘yung coastal road? I-enumerate mo anong bayan sa Cavite,” the senator said.
According to Cuñado, the project will cover 846 hectares. But he still could not say the areas to be covered.
“Ako huwag niyong gagawin sa akin ‘yan. T—ina niyo. Dumating ka dito galing ka sa Cebu, ginulo mo kaming lahat. Ilista mo sa akin ano ‘yang coastal road na ‘yan, hindi namin alam ‘yan,” Villar said.
According to Villar, former Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson advised her in 2015 not to allow such a project to be implemented because it could cause severe flooding. She added that four rivers would be affected by the project.
Cynthia Villar lambasts DENR exec over Cavite reclamation project
It was learned that Villar is sensitive to the matter because she allegedly spent a decade cleaning the river that will be affected by the project.
“It took me 10 years to clean my river so that there [would] be no flooding, tapos sasarhan niyo daanan ng river ko, ano ba yan. It took me 10 years to do that from 2013 to 2021, 30 kilometers of river,” she explained.
Villar is a former congressman from Las Piñas City, which is near Bacoor.
Villar said the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the project had been canceled but revived.
DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones said that the DENR issues the ECC but the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) and the Office of the President have the final decision on whether to continue the project.
Villar suspected that corruption was involved in the re-promotion of the reclamation project.
DENR Secretary Ma Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, on the other hand, promised that she would review the policy on the reclamation project.
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