By Ed ‘Boy’ Morales, Balita Republika

MANILA — A Bulacan-based civic group has asked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to order an independent technical review and temporary moratorium on the large-scale reclamation connected to the New Manila International Airport (NMIA) and the planned Bulacan Ecozone, citing what it described as a “regional environmental emergency” affecting Central Luzon and parts of Metro Manila.

In a formal letter addressed to the President, Bulacan Coastal Watch said the ongoing and planned reclamation covers a combined 12,000 hectares — the 3,000-hectare Aerocity development under Republic Act No. 11506 and the proposed 9,000-hectare Bulacan Ecozone expansion under Republic Act No. 11999. The group noted that the site sits “directly on the confluence of multiple major river systems,” which hydrologists identify as Central Luzon’s natural outlet toward Manila Bay.

The group warned that since 2022, communities in Bulacan, Pampanga, and northern Metro Manila have experienced “unprecedented, weeks-long flooding,” “daily saltwater inundation even without rainfall,” “collapse of farmlands and fisheries,” “death of mangroves and wetlands,” “widespread salinization of groundwater,” “rapid rise in water table levels,” and “a regional flooding pattern never seen in the past decades.”

According to the letter, such impacts “cannot be explained solely by climate change, subsidence, or seasonal typhoons, corrupted flood control projects — all of which have existed for generations.” The group said the timing of the floods “point[s] to a systemic collapse of the natural drainage and groundwater system, triggered by the massive reclamation situated directly on the confluence of several major river systems of Central Luzon.”

Citing international hydrology research, the group added that large coastal reclamations can “raise groundwater levels inland,” “alter regional flood patterns,” “cause persistent waterlogging,” “disrupt freshwater–saltwater balance,” “block natural drainage channels,” and “worsen flooding across an entire hydrological basin.” It said “this is exactly what is unfolding today” in multiple communities, including Bulakan, Obando, Malolos, Paombong, Calumpit, Hagonoy, Masantol, Macabebe, Valenzuela, Malabon, Meycauayan, Marilao, Guiguinto, Balagtas, and Bocaue.

“What used to be the primary outlet of Central Luzon into Manila Bay — the Maycapiz–Wawang Dapdap floodplains and confluence area — is now severely narrowed, obstructed, or buried,” the group said.

In its appeal to the President, Bulacan Coastal Watch asked Malacañang to “order an immediate independent technical review” covering hydrology, groundwater behavior, coastal engineering impacts, geotechnical stability, and river system functionality; declare a “temporary moratorium” on further reclamation pending updated basin-wide flood models; direct the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) to re-evaluate the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC); and instruct multiple agencies — including NEDA, DPWH, DILG, DENR, and affected LGUs — to conduct a joint basin-wide flood audit.

The group also called for urgent mitigation measures, including reopening natural river mouths, restoring parts of the Maycapiz–Wawang Dapdap outlets, rehabilitating mangroves and wetlands, engineering pathways for trapped waters, and installing temporary relief channels to Manila Bay.

“This appeal is not political. It is not anti-development. It is an urgent call for science-based governance to prevent further environmental damage, agricultural collapse, and long-term displacement of vulnerable communities,” the group said, adding that the situation “has become a regional environmental emergency.”

“Your decision on this matter will directly affect millions of Filipino lives,” it told the President.