Cimatu ‘thumbs-up’ Toledo reclamation project – report

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu (third from the left) is flanked by officials from Toledo City and Cebu PENRO as they inspect the area in Barangay Poblacion for the planned 11-hectare reclamation project. | Photo courtesy of Toledo City PIO

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The country’s environmental secretary has given his approval on the reclamation project that is being proposed in Toledo City, a local government report stated.

Toledo City’s Public Information Office (PIO) on Friday, August 21, announced that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through Secretary Roy Cimatu already gave clearance for the multi-million reclamation project to proceed.

“Iyang nakita nga walay rason nga dili kini ipadayon kay ang tanan pinasikad sa balaod ang pagpangandam sa lokal nga pangagamhanan,” portions of the statement read.

(Cimatu saw that there were no reasons to delay project implementation since project preparations were made in accordance with the law and existing regulations.)

The PIO also said that Cimatu, city officials, and representatives of Toledo City’s Environmental and Natural Resources Office, and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), inspected the site for the proposed reclamation project on Friday.

Local officials in Toledo City, a third-class city that is located approximately 47 kilometers southwest of Cebu City, have been planning to proceed with the 11-hectare reclamation site off the coasts in Barangay Poblacion. The area will be utilized for mixed-use development, which includes the establishment of a port.

A brainchild of former Senator and Toledo City Mayor John Henry ‘Sonny’ Osmeña in 2015, the project that is estimated to cost P644 million has been met with widespread criticism, particularly from environmental advocates including Greenpeace.

Toledo City is directly facing Tañon Strait, one of the country’s largest marine protected area that covers more than 5,000 square kilometers.

READ: Reclamation project of Toledo gets boost

In 2017, Osmeña signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) to give the proposal a ‘much-needed boost.’ / dcb