THE Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) said a proposed 11-hectare reclamation site in Toledo City doesn’t have permits.
In a June 1 letter to Toledo City Mayor Sonny Osmeña, the PRA said three of its staff would be conducting a site visit this month in barangay Poblacion after learning about the project.
“Please be informed that records of this Office show that there had neither been an application to reclaim filed with this Office nor an approval to an application to reclaim in Toledo City,” wrote PRA General Manager Peter Anthony Abaya.
Mayor Osmeña told Cebu Daily News the other day he has “abandoned” his plan for reclamation and is moving the project for a mixed-used complex for Toledo city “inland” amid opposition to the plan.
“It is not going to happen. I have totally abandoned the project. We have no reclamation projects here. I do not know what you people are fussing about,” he said.
The PRA said they would visit Toledo city in response to a letter by Oceana Philippines questioning the project’s non-compliance with environment laws. Oceana, an international organization for marine conservation, stressed the need to protect the Tañon Strait as the largest marine protected area in the Philippines.