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MANDAUE CITY, Philippines - When compared with Lapu-Lapu City, the city of Mandaue may have more freedom to undergo a reclamation project without the intervention from the Regional Development Council in Central Visayas (RDC-7).
Mandaue is one of the two cities in the province wherein the Charter specifically states that they own all the foreshore lands.
A foreshore land as defined by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is “that part of the land immediately in front of the shore. That part, which is between the high and the low water marks and alternately covered with water or left dry by the flux or reflux of the tide.”
Both Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna and City Administrator Briccio Joseph Boholst agreed that the city owns its foreshore lands with accompanying rights of ownership.
They said the city government could proceed with the reclamation project anytime although they both remained silent on whether they would need the approval from the RDC-7 headed by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
A city official, who refused to be named, however, said the approval from the RDC is not required because of a special provision on Mandaue City's Charter, which was approved by Congress in 1969.
“Maybe out of courtesy, we may go and ask for endorsement, but as to it being a requirement, that is not needed,” said the official. “We only need the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) approval.”
PRA General Manager Andrea Domingo in a previous interview said that all reclamation projects only need the approval of the PRA or the President of the Philippines.
She said RDC approval is not a requirement especially if the project is not publicly funded.
The Mandaue City government under the administration of then mayor Thadeo Ouano planned to build a 300-hectare reclamation project along the Cansaga Cove bordering the town of Consolacion and Mandaue. The project sits directly along the national government's proposed North Expressway to Consolacion.
Fortuna said the city government's reclamation project could proceed if it had the approval of the PRA.
“If its zero equity on the part of the government or without any counterpart from the government then the (reclamation) project can proceed as long as it has approval from the PRA,” Fortuna said. “The rationale there is that whether (or not) the project exposes the government to loans.”
Fortuna, whose political party is aligned with Governor Garcia, refused to comment on the RDC intervention in the Lapu-Lapu City reclamation project.
“All we know is that Mandaue is a special case because it owns its foreshore lands,” Fortuna said. “It (city government) can exercise all rights of ownership as long as it complies with the regulations of the PRA.”
He said that in other areas, the local officials need to secure permission from the national government because it is the national government that owns the foreshore and offshore properties.
Boholst said that since Mandaue owns all foreshore lands, it is easy for the city to reclaim its foreshore lands
“We would need coordination from the PRA though,” he said.
Under the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions, an individual may lease not more than 500 hectares and a corporation may lease not more than 1,000 hectares. The term of a foreshore lease is 25 years and renewable for not more than 25 years. As for the requirements in the filing of a foreshore lease application and other further details, interested parties may keep in touch with the nearest DENR-Cendro office.
In the case of Mandaue, Fortuna said individuals just need the approval of the city government.
Some individuals in Mandaue have been given foreshore lease authority to reclaim small portions, he added.
The proposed North Reclamation Project, according to Fortuna, was originally designed in early 2000 to accommodate locators engaged in “high-end” industries.
He said that aside from an international port, the city planned an industrial park, which was envisioned to be Cebu's “next export processing zone after the one in Mactan could no longer accommodate other locators.”
The reclamation project also aimed to accommodate commercial centers to answer the needs of the industry workers.
The project was conceptualized during the Ouano administration and was supposed to be funded by private firms.
Boholst said the plans of the previous administration were still the same ones that the administration of Mayor Jonas Cortes is looking into for implementation.
At present, Boholst said the city is still reviewing the project in terms of funding while waiting for the completion of the national-government-funded North Expressway which will bisect the proposed reclamation area.
Lapu-Lapu City on the other hand, is also proposing a 400-hectare island-type reclamation in Magellan Bay. It also hoped to attract locators in the information technology, commercial, tourism, and industrial sectors.
The project will be funded by local funds to be poured in by locators. It is for this reason that city officials of Lapu-Lapu did not seek the approval of the project from the RDC.
But the RDC-7 recently passed a controversial resolution, asking the President to reconsider her approval of the project until such time that the project completes its requirements including an endorsement from the RDC—which the Lapu-Lapu City government thought otherwise.
