One of the proponents for the Manila Bay reclamation projects has reportedly offered to take ultra bilyonaryo Manny Villar as a business partner.
This was revealed by Senator Cynthia Villar who said the Manila Bay developer was rejected by her husband.
“One who wanted to reclaim approached my husband to become his partner so that I would stop talking against reclamation,” Cynthia narrated during the joint hearing of the a joint hearing of the Senate Committees on Environment, Natural Resources, and Climate Change; and Urban Planning, Housing, and Resettlement on September 27.
“My husband said, ‘It’s so easy to buy land to build a house, why would I dump soil in Manila Bay to construct a house?’ So, he was really with me in fighting reclamation, and I hope the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will be with us in fighting reclamation,” Cynthia added.
Cynthia said while her family, the biggest home builder in the country, they have never engaged in any reclamation project. “There’s plenty of land in the Philippines. Why cover the sea just to have land?” she said.
Interestingly, Cynthia’s sister-in-law is Las Pinas Mayor Imelda Aguilar who approved her city’s participation in a 530-hectare reclamation project in Manila Bay covering Las Pinas and Paranaque.
Cynthia has been a vocal opponent of the Manila Bay reclamation projects, expressing concerns about the significant flooding it could cause in her city.