Iloilo River 1: Constricted by reclamations


Iloilo River: Constricted yet still being reclaimed. It is said that what is essential is invisible
to the eye of adults.

Are the Iloilo City Government, the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) asleep?

(The DPWH has jurisdiction here because Iloilo River is still considered "navigable".)


The Esplanade I costs taxpayers P87 M. It was alreadty a functioning
road before Senate President Franklin Drilon in 2010 conceived
of the idea of scraping its asphalt pavement and replaced it with bricks,
in effect, rendering what used to be a diversion road that was
constructed to de-clog main arteries into a leisure strip where vehicles
and bikes are banned but only humans who may run, walk or perform
exercises on it.

The Iloilo River is a beauty notwithstanding the systematic
despoliation of its mangrove patches on both banks that government
did in the name of the animal called "beautification".

Better have a second thought instead of  jumping in glee
like chimpanzees (apologies to these wonderful
animals) when hearing such announcement  that a 
certain Franklin Drilon has allotted P300-M largesse
for the "rehabilitation" of Iloilo River that is ongoing now.

There is no rehabilitation and beautification to speak of, there
is only despoiliation: its mangrove forests are being destroyed
and its already constricted width continue to narrow because
of reclamation.

Look at the picture above: there is an ongoing reclamation
by a private entity at the endangered Iloilo River 
at a junction with a tributary. 

The ongoing two reclamation activities adjacent each
other at the Mandurriao side of the Iloilo River.

Shot taken from the bridge linking Molo with Mandurriao.

Zoomed view of the two reclamation acrtivities.





The mansion at the foreground has intruded into the river, actually
at the subdivision constructed by Conchita Tan. The city council
conducted an inquiry at the illegal reclamation of the subdivision
in Molo, Iloilo City in 1996.

Instead of ordering the (mis)developer to restore the Iloilo River by
demolishing its reclaimed area, the city council merely agreed to
settle for a fine of only P20,000 from the misdeveloper.

Again, the site is not a fishpond: it is the initiatory phase of an
ongoing reclamation.





Constricted but still being reclaimed.













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