Erap Saves Sunset At The Expense Of Investment, Jobs and Tourism

Estrada strikes again! But first, here's the Manila Bulletin's travel correspondent's take:

World famous Manila Bay sunset? I don't know about that, I'd never heard it mentioned until I visited Manila a few years ago (something I strive to do as infrequently as possible). But anyway, you can go to almost any island's west coast and see the self-same thing, the sun seemingly being swallowed-up by the sea; sunrise seen from an eastern coast is just as spectacular. Thing is, oooh-ahhh sunsets do not put food on anyone's table or attract hordes of eager-to-spend tourists. The trillion-Peso project that Estrada has cancelled would have resulted in thousands of jobs being created, short-term in the construction industry and once the complex was completed, in the banking and service industries. The cancelled project had the backing of some fairly powerful Chinese-Filipino families including the Tans and the Gokongweis as well as the Department of Tourism.

Well done, Erap, you've shot the country in the foot yet again.

A reclamation project sounds crazy when the region is struggling with sea ingression anyway - sinking and flooding.

Open letter to Erap: Stop Manila Bay reclamation

http://www.manilatimes.net/open-letter-to-erap-stop-manila-bay-reclamation/5143/

I fancy the reclamation project was associated with the San Miguel empire which is politically aligned to the Aquino-Cojuancos.

Thats correct.. Ramon S. Ang (President of San Miguel Corp) who owns about 40% of Cyber bay.. (This is the corporation involved with the reclamation project.)
Of course,the SMC chairman that really pulls the strings.. A man (crony) who fled with Marcos to Hawaii,only to come back in the late 80`s to resume his control of SMC.
Danding Cojuangco..
I`m really glad that these nasty fat Filipino grubs have been taken down a notch or two.. Not that it will make much difference to their financial wealth largely stolen from the Filipino people!!

I am starting to worry about a pattern:

Aquino cancels Arroyo projects, like Terminal 3 at NAIA, on grounds of corruption (to judge by the Clark-Manila railway project, probably true).

Erap cancels the Manila Bay reclamation, in a sense an Aquino-associated project.

Assuming Filipino politics take their normal course and Jejomar Binay is the next President,in a UNA administration, backed of course by Erap as the power behind the throne, Aquino projects will be cancelled...

...and NOTHING will ever get done...

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it.

It certainly been the case since the days of Cory, a tradition that Estrada will follow through his drones. It dampens investment in the sort of large scale infrastructure projects desperately needed by the Philippines and whic take many years to become financially viable.

I don't believe this is the only, or the best form of investment for the nations capital, enticing though it might be to get the money rolling in. Also it surely would attract visitors but of the right kind I wonder? Sacrificing natural beauty for a quick buck isn't really the way to go.

Did you ever see this, Oss?

The hidden, fractured earth under Metro Manila's streets

"Everybody knows what an earthquake is. But if I went out into the street and asked a passerby to show me a fault, I’m sure he would just stare at me and simply move on. Nobody knows what a fault looks like. "

"So let me be your tour guide for the day and let me show you one famous fault........"

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/stor...-fractured-earth-under-metro-manila-s-streets

What is the "right kind" of tourist, John? Surely that is someone who will spend money in the Philippines, possibly a great deal of money. With direct flights from China, more and more casinos are seeing brisk business from that quarter. As for him taking a stance against corruption, is he poacher turned game-keeper now?

Yes. At 20 floors up the building will have swung over a greater distance, laterally, amplifying the effect.

Manila Solar City may rise in the middle of Manila Bay

"A world-class commercial, residential and tourism center may soon rise in the middle of Manila Bay.

Manila Solar City, which spans 148 hectares, is a reclamation project that will feature a park and a Boracay-inspired man-made beach. It will also have a terminal for international cruise ships, which are expected to bring between 2,500 to 5,000 tourists every week.

"That (Manila Solar City) will be a big boost to the Ermita area, surrounding areas," Edmundo Lim, vice chairman of Manila GoldCoast Development Corp., said.

The developer said the project will create 100,000 jobs for construction workers. Once construction is completed, another 500,000 workers will be hired for operations.

"Right now, the study shows that Manila has the most number of jobless people. A hungry stomach knows no law. So we can eliminate criminality," Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said.

The developer said the government will earn P17 billion in tax revenues from the project every year. Some P10 billion worth of real estate taxes will go to Manila city government.

"This is one way of answering the fiscal situation of the city, wherein Mayor Erap iniwan sa kanya ang city na may P3.5 billion na utang," Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno said.

But some environmental groups are opposed to the planned Manila Solar City.

"Reclamation has proven many times to cause flooding... Lalong babagal yun daloy ng tubig mula sa waterways ng Metro Manila papunta sa Manila Bay," Ivan Henares, president of the Heritage Conservation Society Youth, said.

But Manila GoldCoast's Lim said they will design Manila Solar City in a way that it will not cause flooding in the city.

"We're going to make sure there's no baha. We call it disaster-resilient. The way it's designed (it) becomes like a breakwater yung mga storm surge nababawasan," he said.

Despite environmental groups' concerns, Estrada is optimistic the project will be approved by President Aquino"

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/07/30/13/manila-solar-city-rise-middle-manila-bay

Just a few questions:

1. A man made beach in the middle of Manila Bay? Has anyone seen what the beaches look like on the Bataan side? No, because there aren't any; Manila Bay is muddy, and polluted by the sewage of a city of "n" million people

2. If cruise ships don't call at Palawan, why will they call at an island in the middle of Manila Bay?

100,000 jobs in construction and 500,000 jobs afterwards - doing what?

A scam.

I am never in favour of reclamation in such a way.

Ah, it all makes sense now - Erap hasn't saved the Manila Bay sunset after all. What he has done is cancel the reclamation project approved by his predecessor so that he can give Solar City the go-ahead. I wonder how much the Solar City developers have 'bunged' him for this "favour", obviously more than the other lot.

Where exactly are these cruise ships coming from that will bring the claimed 5,000 tourists a week? And why would they want to stop at a man-made island constructed on reclaimed sewage when the real thing - Borocay - is less than a day's sail away?

I am equally sceptical about the claim of 100,000 construction jobs and even more so by the claimed half-million operational jobs.

Not only is this a scam, it's a con of massive proportions.