A proposed 148-hectare reclamation project— roughly half the size of the Bonifacio Global City and McKinley Hill combined—was back on the table. Stopped in 1992, the project covers the southern portion of the bay including portions fronting the Manila Yacht Club and the Philippine Navy. It was revived through an agreement between the City of Manila and Manila Goldcoast Development Corporation in April of 2012. The project aims to develop a “business center” in the northern parcel of the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road Reclamation Project.
Originally conceived and given the approval in March 1991 by the then Public Estates Authority (now the Philippine Reclamation Authority, or PRA), the project was stopped by virtue of a 1992 ordinance of the City of Manila prohibiting any reclamation in the area, as part of its efforts to preserve Manila Bay. The Office of the President also ordered the project stopped.
These decisions were spurred by massive citizen objection. But that April, the PRA reaffirmed its 1991 awarding of the project to Goldcoast. At the same time, the Manila City Council also passed Ordinance No. 8233 authorizing Mayor Alfredo Lim to apply for the reclamation with the PRA, thus effectively repealing the 1992 ordinance banning reclamation on Manila Bay.
The City subsequently entered into an agreement with Goldcoast on the condition the city be given a share in the reclaimed land. Goldcoast would fund and execute the reclamation while the city would facilitate the right of way, provide utilities and even labor. Sharing of the proceeds would be 70 percent for Goldcoast and 30 percent for the city.
It has been Mayor Lim’s dream to create a “financial center” in Manila since his first term as Mayor. He has since been trying to convince various organizations to carry out his dream, but has not been successful. One of these organizations was the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) whom he asked to set aside a portion of the Manila South Harbor across Intramuros which the PPA aims to redevelop into a mixed-use complex. The PPA had agreed to Mayor Lim’s request, but the plan has not prospered for one reason or another.
Now, it appears that Mayor Lim has found the vehicle in the Goldcoast reclamation project to realize his dream. But does Manila need another reclamation?