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University of the Philippines ManilaCollege of Arts and SciencesDepartment of Social Science

LAND OVER TROUBLED WATER:The effects of the Cavite Expressway project on the water quality level of the Manila bay

Political Science 198 Seminar PaperOrville P. Angeles2010 -13375

March 2014

Abstract:The Cavite Expressway project or Cavitex is a 14km long access-controlled toll expressway linking Manila to southern province of Cavite. It runs through several towns in the Cavite province but its most notable feature is its coastal road that runs straight through the Manila bay. A road built atop a reclaimed piece of land. Because of this fact, several issues arose from the fisher folks that lived along the bay. The researcher then sought to figure out how Cavitex was affecting the water quality level of the bay and consequently, the fishermen who makes their livelihood there. The study then proceeded to interview 4 fishermen who have been around the bay area for more than 4 decades. Their experiences regarding the construction of the Cavite Expressway project was the key for the researcher to answer the question. What the results has yielded has surprised the researcher as it turns out the Cavite expressway project has greatly improved the lives of the fishermen as it acted as a breakwater during typhoons where there are huge waves that could destroy their homes and boats. But the expressway had also yielded some negative results as its design did not account for the natural flow of water leaving stagnant water inside the expressway, thus polluting the water. The researcher believes that this could be prevented in future reclamation projects if the government had a proper dialogue with its constituents, in this case the fisher folks.

IntroductionThe land and the sea dont belong to us. We do not own any part of nature. We are simply borrowing the resources we need in order to live. In the end, when we die, we will leave this all behind and nature will continue to exist. Since we are only borrowing, we must return it to the proper state that we found it. And as much as possible, prevent any change that we might permanently do to nature. These simple yet powerful words were imparted to us by Kuya Rudy, our guide and mentor in our practicum in Bataan. Through his words, we managed to realize that we are indeed, humans, just a tiny spec in the grand plan of nature. He said this with regards to the impending big industrial project of the coastal area of Bataan, namely the Manila Bay Reclamation project. This project aims to transform a huge portion of the Bataan-Manila bay area into a commercial zone, a high-speed expressway and several tourist and business spots for foreigners. But in hindsight, the mere fact that this is a huge project will definitely acknowledge that there are some environmental implications this project will cause especially on the Manila bay. Not only that, since this project is planned to be done in a coastal area, peoples livelihoods are also at stake. This means that the fishermen around the bay will have a hard time coping with the changes this project might bring or overall remove them from their source of livelihood.With all this impending changes that might happen in Bataan-Manila bay area, the researcher began to wonder on how fisher folks from existing reclamation projects, such as the Cavite Expressway, are coping with the changes that the reclamation has brought them. This trail of thinking started on the researchers mind when he heard the effects of the 1990 Mt. Pinatubo eruption on the amount of the fish caught in the bay. As the fishermen told the researcher, before the eruption, they can catch an average of 30kg of fish a day. After the eruption, it went down to 15 to 10kg. This is caused by the lahar filling up the basin along the Manila bay and inward waterways of Bataan. This made the water shallower and prevented the fish from reproducing properly. This gave the researcher the idea that the main cause of the fishermens catch being less is because of the change in the environment. The researcher then wondered what environmental impact can the reclamation project do and how it can affect the entire community around the bay. The researcher then found the concept of commons by William Forster Lloyd, a Political Economist in Oxford University, he asked Why are the cattle on a common so puny and stunted? Why is the common itself so bare-worn and cropped so differently from the adjoining enclosures? This thought from Lloyd opened the researchers mind on the idea of the Tragedy of the Commons that is then flourished by Garret Hardin. In a nutshell, this concept explains the tendency of a society to overuse natural resources or commons. This idea closely is entwined with the economic aspect of sustainable development. Sustainable development refers to the idea that the natural resources today can still be sustained for the use of the next generation. The researcher then looked to his research and thought of the potential to use the Tragedy of the Commons and liken it to his research. In the setting of Manila bay, the commons or the natural resources are the water, the fishing resources and of course, the tract of land to be poured into the water. Taking all this into consideration, the Tragedy of the Commons could also give economic insights when it comes to the reclamation project. At first the researcher planned on doing a predictive kind of research that aimed to foretell the environmental effects of the Reclamation Project in Bataan-Manila bay area. His research adviser however said that the aforementioned research may lie on the category of Quantitative research due to its linear structure. The researcher then decided, to investigate the lives of the fishermen that are currently residing along a known reclamation project, namely the Cavite Expressway project. The researcher believes that learning from the current experiences and stories of fishermen under this predicament; he can then analyze these stories into credible findings that could help predict the outcome of future reclamations.Up to this day, many people are still unaware of how huge the impact of reclamation to the environment. There are many times that interest groups reached out to the general public to instill awareness of these issues and many times, they are ignored. This study will help people understand the basic environmental impacts of reclamation and how different people are doing to prevent the damage it may bring to the environment. Fishing groups like the PAMALAKAYA will benefit from this kind of research as it can solidify their claim for their fishing grounds. This paper may also be beneficial to environmental groups that strive to protect nature from intruders. In fact, this study may even help corporations on how to mitigate the environmental effects of their projects and even communicate with fishing groups better so that they can reach an agreement without the expense of the other. Of course, the researcher would also like for the general public to read this study in order for them to be informed about the issue. The researcher decided to write this study as a form of a scholarly manuscript. This is to make it easier for future researches to add or amend the contents of this study. Objectives of the StudyThe general objective of this study is to determine how the Cavite expressway has affected the lives of fishermen around the project. There are also specific question that this study would like to answer; the questions are as follows:1. Did the Cavite Expressway project affect the water quality in the bay in any way?2. What political functions occurred between the Government and the local fisher folks that promulgated into the construction of the Cavite Expressway?3. What lessons can be learned from the experiences at the Cavite Expressway project that can be beneficial to future reclamation projects?Conceptual Framework For this study, the researcher decided to use the Constructivist approach as a means of language this study will be based upon on. This is because this study will feature documentation from the point of views of the fishermen that lives alongside the bay. Their accounts and experiences are molded by the events triggered by the construction of the Cavitex Project. The researcher needs to learn the different answers to reduce the impact of reclamation and to do this, he must triangulate from different perspectives and maybe, to an extent, conclude the similarities these perspectives has to offer (Denzin and Lincoln, 2008). Lauckner (2012) also suggests that constructivism assumes that the meaning of experiences and events are constructed by individuals, and therefore people construct realities in which they participate. The research aims to elicit and understand how research participants construct their individual and shared meanings around the phenomenon of interest. He also said that particular to constructivism is a similar construction of meaning by researchers that their interpretation of the studied phenomenon is itself a construction. In the context of the reclamation project, people create their own constructs of the reclamation should benefit for them. This differs from person to person in accordance with their world-view. Constructivism could then help explain how these people develop these perspectives and help constitute on the researcher could consolidate these differing opinions.The researcher aims to understand the view of several fishermen that lives and works along the bay. Constructivism will explain how these views are formed and how the researcher is going to interpret it. The researcher will try to look into overlying themes within the accounts of the fishermen and then conclude whether their accounts are valid or not. Of course given that these fishermen may have different opinions and experience with the Cavitex project, the researcher will not dismiss any of their claims but instead will use these as a clue for a much broader issue that these people are experiencing along the bay. In a way, this research will triangulate the facts from several fishermen in order to ascertain and solidify their claims and work on a much concrete grounds for analysis.

Data Gathering and MethodologyThis study will heavily feature accounts and stories from the fishermen that lived along the Cavite Expressway. The researcher deemed it appropriate to use Narrative Analysis. To be more specific, the researcher will use Bruners (1990) Acts of Meaning. His take on Narrative analysis describes this process as the Functional approach on narrative analysis. For him, Functional analysis of story-telling is a mean of conveying meaning; what particular stories do in peoples lives. Basically, the researcher wants to use Bruners method to delve into the mind of a fisherman as he tells his story and experiences regarding the Cavitex project; how fishermen perceives the project, whether it is good or bad, beneficial to them or not. The researcher may also use another of Bruners (1991) articles entitled the Narrative Construction of Reality. He argues that narratives are version of reality whose acceptability is governed by convention and narrative necessity rather than by empirical verification and logical requiredness. In this sense, we can determine that the stories that are going to be shared are true in their sense as they have experienced it and lived it.The study itself will be purely qualitative. This is because the data that will be gathered are from interviews from various people that are related to the reclamation projects. One of the main informants for this research is from the fishermens organization PAMALAKAYA. The most important data for this study came from the accounts of 4 fishermen respondents who lived and worked around the area of Bacoor, Cavite for more than 4 decades that is facing the Manila bay. They are directly affected by the Cavitex project in terms of their livelihood. As stated above, the most important interviews will take place in Bacoor City, Cavite where the fishermen lives. For the organization, the researcher conducted key informant interviews. The questions are focused on the effects of the reclamation in the views of a fishing organization and given that. As for the interview with the Fishermen, the researcher opted to use in-depth interviews. This is to allow the respondents to freely tell their stories and for the researcher to carefully listen. The researcher may also add additional questions for the respondents if he deems that there are further clarifications to be made. The researcher also used related literature and studies that will help solidify the claims of the interviews. Three of these are the study conducted by Perez, Amadore, & Feir. (1999); they published a scientific paper entitled Climate change impacts and responses in the Philippine Coastal sector. This study indicates that there are dangers in huge projects being built into the bay as it may be naturally sinking given the ever changing climate condition of the world. It also describes about a delicate balance of ecosystem within the bay that may be disturbed by such projects. Another study related to this research is a study on the Environmental Costs of Coastal Reclamation in Metro Cebu, Philippines by Diola, Montenegro and Remedio (2005). Although this study is a quantitative study that aims to quantify the cost of damage done by the reclamation in Cebu in terms of currency, the researcher used this study to prove that there are indeed effects on the sea by these projects. Another literature that is going to be used by the researcher is the article by Philip Kelly (1998) entitled the politics of urban-rural relations: Land Use conversion in the Philippines. The researcher will heavily rely on this article for it can explain the political process that goes into deciding and finalizing plans regarding land-use policy in the Philippines. Although this article is aimed at the land-use in the agricultural sense, it can be used to look into the political relations being demonstrated by the instigators of the reclamation projects. Kelly states that there are different layers on politics regarding land use; this range from the national politics which involves the national governments and corporation into local everyday politics that local a farmer or in this case fishermen are experiencing on a daily basis. This article may help shed some light into these political processes.The data analysis as said above will be through Functional Narrative approach. The data given by the fishermen will be gathered and collated. The researcher will group the answers according to the questions and topics involved. The researcher will then determine if the fact being stated from one respondent is synonymous to the account of another. Once the data triangulation has been done and all other facts are determined, the researcher will then conclude the answer to be the truth. Of course, this process will involve the transcription of the interview and coding the transcription into appropriate translatable data that is fit for analysis.The researcher made sure that he used proper ethical considerations when it comes to talking to the respondents. The researcher understood that what they are relaying to him came from their own life experiences and is going to be very personal and may put them on risk. The researcher agreed to retract the name of the respondents as some of their answers had them identifying several personalities. To further ensure that the respondents are willing to divulge information to the researcher, the researcher read and explained to them a Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in which the respondents signed. This signifies that as a researcher, he will uphold the anonymity of the respondents by protecting their accounts and be used solely for academic reasons such as this study. The Cavitex Project: An OverviewThe Cavite Expressway project or Cavitex is a 14km long access-controlled toll expressway linking Manila to southern province of Cavite. The expressway is currently owned and operated by Public Estates Authority Toll way Corporation, a Government-owned and controlled agency that directly reports under the Office of the President. Throughout the Cavitex, the road will go over the Manila bay through reclaimed land. Not too far from this are towns that face the sea and along the coast of these towns lay hundreds if not thousands of fishermen living and earning their livelihood here. To place everything into perspective and to make a basis for all the information that is going to be place, the researcher opted to lay the basic premise of the problems people have with the Cavitex with the use of an interview the researcher had with the PAMALAKAYA, a nationwide fishing organization that deals with rights of fisher folks. The researchers interview with the PAMALAKAYA has been an informative one. They relayed how Cavitex has been affecting the lives of fishermen the lives along the bay. According to the interview, these can be categorized in five ways. First is the natural flow of the water has been disrupted due to the construction of the expressway. As stated earlier, the expressway is built upon reclaimed land. This means that the sea no longer exists under it. What was left was a small waterway where the sea could flow. But as PAMALAKAYA stated, these water outlets may be too small as the water does not flow in or out of the bay at the right time. This cause for the water to be too stagnant inside the coastal area thus may cause pollution. The second issue that PAMALAKAYA raised is that due to the pollution and stagnation of water, fish or other marine resources catch has declined. The fishermen can no longer fish within the stagnant water thus leaving them to go out into open sea. This is in congruence with the third issue they raised the water way that was built for the natural outflow of the water was also the water way that was to be used by the fisher folks with their boats. They said that these waterways are too small for two boats to fit in so they needed to go one at a time; which is not only tedious but also dangerous for the fishermen as they may collide with the supporting concretes if there were stronger waves. Another issue raised by the group is that there were little to no public consultation that happened between the corporation or local government and the fisher folks. As they were shocked that construction has already begun, they just barely made some counter-arguments through mass mobilization. With regards to this, they also said that some of the fishermen was forcefully evicted out of their homes or bought out by the corporations in order to construct the expressway. These were among the several concerns raised by the group. They were also concerned with other reclamation projects along the bay and their own repercussion to the natural flow of things. They also believe that the recent flooding that Manila was experiencing during rainy season is brought about by displaced waters from the Manila bay. There was also an issue on heavy taxation with regards to owning small fisheries. The researcher believes that these statements by the fishing group could be a good basis for comparison and analysis when the interview with comes. Stories and Life Experiences of Fishermen in the BayThis part of the study describes how the fishermen had lived in the Manila bay area. This includes pre-Cavitex, post-Cavitex, their experiences whether positive or negative with the expressway, how much they are informed and consulted about its construction and their overall opinion about the expressway. As mentioned earlier, the names of the fishermen were retraced from the study for their safety and anonymity. The researcher will then refer to them as respondents 1 to 4. This study will feature 4 fishermen, all with varying degrees of experience in fishing. The researcher asked several questions regarding the Cavitex and their livelihood and were encouraged to freely speak their mind and share stories. Pre-CavitexThe respondents were unanimous when it came to the question regarding their stories before the Cavitex was built. All of them had the same sentiments. First of all, they mentioned how easy life was for them. Especially for respondent 1 (48 yrs. Old, 30 yrs fisherman), he said that even though they have little to no catch during the day, they can still fetch something for dinner along the beaches of the bay, if youre not lazy though. But what most surprised the researchers is finding out that the Cavitex had the single most important impact on these fishermens lives and a positive one at that. They unanimously agreed that the expressway had protected them from the ravages of the typhoon season. They explained that before the expressway, huge waves from the sea will come crashing down on their houses and on their boats. This will prevent them from going out to sea at all and will cost them so much from rebuilding their houses and buying or building a new boat. Respondent 1 said that before the Cavitex, they had to change their boats for just 1 year after the typhoon season because it may have been completely destroyed or damaged beyond repair from the storms. Before the expressway, the primary concerns of the fishermen were only the once from nature. This includes storms and red tide poisoning; but with the construction of the expressway leads to new sorts of problems for them.During the construction of the ExpresswayOne particular moment of the interview with each fisherman is how they gave emphasis about the hardships they had during the construction of Cavitex. Respondents 1, 2 (51 yrs old with almost a lifetime of being a fisherman) and 4 (49 yrs old and also a lifetime of being a fisherman), all stated that during the construction of the expressway was the most difficult part of being a fisherman around those parts. This is because of the fact that since Cavitex was built on reclaimed land, they had no way of going out to sea but to use a small water outlet provided by the expressways builders. This situation is synonymous to how the PAMALAKAYA has described it. The respondents said that due to this small outlet, it has been difficult for them to maneuver in an out of the bay. But this problem has long been resolved since the builders of the expressway have built a second wider passage for them to pass through. Cavitex Experiences in FishingNow that the expressway is in place, several issues had risen up for the fishermen both positive and negative. First, they all agreed that the expressway has served as a breakwater for them during storms. Their boats and houses are no longer destroyed by giant waves during the rainy seasons which are a good thing for them. Second, their fishing ground was divided into two parts, the inside of the expressway and the ones out to the coast. Respondents 1 and 3 had same experience as they never had to catch fish inside the expressway. Their main concern was for a way that their boats can get out to the sea. However, Respondents 2 and 4 had a different opinion. They said that before the expressway, they can catch fish and other sea creatures just along the coast. But after the construction, they can no longer catch decent amount of fish inside the Cavitex. They now also had to go far from their original fishing grounds in order to make decent catch. The stated reason for this lack of fish catch inside the expressway is because of the stagnancy of water. Respondents 1, 2 and 4 all agree that the water flow of the bay has indeed been disrupted since the construction of the expressway. This may lead to pollution of the water at some point and may make it inhabitable for sea creature until the water was recycled. According to the fishermen, no direct correlation can be attributed to the expressway in terms of flooding in the area since they rarely have floods there.

A Need for a True Public ConsultationThe researcher then asked the fishermen if there was any kind of public consultation held by their local government or the corporation responsible for Cavitex. They mainly gave vague answers but respondents they all said that meeting were held that notified them of an upcoming project. Respondents 1 and 4 described that the meeting held said that the expressway is a bridge not a reclaimed land. This would mean that the water is less impeded by the project as no large amount of soil is blocking it. But as the construction began, they noticed that soil and sand is being dumped into the water meaning that the land is being reclaimed. This was not the plan that they are presented with and they had no means of stopping the reclamation. The fishermen just went along with it and requested for a waterway for their boats to go through. According to Kelly (1998) this kind of Everyday Politics is a trademark relationship between a landlord and a tenant. In which the tenant often feels ashamed or embarrassed to negotiate as strongly as they might. Even though they have the same right as the landlord, this trait of being inferior is prevalent among the lower class Filipinos.Among other things, according to the fishermen, the also heard about deals being made by the corporation that makes other fishermen sell their property to make way for future projects. Respondents 1 and 2 had heard rumors that the Cavitex is not the last reclamation project to be implemented in the area. As for now, they wish that no further projects are implemented in their expense as living and fishing within the vicinity of a reclaimed land is already difficult as it is. Cavitex: In Favor or Not?The researchers then asked the fishermen about their personal opinion regarding the reclamation; their stand on whether the expressway had been there or should not, how this arrangement could be improved etc.As for Respondent 1, he claims that even though there are indeed problems with the expressway at the start, the positive effect on him has certainly favored his stance on the side of the expressway. This is because he believes that the benefit that the expressway is giving by being a breakwater during storms had great impact on their livelihood, saving their boat, their house and even their lives. As for his route for fish catch, he does not mind going further up the coast to fish as he was already doing this for a greater portion of his life. For Respondent 2, he has mixed feelings about the expressway project. It is true that the expressway shielded them from waves and storms, but this does not mean it could take their livelihood from them. He was able to catch fish just near his home before the expressway but not it is all but gone. He said that if a real public consultation had taken place, he wouldnt have agreed for the construction of the expressway. He also said that going further out to sea is dangerous and costly for them even though they had plenty of experience fishing. Costly, because they would have to spend more for their fuel which could have been saved for a rainy day but is used just to go further into the sea for a fishing area.

For Respondent 3, he is deeply in favor of the Cavitex project. He said that even though he is retired from fishing, from his perspective, the positive effects of the expressway greatly outweighs its flaws. He could not see how the expressway could be a bad thing; he could still catch a few shrimps and oysters around the beach here and there. He even said that the expressway has alleviated traffic situations in their main road. As for the fisher folks, he said the only important thing is for them to be able to take out their boat to the sea which Cavitex has granted by placing two large water ways.As for Respondent 4, again its true that the expressway has its benefits like being a breakwater; he simple cannot overlook its negative side. First is the decreased water quality level which means fewer catches along the shore. Second is that they now need to go far to catch fish, even as far as Bataan. He also felt betrayed by having a meeting that said one thing but then proceeded to do another. He is referring to the project plan that meant for the Cavitex to be a bridge-type structure but instead became a road on top of reclaimed land. Another issue he had brought up is he heard that some fisher forks in other towns were being abused by having enormous taxes on their fishing spot outside the expressway. He was not sure about this information but for the researcher, this may confirm what PAMALAKAYA has said in that interview.

The Verdict on CavitexIn lieu of the information given by the fishermen, the researcher may now attempt to answer the questions to his objectives. The cumulative answer of the respondents can give solid reason for the solution of several problems that lie with the Cavitex project. As for the first specific question, yes, we can safely assume that the Cavitex has affected the water quality level on the bay. This is due to the fact that the respondents has stated that due to the limited water passage way, the water inside the expressway was left to stagnate and is against it natural water process. This leads to fewer marine resources that lived in these water as pollutants started to gather. For the second question, there was little to no interactions that happened between the two. The government barely had a public consultation for the fishermen, and when it did, it had proceeded with a different plan. This lack of government transparency has led to distrust in the side of the fishermen. This means that the fishermen will less likely to voice out their concerns as they do not seem important at all to the government. As for the third question, the researcher learned how important for the government to reach out to their constituents regarding this matter. As it turns out, both the fishermen and the expressway could co-exist if they really had a well thought plan. As long as the government involves the fishermen in their planning, then they can mutually benefit from one another.Conclusion and RecommendationThe study the researcher had regarding the Cavite Expressway project has yielded unexpected results from him. His preliminary findings suggest that the fishermen are slowly decreasing due to the negative effects of the expressway project. But instead, the researcher found out that the fishermen themselves had considered Cavitex a blessing as it shielded them from natural disasters. Of course, there are still negative impacts for the fishermen but they have learned to live with it. This could have been prevented if the government and the community truly had a dialogue with one another to iron out the differences on their plan and create something the two of them can benefit. As the researcher analyzed the stories imparted by the fishermen, he realized that two recommendations can be made, each one for the side of the government and to the fisher folks. First is for the government; this is the simplest thing a government can do for its citizens especially those in the marginalized sector, listen to them and talk to them, remember who is serving whom. The second one goes out to the fisher folks; dont be afraid to voice out your concerns to your government. When you have something to say regarding your right for life and livelihood then the government needs to hear you. What this country needs is for its citizen to really take control of it, and for its politicians to serve who really matters, its people.

Appendix A

Source: Google maps

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