By: Beting Laygo Dolor, Contributing Editor
The US embassy in the capital city of Manila recently expressed its concerns over an ongoing reclamation project a mere stone’s throw from the embassy compound. That compound, located just before Rizal Park is located along the historic Manila Bay and is considered one of the most secure and fortified building complexes in the country. Its security is said to rival even Malacañang Palace, the official residence of the President of the Philippines.
Officially, the US embassy cited environmental concerns over the reclamation project, which is being done by the family-owned corporation of a sitting senator.
In a statement issued last week, US embassy spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay said they are in constant communication with the Philippine government and how the projects could possibly negatively impact the environment, the resilience of Manila Bay and nearby areas to hazards, as well as affect commercial activity. The embassy also raised its concerns over the involvement of a Chinese company in the projects.
That company, according to the embassy statement, is the China Communications Construction Co., “which has been added to the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List for its role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea.” The US embassy also said that the company “has been cited by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for engaging in fraudulent business practices.”
The Chinese company has not yet commented or reacted to the US embassy’s statement. Earlier, an online story stated that Washington opposed the reclamation projects due partly to their links to the China Communications Construction Co. The embassy then said that it continued “to support high quality, sustainable, and transparent investments to benefit the Filipino people and will continue to engage with the appropriate authorities on this matter.”
And while the US embassy already identified the Chinese company that was cause for concern, a sitting senator made clear that he was not involved with his family’s reclamation project in Manila Bay. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian told local media that the family-owned company behind a reclamation project in the vicinity of the US embassy was legal and above board.
Gatchalian said he was not personally connected and was not even aware of the activities of the Gatchalians’ Waterfront Manila Premier Development, which aims to build a complex of residential and commercial buildings centered around a casino entertainment site. That project has a 300-meter setback from Luneta, 250 meters from the US embassy with a “sufficient buffer zone.”
Interestingly enough, despite their Filipino sounding name, the Gatchalians are actually a Chinese-Filipino – AKA Chinoy – clan. The senator’s father built a business empire around plastic products, making William Gatchalian the country’s Plastics King. The elder Gatchalian founded the Wellex Group of Companies. Meanwhile, the US embassy was founded at one end of Roxas Boulevard, formerly known as Dewey Boulevard.
It was in Manila Bay that Admiral George Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet, destroying most of the Spanish warships without a single loss of life on the American side.
That marked the true beginning of the Spanish-American war of 1898 and would give rise to the US as a world power and the eventual fall of the centuries-old Spanish empire.
