DENR says all 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay suspended

By Gabriellea Pariño, Vito Barcelo and Charles Dantes

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resource said Thursday all 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay are under review and are deemed suspended —even the one that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. mentioned was allowed to continue.

"Actually, upon clarification with the President and you will see in the suspension, all are under review," DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

Meanwhile, a lawmaker said the public interest must come first as the government reviews “a mountain of reclamation applications” for the Manila Bay area and

MANILA BAY THEN AND NOW. In this aerial footage shown in a television report on Friday, a portion of Manila Bay is a sea of gray, full of sand from some of the 22 reclamation projects ongoing in the area, which the government has suspended pending review. About 85 years ago, only the Manila Hotel was prominent in the bay in a 1938 photograph taken by Major George M. Tweedy. Now, militant groups are protesting the projects' probable cumulative and long-term impacts, even as they welcomed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s announcement halting all such work in the bay (inset photos).

Manny Palmero

Speaker: House has 5 weeks to scrutinize 2024 budget

By Maricel V. Cruz

SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Ro- mualdez on Thursday gave the House of Representatives five weeks to scrutinize and pass the proposed P5.768 trillion national budget, observing transparency and respect for the voice of the minority.

In his message during the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing, Romualdez reiter- ated that the House will ensure every centavo of the proposed P5.768 trillion budget will be judiciously spent.

The Speaker expressed confidence the House will be able to pass

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By Rey Requejo

THE Supreme Court has ruled that public officials and employees are allowed to correct errors, omissions, and non-submissions of their Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

In an en banc decision, the High Court resolved and set aside the dismissal due to dishonesty of a tax specialist from the Department of Finance who was accused of concealing mil-

Julito

lions worth of real properties, motor vehicles, business interests, and loans.

Jessie Javier Carlos, whose gross annual salary at the DOF only ranged from P126,000 to P210,000 between 2000 and 2011, allegedly secured two houses and lots worth P4.1 million, farm lots worth P4 million, vehicles, loans, and credit card debts—purportedly beyond his government earnings and not declared in his SALNs.