San Miguel Corp. is seeking government approval to quarry in Manila Bay and use the extracted marine sand and gravel as landfill for its ongoing international airport project in Bulacan.
According to an application filed with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, SMC sister company VIL Mines seeks to extract "non-metallic minerals" from the San Nicolas Shoal seabed along the towns of Ternate, Naic, Tanza, Noveleta, and Rosario in Cavite.
The planned quarry site encompasses 8,530 hectares, about half the size of Quezon City, for which SMC said it intended to dredge for 15 years.
VIL Mines said it needed to extend the quarry area so that "the depth at which the San Nicolas Shoal will be dredged will effectively be minimized while still ensuring that the needed marine sand for the MIA (new Manila International Airport) will be supplied."
The little-known VIL Mines is a subsidiary of Clariden Holdings, which in turn is a subsidiary of Top Frontier Investment Holdings, the parent company of the San Miguel conglomerate.
Former DENR secretary Horacio Ramos, now a Petron director, is listed as president of Clariden Holdings.
SMC has just obtained Senate approval for fiscal incentives and an export credit insurance from the Dutch government for its bold plan to build a 2,500-hectare "aerocity" from the swamplands of Bulacan.
SMC's plan to quarry Manila Bay will have to undergo a series of mandatory public hearings to consult with the affected Cavite communities, the first of which is scheduled for June 8 in Rosario.
Based on regulatory disclosures, SMC had already made the rounds consulting and briefing the Cavite provincial and town officials, as well as having done the required "public scoping" for the massive quarry project.
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