Pagkaawa: Open Letter Addressing the Reclamation Projects in Manila Bay
To our government and the people,
Before we rained filth upon her virgin waters, Manila Bay’s song was rhythmic and pleasant, composed from waves gently rubbing against the shoreline. Now, its wails carry the quality of roughness and age, her voice having turned raspy from decades of choking on the artefacts of our neglect.
Manila Bay is destined to flourish. The natural order of our planet mandates that it must prevail over our capacity for destruction. We must do all that we can to prevent Manila Bay from meeting a wretched fate. We must rewrite the narrative of doom that brings Manila Bay dangerously close to reaching myth-status, its beauty in a permanently perished state. Do we dare build a kingdom of concrete cash machine littered on our shores or do we pursue humbler objectives for the future of Manila Bay?
Because at the end of the day, reclamation is just another euphemism for the corporate greed that taints our vision of a utopic Manila Bay, finally free from the pollution and neglect it endured. The proposals set forth are hardly solutions to the high volumes of trash and in all probability, will only add to the damage that has already been done. The harm, however, is not solely exclusive to Manila Bay nor other deteriorating bodies of water. We have restlessly punished our planet with the catastrophes we create. Our species is a victim of the mindset of superiority we lord over the lands and waters we claim to own, and dismiss the glaring truth of the ancientness that surrounds. We have forgotten that we are merely stewards, not owners of this planet that we, sometimes, heartlessly inhabit.
We build and build on top of what we stand and float on, so much that we can only see our creations and not the consequences they have produced. The greatest casualty of human interference is our environment, and Manila Bay is one of the countless that have fallen into toxic hands. If we remain ignorant, or faithful to deceptively attractive promises for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay, then this is how the story will end.
The villain will triumph. Commercial developments will rise, defensively guarding the profits government and businesses seek to obtain. The sparkling blue that once welcomed all marine life, merchants, traders, and even awestruck soldiers, will reflect the array of hues donned by trash, and the dull, uncaring grey of rapid urbanization. Manila Bay will be strangled. If the clean-ups and the government’s renewed resolve towards eradicating pollution provided a much-needed breath of fresh air, then the projects that have been greenlighted will usher another era of death to Manila Bay.
Time and time again, humans have proven to be culpable for the gradual extinction of nature. But that’s not the only character we can play in this story. Awareness of Manila Bay’s dire situation is accompanied by the opportunity for us to transform, so we can become agents of positive and selfless change. Through inspired resistance and constant vigilance against the dubious reclamation of Manila Bay, we can become legendary as well.
Perhaps in this scenario, the quest for nature’s resurgence, it isn’t so bad to be the sidekick. With Manila Bay as the hero, the goddess whom we benevolently worship and wish only for its best interests, we can assist life again. We can make decisions that contribute to its entire ecosystem, so that we can symbiotically coexist with Manila Bay, for too long has it been a generous benefactor to our attempts at establishing a thriving economy and society.
When we speak of giving back to Manila Bay, we must mean this: relinquish. Relinquish — to concede to nature’s agenda of restoring beauty that is untarnished by the absolute control many of us try to assume over things that can frankly, thrive without our intervention. When we speak of giving back to Manila Bay, we must mean this: equity. While we have the power to decide the future of Manila Bay, we must learn to listen to the cries of Manila Bay, and take our cues from there.
When we give back dutifully, we become who we must be for our Earth. We become messengers of hope and salvation. Because when we speak of giving back — not just for Manila Bay, but for the whole environment — what we really do, is allowing our planet to speak.
Sincerely,
Bye Bye Plastic Bags Philippines
