PRIB: Senators approve bill creating 3-km buffer zone in LPPWP

PHILIPPINES, January 27 - Press Release
January 27, 2025

Senators approve bill creating 3-km buffer zone in LPPWP

Migratory and resident birds as well as several fish species and mollusks in the Las Piñas - Parañaque Wetland Park (LPPWP) will be better protected with the approval of a bill on Monday, January 27, 2025, which seeks to expand its boundaries as a protected area and its vicinities.

Senate Bill No. 1536, otherwise known as the LPPWP Protection Act of 2025, proposes to establish a 3-kilometer buffer zone from the current shoreline boundary to enhance conservation and protection of the living ecosystem in the wetland park. The bill was introduced by Senators Cynthia Villar, Loren Legarda, Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa and Joel Villanueva. Villar sponsored the measure.

LPPWP is host to at least 5,000 individuals of about 82 species of migratory and resident birds, including the Philippine Duck and Chinese Egret that are threatened with extinction. The 181.63 hectare wetland park also home to important fish species and mollusk and around 23 species of true and associate mangroves. According to a 2018 report by Arne Jensen, in midwinter, from 171,500 to 208,500 waterbirds of 90 species occurred in Manila Bay. About 75 percent of the species are migratory.

Villar said LPPWP is currently under threat of the potential impacts of proposed reclamation projects adjacent to it. She cited a study commissioned by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources- Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (DENR- ERDB) in 2021 which showed that the presence of the proposed reclamation projects within Manila Bay exacerbated erosion, sedimentation, coastal and inland flooding in the adjacent built-up areas of Metro Manila and reshapes the intertidal mudflats of LPPWP.

She said the enactment of the bill into law would expand the protected area to ensure that the ecological integrity of both its land and water is well preserved and managed and that this shall safeguard the biodiversity in critical areas from the tensions of developments. In addition, Villar said the proposed 3-kilometer buffer zone shall enhance conservation efforts and will ensure 1) protection of mudflats and shallow water habitats serving as foraging sites of migratory birds, spawning and nursery ground of fish and maintain and protect a greater dispersal area for dispersing fish and invertebrate larvae; 2) enable the LPPWP Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) to effectively manage allowable activities within the expansion thereby ensuring the maintenance of the natural coastal ecosystem and the overall ecological character of LPPWP; 3) consider the primary concern of the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan (MBSDMP) and the findings of the ERBD-commissioned study on potential interference of certain projects such as reclamation, on water circulation and tidal movement and; 4) fortify, among others, the flood mitigation mechanisms to afford better protection to our vulnerable coastal communities in the area of LPPWP.

Under the bill, the ownership of portions of the properties covering the LPPWP under the Philippine Estates Authority, also known as the Philippine Reclamation Authority, shall be transferred to the DENR for the purpose of conservation, protection and development of the wetland park as an important wildlife habitat and an ecotourism site.

No exploration, exploitation or utilization of non-renewable resources within the LPPWP and its buffer zone for commercial purposes shall be allowed.

Reclamation, constituting converting coastal or marine area to land by dump and fill methods and/giving permission or clearance to reclamation, filling-in or drainage, except when necessary for national interest, fishing during general peak spawning season of marine species or any activity or development that disturbs or destroys the spawning area, among others are strictly prohibited under the act.