Freedom Island is a well know bird sanctuary deep within the heart of Las Pinas and Paranaque. It is 175 hectares, reaching the Cavite-Manila Coatal road. Although it is known as a bird sanctuary, its importance to the environment is much more comprehensive. In addition to the aforementioned bird sanctuary, it is also rich in mangrove trees and marine life. Because of this, many fishermen make a living out of the island’s rich ecosystem. It is also a natural defense against typhoons and an outlet for the major waterways of both cities. With all these positive effects to society, it is absolutely mind-boggling that the government plans to reclaim 635 hectares of this paradise to build a highway.
The Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) plans to build a fourteen-billion peso highways linking the business centers or Paranaque and Las Pinas. A sizable amount of the island must be cut off if the project is to be a success. This will obviously have numerous detrimental effects to the island. The mangroves that will survive the construction of the highway will not be able to receive saltwater due to its poor circulation. The eradication of the ecosystem would disrupt the lives of the birds. The fishermen who make a living out of the island will also be affected. The destruction of the island’s ecosystem would destroy every one of those fishermen’s livelihood. In addition to all these horrible effects, the destruction of the island would rob the cities of Las Pinas and the city of Paranaque of a defense against flooding. The construction of the highway would render both cites vulnerable to floods and typhoons.
From here, we can clearly see that it is in the best interest of the Filipino people in terms of environmental health, the economy, and tourism that Freedom Island be protected. Cutting down 15% of the island for a highway will be a grave mistake by the hands of the government. More than that, it would be an environmental crime. The people must stand up for the Freedom Island so that it can live up to its name.
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