WHAT BRIDGES DESTROY: Cebu-Bohol Megabridge Project a ‘Threat’ to Danajon Bank’s Marine Life?

Waves crashing against the reef, boats gliding through the still waters of Camotes – what seems to be just a peaceful morning for a fisherman has been disrupted at the looming sight of a “mega” infrastructure.

In yet another economic dream built at a great environmental cost, the largest of the only six double barrier reefs in the world is at risk as the construction of the Cebu-Bohol Megabridge is about to happen.  

The Danajon (also known as “Dawahon”) Bank Double Barrier Reef, situated on the northeast coast of Bohol in the Camotes Sea, is home to a rich marine biodiversity. Diverse species of fish, mollusks, and other marine mammals thrive underwater thanks to its rare reef formation. Aside from being a breeding ground for marine life, its abundance has also sustained surrounding coastal communities by providing them livelihood and protection from storms.

However, with the recent developments of the Cebu-Bohol bridge, it appears that even the reef’s reputation cannot spare it from the destructive ambitions of man.  

In a press briefing on July 31, Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro said she and Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado are working toward fast-tracking the expressway project connecting the two islands in hopes of “tourism and economic growth.”

Build, build, destroy?

Talks on the project were brought to the table in 2016 during President Duterte’s Build, Build, Build program, a flagship infrastructure initiative which environmentalists say left a legacy not of success but of environmental harm.

After failing to secure funding, the proposed plan was shelved aside for years. Plans to link Cebu and Bohol, along with the islands of Negros and Leyte, however, resurfaced in April 2024. 

Infrastructure development company Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company Manila Incorporated signed a memorandum of understanding with the Visayas Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte (Neceboley) Interlink Holdings Corporation to pursue a $15-billion mega infrastructure bridge project connecting the four Visayas islands. 

After rumors circulated regarding the project’s status, the Cebu provincial government later denied giving a green light to the infrastructure project.

In more recent news, the Regional Development Council in Central Visayas approved the proposed 25-kilometer inter-island bridge linking Mactan Island, Cebu to Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary onward to Getafe, Bohol, passing the bank. It will likely be constructed under a Public-Private Partnership plan with Manny Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation, the operator of Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.

Boholanos and environmental advocates had appealed months before to government officials to reevaluate the bridge project as it poses threat to the bank’s marine life and the people who have long relied on it.

‘Rich’ source of life

Be it nature’s miracle, a marine sanctuary, or a lifeline, the Danajon Bank holds value to the coastal communities whose livelihoods are directly tied to its survival.

Seventeen municipalities across four provinces in two different regions have jurisdiction over the reef. 

In Region 7, ten municipalities belong to Bohol and two belong to Cebu, while in Region 8, one belongs to Leyte and four belong to Southern Leyte.

Combined, these municipalities have a shoreline stretching for 699 kilometers, and four of these seventeen municipalities are located in the project’s focal area: Talibon, Bien Unido, Ubay, and President Carlos P. Garcia. For generations, these places have been sustained by the bank’s rich marine life.

Teeming with a rich variety of flora and fauna, the bank serves as a  breeding ground and habitat for a diverse array of marine species. Its habitats include over 27,000 hectares of coral reefs, more than 5,000 hectares of natural mangroves, and over 2,000 hectares of man-made mangrove forests and fishponds. With this rich marine life, the Bank could already sustain the livelihoods of thousands of fishing families.

Researchers attribute its healthy biodiversity to the area’s distinct location within the Camotes Sea, an “inland” basin that contributes to a high number of coral species and protects the wider Visayan Seas from strong ocean storms.

Fifty-four percent, more than half of our country’s fishermen, rely on its abundance for their daily catch of tropical fish. If a harmful infrastructure project is pushed forward, it could threaten the people who depend on fishing for a living. And we’d risk losing a major source of food that has fed Filipinos for generations.

Mega-projects vs. marine preservation

The Cebu-Bohol bridge project is not the first Build, Build, Build project to be mired in scrutiny over its threat to marine life. The now ongoing Php 23.52 billion Samal Island-Davao City connector bridge, for instance, has been the subject of a long legal battle since 2020. 

Environmentalists argue that the bridge, traversing the Paradise Reef located between Paradise Island and Costa Marina, casts an “irreversible threat” to the area’s rich marine environment. Despite the issuance of a writ of kalikasan, the Department of Public Works and Highways proceeded with its construction, with the project expected to be finished by September 2028.

The connector bridge was pitched with the goal of enhanced regional mobility and improved tourism. However, now that the project is underway, its drilling operations and craneway construction are already damaging marine ecosystems. Backed with the same promise of progress, is Danajon Bank poised to suffer a similar fate as Paradise Reef?

Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Build, Better, More initiative — a reiteration of the latter   administration’s infrastructure program — clamor over environmental threats persist as the push for progress continues to leave people behind.   

Locals in Bohol said that decision-makers are moving forward with the plan without proper consultation. Calling it “a huge marine biodiversity disaster”, environmental watchdog Tagbilaran Baywatch, stressed that it would violate the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018 or RA 11038, a legislation aimed at protecting ecologically critical areas from development.

In a petition with an alliance of environmental lawyers and advocates, the group listed what could be destroyed by the Neceboley project:

• 2,000 hectares of mangrove forests, threatening feeding and roosting grounds for over 20 bird species;
• 27,000 hectares of coral reefs, home to 211 different coral species;
• Habitats for vulnerable species, including sharks, rays, and a large population of seahorses and pipefishes;
• Fishing grounds, seagrass and mudflats, which hosts small pelagic and demersal fisheries;
• 10 national protected areas and over 30 local marine protected areas within the region.

“When the feeding areas and habitats of the fish that we eat and other marine resources are destroyed, we threaten our own food insecurity and we will see the rise of hunger and displacement of the poor,” the petition read. 

Bohol’s 2nd District Representative, Maria Vanessa Aumentado, filed House Bill No. 10066, which sought to categorize the Danajon Bank as “a protected landscape and seascape,” referring to a 2023 assessment by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Tagbilaran Bishop Alberto Uy, along with Bishops Daniel Patrick Parcon and Crispin Varquez of Eastern Samar, signed the petition to show solidarity with those opposing the ecologically destructive project. 

“Any proposed development initiatives that pose a threat to this irreplaceable gift of nature must be met with resolute opposition and unwavering commitment to its preservation, ” said Uy in an open letter. 

As the Cebu-Bohol Bridge blueprint is laid out with the promise of economic progress, we question once more whether its foundations will be built for the people or for profit.

How can our decision-makers truly pursue ambitions of “tourism and economic growth” by destroying the very ecosystems that sustain them? Can economic growth ever justify destroying the very waters that feed millions?