Philippine president suspends 22 land reclamation projects in Manila Bay after US airs concerns
By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered an indefinite suspension of 22 major land reclamation projects in Manila Bay to allow a study of their environmental impact and legal compliance. Marcos’s order came after the United States expressed public concern over environmental damage from the projects and the involvement of a Chinese company which was blacklisted by Washington for its role in building militarized Chinese island bases in the South China Sea that further stoked tensions in the contested waters. The heavily fortified U.S. Embassy in Manila sits on the edge of the bay.