DAVAO CITY — Mayor Sara Duterte terminated a joint venture agreement (JVA) for a multibillion-peso coastline development project that her father, Rodrigo Duterte, had signed several days before stepping down as mayor to become the country’s sixteenth President.

Mayor Duterte said the decision of the city government to terminate the P40-billion deal had already been relayed to Mega Harbour Port and Development Corp., a consortium led by businessman Reghis Romero II who was also behind the controversial Smokey Mountain multipurpose development project in Manila.

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“The decision came after about more than a year of careful review and study of the available documents and after weighing out the intentions of the project against its commercial viability, legal and social implications, and the project’s possible effects to the environment,” Mayor Duterte said in a statement announcing the decision to terminate the JVA.

The 214-hectare reclamation project, Mayor Duterte said, was not consistent with the development and environment policies and positions of the city.

“Our decision to terminate the joint venture agreement is coupled with a resolve that Davao City can really move forward and answer the call of economic growth by implementing highly sustainable projects, both commercially and environmentally,” Mayor Duterte said.

While the project stirred excitement in the city and investors, Mayor Duterte said the primary consideration behind the decision to terminate it was the “welfare and the future of Davao City.”

The deal was inked by former mayor and now President Duterte, the incumbent mayor’s father, in June 2016, just several days before he assumed office as the highest ranking official of the land.

“We understand that there are various legal repercussions ancillary to this decision and the Davao City government is ready to answer them in the proper forum,” Mayor Duterte said.

The decision gained the support of environmentalists, urban settlers and progressives in the city.

Sheena Duazo, spokesperson of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao, said her group was worried that the project would mean the demolition of urban poor communities in the area.

Duazo added that the project would also have a negative impact on natural resources along the coast of Davao.

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“The said project will mainly engage in extracting soil from our mainland and pouring it into the seas which will greatly affect marine ecosystems and will make our streets more prone to flood,” Duazo said. —Karlos Manlupig

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