The Manila city government is now mulling the filing of a lawsuit against the International Container Terminal Service, Inc. (ICTSI) following the discovery of a P2.8-billion reclamation area that was built by the port company without permit from the local government.

Manila Vice Mayor Fransisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said he was just waiting for the city council to consolidate their report as well as the evidence they had gathered against the supposed secret project of ICTSI in Baseco, Tondo which he described as “a slap on the face to the local government.”

“Of course, we will file charges against ICTSI. They committed grave abuse when they reclaimed the part of Baseco without informing the local government. For us, we see it as a blatant disrespect to our authority,” Moreno told the Manila Bulletin in a telephone interview.

Moreno and several members of the city council paid a visit to the supposed secret 12-hectare reclamation area.

Aside from lacking the necessary permit to reclaim the land, the city officials learned that most of the Korean workers did not possess any working permit from the local government.

“Marami silang mga paglabag na ginawa bukod pa sa mga naunang paglabag, pinag-aaralan na ng konseho ng Maynila ang gaawin dito,”Moreno said. (“They have a lot of violations.”)

“Hindi namin hahayaan na para na lang silang barbaro na gagawa ng lupa sa ibabaw ng tubig na pagmamay-ari ng local government na hindi ipinapaalam sa amin,” he added. (“We won’t tolerate this.”)

The ICTSI, at first, allegedly denied reclaiming the parts of Baseco when the local government asked  them about the seeming ongoing construction in area, according to Moreno. He said that they only found out about the supposed ICTSI reclamation project from Hanjin officials.

“Before someone reclaims an area, they should consult first the local government. Ikaw ba, hahayaan mo na lang ang isang hindi mo kilala na bigla na lang kukunin lupa mo tapos patatayuan ng bahay?” he asked.

Established in 1987, ICTSI, which is owned by business tycoon Enrique Razon, operates terminals in Brazil, Poland, Madagascar, Japan, Indonesia, Syria, China, Ecuador, Colombia, Georgia, Brunei and Argentina, besides the Philippines.

Because of the supposed by-pass committed by the port operator, Moreno had warned ICTSI that the local government that they will prevent their port in Manila from operating and that they will take over the reclaimed land

“If there's gross violation, pati yung pier nila ipapatigil namin,” he warned.

For their part, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) maintained that the ICTSI did not violate any law as the port operator need not get a permit from the local government because the contested reclaimed area was under their jurisdiction.