“We are talking about 50-year old mangroves, so if you’re going to talk about restoration to its original state, then we need approximately 50 years also.” This was the assessment of Dr. Resurreccion Sadaba, a member of the Iloilo River Development Council and author of the Handbook of Mangroves in the Philippines-Panay when asked on the fate of mangroves affected by the ongoing Esplanade project of Iloilo City. In August 2017, a swathe of mangrove trees near the Iloilo Bridge along Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Avenue in Iloilo City was damaged with the start of the Esplanade 4 project. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is still determining the number of destroyed mangroves.

Pillado, C., Solas, R., Tolentino, J., & Yanoc, S. (2017, December 19). Expert says mangroves need 50 years to recover. The Daily Guardian, p. 3.