Making way for an airport in the Philippines | VPRO Documentary
46Bram Vermeulen travels to the Manila Bay in the Philippines, where the Dutch dredging company Boskalis is responsible for land reclamation for the construction of a new international airport.
The company recently made headlines by threatening to leave the Netherlands if a new law is passed making companies liable for the possible negative consequences of their activities abroad.
The €1.5 billion contract is the largest in Boskalis' history and was concluded during the time of populist President Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte campaigned on two promises: build as much infrastructure as possible and the ruthless 'War on Drugs'. Before Duterte came to power, he warned that Manila Bay would fill with the corpses of drug dealers. In six years, thousands were executed without trial, including environmentalists.
Bram Vermeulen examines the consequences for the hundreds of Filipino families who must make way for the airport, and the activists fighting the project. What moved the Dutch company to take on the project and the Dutch government to support it, despite previous promises to protect Manila Bay?
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