Buoyed by the success of the Boracay rehabilitation, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is preparing to restore Manila Bay back to its pristine state.
Manila Bay which is known for its beautiful sunsets, is also one of the most polluted areas in the country with its domestic sewage, toxic industrial effluents from factories and shipping operations, and leachate from garbage dumps, among others.
DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu said he was keen to have Manila Bay rehabilitated, restored and maintained to a level fit for swimming, skin diving and other contact forms of recreation.
“I am keen to have Manila Bay rehabilitated, restored and maintained to a level fit for swimming, skin diving and other contact forms of recreation.”
“We are preparing for an all-out strategy to bring the coliform concentration in Manila Bay to a safe level so that millions of people who reside in the bay region and neighboring areas will enjoy its waters and marine resources without fear of getting sick,” Cimatu said.
The environment chief said DENR hopes to replicate what has been achieved in Boracay which, prior to undergoing a six-month rehabilitation period, was also described as a “cesspool” by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte.
The environment head said government will show the same level of political will in cleaning up the bay that spans three major regions—National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon and CALABARZON or Region 4A—as it did in Boracay, a tiny island in the Western Visayas.
A 2017 report by the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau showed that the fecal coliform level in Manila Bay reached a high of over 330 million most probable number (MPN) per 100 milliliters (ml). The safe level is 100 MPN/100 ml.
According to Cimatu, part of the DENR’s strategy is to ensure the compliance with environmental laws of all local government units (LGUs) surrounding Manila Bay.
“I am calling on all LGUs to step up their efforts in cleaning up the bay because it is their own constituents who will benefit (from a rehabilitated Manila Bay),” he said.
“I am calling on all LGUs to step up their efforts in cleaning up the bay because it is their own constituents who will benefit.”
Cimatu revealed that a Manila Bay Command Center under the DENR NCR regional office will be created to oversee the zonal operations of four field offices to be set up in six coastal cities of Metro Manila, namely: Malabon-Navotas, Manila, Pasay-Parañaque, and Las Piñas.
These field offices will be manned by personnel, who would closely coordinate with city or municipal environment officers to ensure that cleanup activities and programs are being carried out and sustained.
To address the problem of human defecation with the presence of informal settlers along the bay, the DENR is looking at technologies that would treat water of pollutants, whether directly discharged into the bay or through toilets.
Cimatu said the DENR would also seek assistance from law enforcement agencies in going after violators of environmental laws, especially those who will discharge untreated wastewater into the bay.
In 2008, the Supreme Court issued a continuing writ of mandamus ordering 13 government agencies to clean up Manila Bay and restore its water quality to Class SB, or safe for recreational activities such as swimming.
Class SB waters are also suitable for commercial propagation of shellfish and as spawning areas for milkfish and other similar species.
