Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu has vowed to implement an extensive cleanup of the Manila Bay coastline.
The bay’s coastline stretches some 190 kilometers through Cavite, Metro Manila, Bulacan and Pampanga.
Cimatu made the assurance during his visit to the new DENR-Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) office.
“The President has shown confidence in our competence after what we have done in Boracay.”
The new office is designed to resemble a dicotyledon flower, and is located near the South Luzon Expressway interchange at the Mayapa-Canlubang exit in Laguna.
“We are in the limelight now of what we want to do with Manila Bay. The President has shown confidence in our competence after what we have done in Boracay,” the environment chief said.
Cimatu also told the environment regional office staff that “having a new building is also a new start, a new beginning and a promise of growth and the conduciveness to work effectively and efficiently and thus work hard to restore Manila Bay to its pristine condition.”
“This is the right time to confront the problem head on as we are tasked to clear Manila Bay of garbage.”
The environment head said DENR-Calabarzon will be busy with the rehabilitation of Manila Bay, following President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive for the DENR to swiftly implement the Supreme Court’s mandamus declaration.
Cimatu said he had an informal talk with Mayor Justin Marc Chipeco of Calamba City, Laguna, who reported that his city is having a problem with garbage management as the city is fast running out of available dumpsites.
“This is the right time to confront the problem head on as we are tasked to clear Manila Bay of garbage,” Cimatu said, noting that the lack of space may have prompted residents to dump garbage into creeks and rivers that eventually ended up in Manila Bay.
“The required effort to clean and rehabilitate Manila Bay would take around 330 times as that of Boracay,” Cimatu added.
Cimatu also pointed out that some business establishments, including hotels located on Manila Bay’s coastline have violated the provisions of their Environment Compliance Certificates (ECCs), adding that one hotel, which is now under DENR probe, even went as far as dumping untreated sewage into the bay.
Cimatu also said the DENR will be dividing the bay’s cleanup operations into three regions: Cavite (from Ternate to Bacoor City), Metro Manila and Central Luzon.
