107 local officials ordered: Explain Manila Bay pollution

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government will issue show cause orders to 107 local government officials, including two mayors in Metro Manila, for their alleged failure to prevent the pollution of Manila Bay, DILG Undersecretary for barangay affairs Martin Diño said yesterday.

Diño said the local officials will be made to explain why they should not be held liable for failure to strictly enforced provisions of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2001.

“We will also be filing administrative cases against them before the Office of the Ombudsman,” he said in a phone interview.

Included in the list are two mayors in the National Capital Region whom Diño declined to name pending an official announcement from DILG Secretary Eduardo Año.

Diño said there are other mayors on the list, including two from Cavite province. A majority of the local officials are barangay captains who failed to impose strict measures to protect the environment in their respective localities.

The officials are from Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon). There are about 179 cities and municipalities and some 5,700 barangays in the immediate vicinity of Manila Bay.

In a separate interview over radio station dzBB, Diño chided the officials for turning a blind eye on violations of environmental laws in their respective areas.

“For the past 10 years, ang nangyari riyan (what happened there were) monitoring, evaluation, validation pagkatapos (and then) picture-taking,” he said.

The government has conducted a massive cleanup to rehabilitate the Manila Bay upon President Duterte’s directive. Diño, however, said their efforts will go to waste if other tributaries and waterways connected to the bay are not rehabilitated.

The problem, according to Diño, is that these officials have been negligent in preventing solid and liquid wastes being dumped in waterways.

Under the law, a person caught improperly disposing of trash could face imprisonment of six months to six years and a fine ranging from P4,000 to P6,000.

The other officials just issue the necessary barangay clearance for residential houses and commercial establishments even without inspection if they have a proper sewerage system for wastewater.

“No house or business establishment can be built if there is no barangay clearance. The question is, does the barangay captain inspect if there is septic tank or sewerage system those issued with barangay clearance?” Diño said.