Controversial Manila ordinance to stall Manila Bay rehabilitation

MANILA, Philippines - A proposed ordinance to create zones of medium and heavy industries that would allow the Pandacan depot to continue to operate will derail the environmental plan to cut down to 50 percent by 2015 the present pollution load ending up in Manila Bay, a top official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said yesterday.

“This objective will surely not be achieved if this ordinance will be adopted,” said Environmental Management Bureau Director Julian Amador of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in a position paper submitted to DENR Secretary Lito Atienza. Amador said that the Operational Plan in Manila Bay Control Strategy (OPMCS) aims to reduce pollution from land-based activities by 50 percent by 2015.  

He said Manila Bay is part of an area, which includes Pasig River and Laguna de Bay, being proposed by EMB to be declared as a “Non-Attainment Area” (NAA) by virtue of the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 which provides that no new sources of pollution are to be built in NAAs unless there is corresponding reduction in discharges from existing sources and the total pollution load from all sources including the new sources will not exceed the targets in the plan to upgrade the water quality as required by law.

“Their (Pasig River, Manila Bay, and Laguna de Bay) water quality have already exceeded the desired water quality criteria intended for their beneficial use,” Amador noted, saying that in Pasig River alone, the biological oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen concentrations have consistently failed to meet allowable criteria of seven milligrams per liter (mg/l) and five mg/l, respectively for Class “C” waters used for the propagation and growth of fish and other aquatic resources.

Amador cited the deteriorating air quality of Metro Manila, which has been designated as an airshed under, Section 9 of RA inded 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act, would further worsen with the passage of the proposed ordinance which he called as “directly contrary to the intention” of the provision. “Furthermore, the proposed ordinance will degrade the water quality of our water bodies without counting the negative impact to the air quality in Metro Manila,” he said. He likewise cited the Supreme Court ruling that sent marching orders to the government to conduct a comprehensive rehabilitation program saying, “it will be difficult for the DENR and other agencies to comply with the SC directive.”

Oil spill

Based on the document “Manila Oil Spill Contingency Plan (MOSCP),” 18 oil spills had occurred in Manila Bay from February 1998 to December 2004 which resulted into over 1.2 million liters of oil spilled into the bay. Out of the 18 spills, nine happened in Bataan in the ports of Limay and Mariveles with a total volume of 789,751 liters. The largest oil spill that occurred in Manila Bay happened in Mariveles, Bataan during the MT Mary Anne oil spill incident with a total volume of 747,991 liters. The second largest spill occurred in South Harbor Manila during the MT Sea Brothers incident, with a total volume of 420,000 liters. The statistics does not include spillage in Pasig River and that most spills occurred where vessels traffic is heavy, such as ports and harbors.