Battle for Manila Bay: Cleanup kicks off

MANILA, Philippines — At least 5,000 volunteers and government officials participated yesterday in a so-called solidarity walk from the Quirino Grandstand to Manila’s Baywalk as the Duterte administration started the rehabilitation of Manila Bay.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año led the activity dubbed “Battle for Manila Bay” at around 7 a.m.

They were joined by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, acting Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Danilo Lim.

Simultaneous cleanup activities were held in Las Piñas and Navotas cities as well as towns in Bulacan, Bataan and Pampanga.

The rehabilitation program was in compliance with a Supreme Court continuing writ of mandamus, ordering government agencies and local governments to clean up the polluted bay. 

Closure orders

The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) issued a cease and desist order on two restaurants and a water treatment facility classified as sources of “pollutive wastewater” in the bay.

The LLDA cut off water supply at the Aristocrat restaurant along Roxas Boulevard, Gloria Maris restaurant within the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex and one of the water treatment facilities of the Esplanade in Pasay City.

Cimatu and Año served the closure orders against the establishments.

The LLDA is an attached agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which was tasked to lead the Manila Bay cleanup.

LLDA general manager Jaime Medina said the establishments have been discharging pollutants in the bay.

 Medina said the owners of the establishments could lose their mayor’s permit and environmental compliance certificate should they fail to correct their violations.

The establishments were ordered to pay penalties of up to P200,000 for violating the Philippine Clean Water Act.

 Around P47 billion will be allocated for the bay’s cleanup, according to the DENR.

 The budget will also be used for the relocation of some 300,000 informal settler families living near the bay, the agency said.

The DENR has closed down 42 establishments in Bulacan and Bataan for polluting the river system that leads to Manila Bay.

At least 11 truckloads of garbage were collected by the MMDA along the bay yesterday.

Villar promised to procure trash skimmers to be used in cleaning the bay. 

Año ordered local governments within the Manila Bay to mount weekly cleanups or face sanctions.

AFP, PNP join bay rehab

The military and police joined other workers from the government and private sector in efforts to rehabilitate the polluted Manila Bay.    

A contingent composed of soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines led by Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. participated in the activity, AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said.

Arevalo said 700 troops from the Army, Air Force, Navy and the AFP General Headquarters took part in the event.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde also joined the launching of the Manila Bay cleanup.

Chief Superintendent Benigno Durana Jr., Police Community Relations Group director, said some 1,500 policemen took part in the activity.

Armed with sacks and sticks, Albayalde and other police officials cleaned the shores of Manila Bay.

Other officials who attended the event were National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Guillermo Eleazar and Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Vicente Danao Jr.

A lawmaker yesterday called on the government to compel Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water to provide sewage treatment facilities while the bay is undergoing rehabilitation. 

 “President Duterte can use his executive powers to require the water concessionaires to provide sewage treatment plants,” Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said.

The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas called for a  moratorium on all reclamation projects in Manilay Bay.

The group said the government should stop projects that would further pollute the bay. – With Michael Punongbayan, Emmanuel Tupas, Delon Porcalla, Ramon Efren Lazaro, Ghio Ong, Romina Cabrera