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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

#Battle for Manila Bay: 2 famous restos padlocked

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The government on Sunday closed down two famous restaurants—the Aristocrat on Roxas Boulevard and Gloria Maris near the Folk Arts Theater–for dumping wastewater into Manila Bay on the first day of a massive five-year clean-up of the country’s most polluted body of water.

#Battle for Manila Bay: 2 famous restos padlocked
BATTLE CASUALTIES.  A cleanup program dubbed “Battle for Manila Bay”  has kicked off with DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu ordering three establishments near Manila bay—Aristocrat restaurant, Gloria Maris and  Esplanade—closed down for violating water disposal regulations. Norman Cruz

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, through the Laguna Lake Development Authority, also issued a cease-and-desist order on a waste water treatment facility of The Esplanade in Pasay City for the same violation.

Notices of violation were also issued to commercial establishments such as the Prime Holdings, Sea Residences, Lolo Taba and Lola Pato Restaurant, and Aliw Inn.

The rehabilitation effort—dubbed The Battle for Manila Bay–began with more than 5,000 employees from 13 government agencies and volunteers to clean up the bay.

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Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu led other Cabinet secretaries in a unity walk from the Quirino Grandstand to the Baywalk area.

Those who joined the solidarity walk were Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Danilo Lim, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Environment Undersecretary Benny Antiporda and Presidential Commission on Urban Poor chairman Alvin Feliciano.

#Battle for Manila Bay: 2 famous restos padlocked
CLEANUP KICK-OFF.  DENR Secretary  Roy Cimatu orders the  closure of  three establishments near Manila bay—Aristocrat, Gloria Maris and  Esplanade—that  have been  found  to have violated water disposal regulations as the Manila bay rehabilitation program kicks off. Norman Cruz 

 

In Bacoor, Cavite, thousands of local government officials, employees and volunteers joined in the cleanup drive.

At 7 a.m., Cavite Gov. Jesus Crispin Remulla and Mayor Lani Mercado Revilla led the launching at the Barangay Zapote V multi-purpose plaza and rallied Caviteños to clean up the heavily-polluted Zapote River, the riverbanks of which are home to hundreds of squatters.

“These are our collective efforts and our commitment together with 23 cities and town mayors and barangays here in Cavite to bring back the beauty of Manila Bay through the help of every Caviteño,” Remulla said.

Revilla said Bacoor City supports the program of President Rodrigo Duterte and the DENR for weekly cleanups, and said the city has already begun the relocation of thousands of families living in danger zones in coastal barangays, some of whom lived in houses on stilts on the river.

READ: Duterte orders rehab of Manila Bay

“From these clean-up operations, we need to record how many tons of garbage that we have collected in our respective areas and this would be until December this year,” said Eloisa Rozul, Department of the Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge for Cavite.

In General Trias City, Mayor Antonio Ferrer, together with City Environmental and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) personnel and 33 village chiefs, participated in cleanup activities along the Ilang-Ilang River and the Rio Grande River in Barangay Manggahan-San Francisco area and the Tanza River in Barangays San Juan 1 and 2 and Tejero.

Noveleta town local officials, employees and volunteers showed up for the clean-up drive in the Ilang-Ilang River and the shorelines in Barangays San Rafael III and San Rafael IV, as early as 6 a.m.

Cavite Police Provincial Director Senior Supt. William Segun also led hundreds of police personnel who are deployed in the seven cities and 16 towns to participate in the cleanup campaign.

Cavite Provincial Environmental and Natural Resources Office personnel and members of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection and 74 village officials and residents also joined the Manila Bay cleanup effort.

The event was held in compliance with the Cimatu’s order to intensify the information and awareness campaign, and to enforce the law on waste management.

Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza, however, said the Battle for Manila Bay is lost as long as Metro Manila continues to use the bay as a gigantic septic tank.

“Up to now, everybody is in denial of the fact that pretty much all of Metro Manila’s raw and untreated domestic wastewater, mainly fecal sewage, still gets flushed down the toilet that is Manila Bay,” he said.

The official findings from the joint inspection with LLDA last January 16, 2019 is an isolated case involving only one of our tenants,  the  SM Group said in a  statement.

The matter was immediately corrected and  we are now compliant, it said. “We will immediately meet with the LLD and discuss the corrective measures already  implemented.”

On the other notices of violation served, we will comply within the 5 day grace period given to respond with the corrective actions already taken.

The SM group is in full support of the Manila Bay Rehabilitation program, the statement read. With PNA

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