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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Can the DENR hack it?

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"The rehabilitation of Manila Bay is a daunting exercise."

 

 

 

This Sunday (Jan. 27) the Department of Environment and Natural Resources begins implementing a 10-year plan costing a whopping P42 billion to revive Manila Bay from decades of pollution and urban blight.

You will recall that serious efforts were made as far back as the early 90s—during the Ramos administration—to clean up the Pasig River, which empties into Manila Bay. Some headway was made in reviving the heavily polluted body of water, with succeeding administrations trying to sustain the effort, including a costly dredging. To date, though, the water remains murky and foul-smelling.

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The biggest obstacle to the clean-up of Manila Bay, it looks to me, is not the big hotels, business establishments and condominium clusters along the coast.

The huge problem is removing the informal settlers, or to use what’s considered a politically incorrect term—squatters—comprised of an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 families living near the coastal area and along the banks of the many esteros that lead to the Pasig River and ultimately to Manila Bay.

If the average family has no less than four members, that’s more than a million informal settlers polluting Manila Bay on a daily basis with their trash and human waste.

And we’re not even talking of the business establishments near the esteros and the immediate coastal area that also dispose of both their liquid and solid waste into waterways.

Putting the “Manila Bay Action Plan” to work is therefore going to be a Herculean task. Going by official pronouncements, the plan has three phases: Phase 1 is cleanup and improvement of water quality improvement, Phase 2 is rehabilitation, and Phase 3, protection and sustainment.

Phase 1, starting this month, will include the clean-up of esteros and waterways, reduction of the level of fecal coliform and toxic discharges from establishments, and provision of temporary sanitation facilities for informal settlers residing along the esteros and the Manila Bay shoreline. Solid waste management and planning for the relocation of the informal settlers will also be done. 

Results of the latest water test on Manila Bay showed that its fecal coliform level stood at 330 million most probable number (MPN) for every 100 milliliters, way off the acceptable level of 100 MPN. The acceptable level for Class SB water is 100MPN/100 ml. The DENR’s goal is to reduce coliform level to less than 270 MPN/100ml less by December 2019.

No less than President Rodrigo Duterte made the announcement that the government would start cleaning the heavily polluted Manila Bay, with Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año instructed to head the operation. At the same time, Duterte warned hotel owners in the area to install water treatment systems for the proper disposal of waste material—or face closure.

To jumpstart the massive cleanup, a DENR—led task force will release an initial list of establishments that will receive “notices of violation” of environmental laws particularly on water and solid waste management.

News reports indicate that the DENR has already taken water samples from or checked the compliance level of close to 300 commercial establishments. The next move is to show them the results and inform them of the requirements, including the establishment of water treatment plants. If they don’t meet these, they face closure.

Aside from closure, violators face fines ranging from P20,000 to P200,000 for every day of violation, beginning on the date the water sample was taken.

Recently, the DENR inspected the local government-run Manila Zoo and found that it had been discharging untreated sewage directly through one of the esteros flowing into the bay. The agency ordered the 59-year-old zoo to immediately construct its own sewage treatment plant, with the city later expressing willingness to build two more of such facilities.

The Department of Tourism has expressed full support for the government plan to rehabilitate Manila Bay, saying that it would be to the “best interest” of the tourism industry and “in line with the thrust of the DOT to create a culture of sustainable tourism.”

Having said all this, we see the massive project facing big odds even as government has succeded in reviving Boracay, considered the crown jewel of Philippine tourism, where the cleanup effort last year required the closure of the famous resort island to tourists for six months.

We’re well aware that the DENR has given assurances that they will apply the same “political will” observed in the rehabilitation of Boracay Island, and strictly implement Republic Act 9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 which they say is the “key to addressing water quality issues and other environmental problems in the historic bay.”

Last week, at the Saturday Forum@Annabel’s which I moderate, DENR Undersecretary Benny Antiporda pointed out that the cleanup should be a community effort, with various sectors helping out. He’s right.

The Manila Bay rehab project is actually long overdue. In 2008, the Supreme Court issued an order for the DENR and 12 other government agencies to clean up Manila Bay and restore its water quality to Class SB level safe for recreational activities such as swimming. It’s 2019, more than a decade after that ruling, and the problem seems to have gotten even worse.

The next target is 2029 for the waters of Manila Bay to be as pristine as in the old days—the post-war era, for instance—but we really hope the government succeeds in this noble undertaking. We may have serious reservations at this point as to whether government can relocate all informal settlers that pollute Manila Bay within 10 years, but we’d be glad to be proven wrong. 

ernhil@yahoo.com

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