"This effort is now the be-all and end-all of Duterteís presidency."
"This effort is now the be-all and end-all of Duterteís presidency."
One of the best policy decisions Rodrigo Duterte has made in the first 31 months of his six-year presidency is his order to clean and rehabilitate Manila Bay.
About P47 billion has been allotted for the job over the next 12 months. The huge amount shows you how serious Duterte is about cleaning up Manila Bay.
The rehab of Manila Bay comes a few months after the successful cleanup of Boracay which Duterte had described as a cesspool.
Manila Bay is also a cesspool—1,700 times worse than Boracay.
In my TV interview Monday night, environmental planner and architect Jun Palafox described the enormity of the Manila Bay rehab job:
“The coastline from Cavite to Bataan is 190 kilometers, the surface water is 180,000 hectares, and the land area of the watershed catchment area is 1,700,000 hectares—equivalent to 24 Singapores and 1,700 Boracays.”
If Duterte succeeds in rehabilitating Manila Bay, it will enshrine him as the best president we ever had. Forget about the thousands killed in the name of illegal drugs, forget about the slowing economy, forget about the failure of TRAIN, forget about Congress becoming more rapacious and less transparent during his watch, forget about the failure to contain the Muslim separatists and the communist New People’s Army, forget about bad jokes about the Catholic Church and its beliefs, bishops and priests, forget about his questionable China pivot.
Manila Bay is now the be-all and end-all of Duterte’s presidency.
The President has invested his enormous political will to succeed with Manila Bay. He has harnessed the full force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the skill, experience and command structure of retired military men to get the job done. At the top of this structure is retired general Roy Cimatu, the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Cimatu plans to employ ground troops and ground commanders to carry out the DENR rehab plan. Literally thus, we have a new Battle of Manila Bay.
To be sure, it is not that Duterte has suddenly become pro-environment.
The President is actually implementing an order of the Supreme Court dating back to Dec. 18, 2008 to 14 government agencies to clean and restore Manila Bay, including eight cabinet-level departments and agencies—the DENR, Metro Manila Development Authority, and the departments of Education, Public Works, Agriculture, Budget, and Local Governments, along with the MWSS, Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Ports Authority, and BFAR.
In ten years, these departments and agencies failed to comply with the Supreme Court mandamus. And so Manila Bay deteriorated. The pollution, dirt, and sewage at the bay is three times that is allowed for humans to live. So it is a wonder why humans who bathe and live there remain alive.
The high court mandamus of 2008 stemmed from its affirming an RTC and Court of Appeals rulings on the original case filed by environmentalists on Jan. 29, 1999 before the Cavite Regional Trial Court.
That case sought an order to the defendant government agencies “to clean up, rehabilitate, and preserve Manila Bay, and restore and maintain its waters to SB level (Class B sea waters per Water Classification Tables under DENR Administrative Order No. 34 [1990]) to make them fit for swimming, skin-diving, and other forms of contact recreation.”
The RTC issued a mandamus in September 2002 which was upheld by the CA and later by the SC. Palafox explains why Manila Bay matters:
“Considered as one of the best natural harbors in the world, Manila Bay has been our country’s premier gateway to the west and to neighboring countries in Asia. It holds much significance in our history, and it has played a vital role in shaping our nation and our identity as it has witnessed countless momentous events dated as far back as 9th century A.D. such as the commencement of trade with China, the arrival of the Spaniards, the Galleon Trade, and the Battle of Manila, among others.”
“In spite of its economic and cultural endowment, Manila Bay’s environment has been deteriorating at an alarming rate. It is severely polluted with marine, domestic, industrial, and commercial waste—threatening marine life and the livelihoods primarily dependent on the Bay’s resources. According to the most recent water samples and laboratory tests conducted by the DENR, Manila Bay’s coliform level is 330-million MPN—exceptionally way beyond the acceptable level of less than 100 MPN!
This wide-scale project presents numerous opportunities for waterfront development from which we can all reap long-term benefits.”
biznewsasia@gmail.com