"The storied river system is being cleaned up."
"The storied river system is being cleaned up."
Lost in the din of headline-grabbing news on the COVID-19 epidemic, POGOs and "pastillas" and, yes, the ABS-CBN franchise chase, is the continuing Manila Bay clean up being undertaken by an Inter-Agency Committee headed by Secretary Roy Cimatu and their partners from the private sector, here and abroad.
So far, this undertaking has resulted in relatively lower coliform levels along the Manila Bay baywalk stretching to the Baseco area, the installation of huge sewage treatment plants in the more problematic outfalls and esteros, the bridge lighting and dredging-cum-clean up of the entire Pasig River and allied river systems within the greater Metro Manila area and surrounding provinces.
One such tributary, the Tullahan-Tinajeros river in the Navotas-Malabon area, was formally launched yesterday. This P1-billion initiative is being underwritten by San Miguel Corporation (SMC). This has long been the depository of waste and related debris from industrial, commercial and, of course, households/communities from Quezon City, Bulacan and the northern metro area. Thus, this initiative will not only open up the river to its once-pristine and vibrant flows but will significantly reduce flooding in the flood plains all the way to Manila Bay.
Hopefully, by the time this administration bows out in 2022, fish sanctuaries and other water-based livelihood activities, not to mention sports facilities, will abound along the entire length and breadth of the storied river system.
We are told that similar multi-year clean-up initiatives using the same public private partnership are also under way in other tributaries within the entire Manila Bay influence area in implementation of the mandated obligations under existing laws and as being monitored by the Supreme Court in compliance with its outstanding writ of kalikasan mandamus order.
With just over two years to go before bowing out of office, there is no doubt this gargantuan task will test the administration’s mettle no end.
Mahathir bows out
‘Shocking’ is all that we can say about the abrupt resignation of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad two days ago.
The world’s oldest head of government, the 95-year-old PM, came out of retirement after serving for 18 years in that position, the longest in Malaysia’s history, to lead the four-party Pakatan Harapan (PH) ruling coalition in ending the long-standing reign of the then ruling UMNO coalition.
What was being held then as Malaysia’s best hope for a new deal in politics and governance, PH degenerated into a warring coalition apparently over the “spoils of war.” As putative PM and former Deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim noted after the surprise Mahathir resignation, he has been betrayed by his very partners in the coalition.
That is putting it diplomatically. From the very start, it was clear that the coalition was founded on shifting sands. In the first place, majority of its leaders were erstwhile senior UMNO officials who had to leave the party over the same issue now rocking PH—power sharing. In the course of time and perhaps even before the coalition got into government, the publicly announced values-based governance principles which PH used to oust UMNO was thrown out of the window in favor of naked power politics. A band of coalition MPs was out to deny Anwar the prime ministership in violation of what was agreed upon and promised by PM Mahathir himself. Now the coalition is breaking up—and all too suddenly, Malaysia is in a tailspin. Sayang.