GSIS seeks revocation of violation notice for allegedly polluting Manila Bay

FILE: YOUNG AND RESPONSIBLE. Students of the Corazon C. Aquino High School join the cleanup drive of the Kilos Kabataan para sa Kalikasan (KALAKASAN) at the shores of Manila Bay in Barangay 649, Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila on Saturday (Feb. 16, 2019). The cleanup drive encourages various sectors to help restore the beauty of the iconic Manila Bay, which through the years has become a dumpsite. (PNA photo by Oliver Marquez)

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) on Friday, March 8, asked the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) to revoke the notice of violation it earlier issued against them for allegedly dumping wastewater into the Manila Bay.

In requesting a revocation, GSIS cited a “recent laboratory test” done by the LLDA which showed that the state-owned agency is found to be “compliant” with the standard of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the discharge of its wastewater.

“In the interest of fairness, we are requesting LLDA to revoke the notice of violation issued to GSIS at the height of the Manila Bay clean-up drive. It turns out that the basis of this alleged violation was the test where LLDA representatives used water samples taken from the inlet of the last stage of treatment and not at the exit stage of our Sewage Treatment Plant (STP),” Jesus Clint Aranas, GSIS president and general manager, said.

Aranas noted that the GSIS “regularly” monitors the water samples from its STP and have it checked to a laboratory accredited by the DENR.

“In the last three months, the results provided by Mach Union Laboratory, Inc. showed that the total coliform level in water samples from our STP was way below the allowable limit,” the agency’s head stressed.

“Thus, the violation notice from LLDA came as a surprise to us considering that in previous years,  LLDA had bestowed various awards on GSIS for exceptional environmental performance including the Diwa ng Lawa award,” he added.

While the GSIS refuted their supposed violation, Aranas said they are continuously evaluating the operations of their STP and have been conducting meetings with some of their service providers to rehabilitate their treatment plant.

The rehabilitation of Manila Bay was set after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to begin the clean-up.

In February, Duterte formed the Manila Bay Task Force, through administrative order (AO) No. 16, to speed up the rehabilitation and restoration efforts of the polluted bay.

[READ: Duterte forms task force to speed up Manila Bay rehab]