{"id":229749,"date":"2019-09-06T22:44:53","date_gmt":"2019-09-07T02:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=229749"},"modified":"2019-09-06T22:44:53","modified_gmt":"2019-09-07T02:44:53","slug":"manila-bay-rehab-to-be-completed-by-december-denr-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/09\/06\/manila-bay-rehab-to-be-completed-by-december-denr-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Manila Bay rehab to be completed by December: DENR chief"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Manila skyline from Manila Bay (Photo By Patrickroque01 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Friday assured lawmakers that the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program is in full swing, with a probability that the once polluted body of water would be safe for swimming activities by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

The probability of Manila Bay being fit for swimming was brought up by DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu during the agency\u2019s presentation of its proposed PHP25.5 billion budget for 2020.<\/p>\n

The DENR\u2019s budget for next year is 16 percent higher than the PHP21.959 billion it got for 2019.<\/p>\n

Among the major programs to be funded in next year\u2019s appropriation is the Manila Bay Rehabilitation, with a budget of about PHP1.5 billion.<\/p>\n

The cleanup of Manila Bay was brought up by House Minority Leader and Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., who asked on the updates of the program aptly called \u201cBattle for Manila Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Environment Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna said the Manila Bay rehabilitation is currently in its first phase, which is the cleanup and water quality monitoring.<\/p>\n

The DENR official, whom Cimatu said is his \u201cground commander\u201d in the ongoing battle, said the weekly cleanup mandated by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to all barangay is regularly undertaken.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are strictly are monitoring the compliance to this directive along with DILG,\u201d Cuna told the lawmakers.<\/p>\n

The DENR is also coordinating with the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) to ensure compliance with sewage treatment facilities by the different establishments so that fecal coliform levels are strictly monitored.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the Battle for Manila Bay was launched last January 27, we have witnessed a lot of improvement in terms of solid waste that we see floating in the bay,\u201d Cuna said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe inspect all esteros flowing to Manila Bay. In fact the Secretary assigned particular undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, and directors to oversee particular rivers and esteros, and we have been coordinating with the barangays and other agencies to ensure that they are clean and to stop the loading of the pollution primarily,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

So far, the DENR had issued 1,572 Notice of Violations to non-compliant commercial establishments and collected 1.6 million kilograms of solid waste from the cleanup activities.<\/p>\n

It had also mobilized 48,661 volunteers and inventoried 34,000 informal settler families living along waterways for relocation.<\/p>\n

However, Abante noted that there are two major rivers flowing to Manila Bay — Pasig River and San Juan River.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pasig River is currently rehabilitated, but the San Juan River, my goodness, it is the dirtiest river in the world. If the San Juan River is rehabilitated, it would greatly help in the rehabilitation of Manila Bay,\u201d Abante said.<\/p>\n

Cuna pointed out that the San Juan River is already declared a water quality management area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is provided by the Clean Water Act to address water quality management. A governing board has been formed and they are meeting already on how to address the water quality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver and above that, we have oversight of particular officials of particular river systems. Two assistant secretaries entered memoranda of agreement with private partners Jollibee and Aboitiz Group and they are starting to map out their action plan for this particular river because we agree that this is one of the dirtiest rivers in the world,\u201d Cuna said.<\/p>\n

Abante said he is thankful that President Rodrigo Duterte saw the need to rehabilitate the waterways and Manila Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you happy with 16 percent raise in your budge?t,\u201d he asked the DENR chief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very happy, and we are also happy with your support of this. Being the congressman from Manila, I will assure you that we will continue, we will use our political will for the cleanup of Manila Bay. That is what we can assure you,\u201d Cimatu replied.<\/p>\n

Abante asked the DENR head if he could be notified whenever a meeting concerning the rehabilitation program is scheduled.<\/p>\n

He said he is keenly interested in the Manila Bay cleanup because as someone who was born in Manila, he used to swim in the bay\u2019s breakwater in his youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cAko po ay ipinanganak sa Maynila, at noong ako po ay bata pa, doo po ako lumalangoy sa<\/em>\u00a0breakwater.\u00a0Noong araw po nung bata pa ako. Nakakapag-uwi kami ng alimasag<\/em>. I am looking forward\u00a0na sa<\/em>\u00a0aking twilight zone\u00a0ay makakalangoy pa rin ako sa<\/em>\u00a0breakwater\u00a0sa<\/em>\u00a0Manila Bay,\u201d Abante said.<\/p>\n

(I was born in Manila, and when I was still a kid, I swim at the breakwater. In those days, we even catch and take home crabs. I am looking forward, that in my twilight zone, I could still swim in Manila Bay.)<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, your honor. We just hope and pray that come again on this December this year, we will join together to swim in the Manila Bay again your honor,\u201d Cimatu said.<\/p>\n

Abante assured the DENR that \u201cthe Minority bloc would not block\u201d the agency\u2019s budget, but will fully support it.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said the majority joins the Minority in fully supporting the DENR budget.<\/p>\n

He also cited the exemplary performance of Cimatu in the implementation of environmental laws, including his display of political will in the rehabilitation of not just Manila Bay, but also of the country\u2019s top tourist destination, Boracay Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur all-out support for the firm leadership of the great Secretary, General Roy Cimatu. The DENR is now reaching its greatest heights. To the best secretary ever, you have all our support for DENR, more power to you and the department,\u201d Romualdez said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Friday assured lawmakers that the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program is …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":169813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-jose-cielito-reganit","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":229750,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229749\/revisions\/229750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}