Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu said yesterday the creation of the inter-
agency Manila Bay Task Force would harmonize and speed up government efforts to rehabilitate the Manila Bay.
The task force was created under Administrative Order No. 16 to ensure the “complete rehabilitation, restoration, and conservation of the Manila Bay.”
President Duterte designated Cimatu as the task force chairman while Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat are vice chairpersons.
“We are grateful to President Duterte for prioritizing the Manila Bay rehabilitation,” Cimatu said. “This order will fasttrack all the work we are doing, delineate responsibilities, and coordinate activities of all government agencies
involved in the rehabilitation efforts,” he added.
Other members of the task force are the heads of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission, Local Water Utilities Administration, Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System, Philippine National Police Maritime Group, Philippine Coast Guard, and Philippine Ports Authority.
Also part of the task force is representatives of two water concessionaires in Metro Manila and nearby provinces – Manila Water and Maynilad Water Services Inc.
“The herculean task to rehabilitate Manila Bay, seen by some as impossible, is now even more possible because it has been matched with an equally massive support from all government agencies and the private sector,” Cimatu said.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources was specifically tasked to strictly enforce Sections 16 and 19 of Republic Act 9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 on the conduct of containment, removal and clean-up operations, and the exercise or supervision and control on all aspects of water quality management in the Manila Bay region.
It is also tasked to monitor compliance with critical environmental laws, rules and regulations, and issue notices of violation, cease and desist orders, and appropriate sanctions to violators, including the filing of administrative or other cases against erring government officials.
DENR also needs to collaborate with MWSS, LWUA, and DILG to ensure that large-scale enterprises such factories, manufacturing plants, and condominium units install wastewater treatment plants or connect to central wastewater treatment facilities pursuant to Section 8 of RA 9275 and Section 28 of Presidential Decree 198 or the Provincial
Water Utilities Act of 1973.
It would also assist in the demolition, resettlement, of informal settler families and in the prohibition against new illegal structures along esteros, riverbanks, shorelines, and waterways in the Manila Bay in accordance with RA 7879 or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.
DENR is also assigned to inspect all sanitary landfills in the National Capital Region and Regions 3 and 4-A, which affect Manila Bay, and ensure that these comply with RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, and impose sanctions for violations.
Among its other mandates, the task force is ordered to enforce environmental laws, specifically RA 9003. It should ensure that concerned agencies and local government units undertake appropriate measures relative to violation of environmental laws such as demolition, closure or cessation of business, and or filing of administrative action against erring persons and establishments.
Likewise, it should require public and private establishments and households to connect to existing sewerage systems or sewerage treatment plants or their own in accordance with the PD 856 or the Code on Sanitation. (Ellalyn V. Ruiz)
