CORALS are still thriving in a few areas of Manila Bay – in Maragondon and Ternate, Cavite, and in Corregidor and Carballo islands at the mouth of the bay, the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said last week. It had conducted the study to help the DENR in its gargantuan task of cleaning up Manila Bay.
The discovery of the thriving coral systems has buoyed hopes that the bay can still be restored to its pristine condition, said DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu who had been handed the enormous problem after the DENR succeeded in cleaning up Boracay in six months in 2018. The Manila Bay problem, however, is a hundred times bigger than Boracay and it may take more than the seven years initially estimated to clean it up.
The discovery of corals was a welcome development, for where corals thrive, other marine life also thrive. Coral reefs are home to thousands of species of fish, help control carbon dioxide levels in seas by converting it to limestone shell, and protect the land from ocean waves. Healthy coral reefs contribute to local economies through tourism. Plants living in coral reefs have been a source of much of modern medicine.
The discovery of corals in Manila Bay was one major piece of news amid so much bad news in the DENR’s pursuit of this major mission to clean up Manila Bay. Since the job was handed to it some months ago, the DENR has discovered so much pollution pouring into the bay from all the rivers and esteros in Metro Manila and all the towns facing the bay in Pampanga, Bulacan, and Cavite.
Tons of garbage have been trucked away from the bay’s shores but they continue to pile up as the towns, cities, and people living around the bay seem to have made it the country’s biggest garbage dump. Even worse than garbage is the pollution from millions of homes and piggeries and factories pouring out their untreated wastes in rivers flowing into the bay, turning it into a giant “pozo negro” – septic tank – in the words of former Manila Mayor and DENR Secretary Lito Atienza.
The DENR has moved to mobilize all the local governments around the bay to put a stop to the many decades of garbage dumping and pollution. The discovery of corals was a sign that parts of the bay are still clean and healthy enough to support sea life. Secretary Cimatu said the still thriving ecosystems must now be supported with reforestation and the propagation and protection of mangrove stands.
But the bigger part of any rehabilitation plan for Manila Bay is stopping the pollution that continues to flow into the bay, pollution which has made bay waters unfit for swimming and other water-contact sports. The DENR has an enormous job in front of it and we look to its taking the first steps to carry it out and to the next administration to continue it until every part of Manila Bay is clean once again for people to swim in and for corals to thrive.
