The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has disclosed the results of the vulnerability assessment on the rehabilitation of Manila Bay.
Secretary Roy Cimatu said the study was able to identify some areas where the government and other stakeholders could work on insofar as the rehabilitation effort is concerned.
The study was conducted by the DENR’s Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau would help stakeholders to “address the gargantuan task at hand more efficiently and effectively.”
“We at the DENR believe that by investing in studies such as this, we would be able to find better solutions in solving not only the problem in Manila Bay but also other issues within our mandate,” Cimatu said.
ERDB supervising science research specialist Jose Isidro Michael Padin presented the results of the Manila Bay vulnerability assessment during the bureau’s first-ever annual technical seminar last June 17.
Among the recommendations were the adoption of an intensified solid waste management program, stricter monitoring of polluting industries, and reforestation of watershed and mangrove areas to ensure the success of the efforts to rehabilitate the heavily polluted Manila Bay.
Padin echoed the suggestion of the project team leader—Dr. Carmelita Villamor—to establish more materials recovery facilities in three regions covering Manila Bay for proper management of solid waste.