Senator Cynthia Villar on Monday scored the government agencies mandated by the Supreme Court to rehabilitate Manila Bay for failing to do their job.
She questioned, in particular, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for issuing an environmental compliance certificate for the rehabilitation works at Manila Bay.
She said this was contrary to the continuing writ of mandamus issued by the Supreme Court ordering 13 government agencies “to clean up, rehabilitate, and preserve Manila Bay and restore and maintain its waters to make them fit for swimming, skin diving, and other forms of contact recreation.”
“A decade after the Supreme Court ordered the cleanup, there is still no indication that the quality of the waters of Manila Bay has significantly improved,” Villar said.
“Manila Bay is a historical landmark. It is known in the world because of its breathtaking sunset. Over 300,000 fishermen depend on it for livelihood. We owe it to our children to rehabilitate and preserve it so that they will continue to reap its benefits,” she added.
In yesterday’s hearing, Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, also slammed the Philippine Ports Authority for failing to do its mandate.
Under the writ of mandamus, PPA was given the specific duty “to immediately adopt such measures to prevent the discharge and dumping of solid and liquid wastes and other ship-generated wastes into the Manila Bay waters from vessels docked at ports and apprehend the violators.”
“Given its duties, it is also the responsibility of PPA to ensure that the operation of the port of Manila and the structures built within its environs are consistent with the effort to revive Manila Bay,” Villar said.
“The burgeoning informal settlement on the Manila Bay coastal area at the port of Manila, particularly near the Manila International Container Terminal, not just affects the efficacy of the operation of the port, but actually hampers the efforts towards the cleanup,” she added.