The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is getting P1.56 billion in fresh funding this year for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay, according to Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Michael Defensor.
“The amount is 16 percent greater than the P1.35-billion budget that the DENR obtained last year for the development, updating and implementation of its operational plan for the Manila Bay coastal management strategy,” he said.
The operational plan is pursuant to the Supreme Court’s 13-year-old continuing mandamus directing the DENR and 12 other agencies to clean up the waters of Manila Bay, he noted.
“If we look closely at the 2008 mandamus, the high court’s specific instruction is for the agencies to restore Manila Bay’s waters to Class B, or suitable and safe for public swimming, skin-diving and other forms of contact recreation,” he said.
Based on the DENR’s old water classification table, the fecal coliform level of Class B coastal waters “should not exceed 200 most probable number (MPN) per 100 milliliters (ml),” he said.
Defensor served as DENR head for about 18 months between 2004 and 2006.