Flamingos and an elephant to be named “Posam” — to accompany mainstay Mali – would be among the star attractions of the New Manila Zoo, which the city government reopened Thursday by allowing the workers who renovated Asia’s first zoo and their families to experience it first as honored guests.
Manila Mayor and Aksyon Demokratiko presidential bet Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said the tall wading birds with slender legs and necks – which are sometimes pink — would be among the new birds in the public zoo, which got its first renovation in 62 years.
Posam, on the other hand, is another play on words by Domagoso, using the street slang for 10 pesos – in the same way that Mali is code for a fiver.
Meanwhile, the mayor expressed hopes that the successful rehabilitation of Manila Zoo, cited by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 2019 as one of Manila Bay’s “major pollutants,” will convince private companies which have not yet complied with the Supreme Court Mandamus ruling to follow suit.
“So, I’m happy that the City of Manila through Manila Zoo is a compliant facility to the DENR’s requirement and to the Mandamus issued by the Supreme Court. So at least we can say to the private companies that have not yet complied, you have to follow the law,” Moreno said, in an interview after the flag-raising ceremony at the Manila City Hall.
He made the remark at the soft opening of the nearly five-hectare zoo, now known as the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden. It was set on December 30 to coincide with the 125th anniversary of national hero Jose Rizal’s death.
“Because if the Manila City government closes the facility to pave the way for repair. And now it is open with due compliance with rules. I hope that our compatriots and businessmen with properties or businesses along the bay will also strictly comply with laws and rules,” the 47-year-old local chief executive stressed.
He also disclosed that the new, modern cages will enable the public to take a closer look at the animals.
“We have built modern cages, which looks like nature, not the usual box type. The kids can see the tiger face-to-face,” said Domagoso, referring to the thick glass dividing visitors from the animals.
The new sewage treatment plant inside, Domagoso said, would ensure the zoo does not add any pollutant to the Manila Bay.
Domagoso used the DENR’s closure of the zoo to implement much-needed rehabilitation, a first since it was opened way back in 1959.
According to parks and recreation bureau director Pio Morabe, the old admission rates were P50 for Manilans and P100 for non-Manilans. He said changing the prices will require a new ordinance from the Manila City Council.
Due to this, the Manila mayor has directed the City Council headed by Vice Mayor and Presiding Officer Honey Lacuna and Majority Floor leader Joel Chua to come up with a city ordinance that would peg the new admission rates for the newly-renovated menagerie.
The zoo is expected to formally open to the public next year.
The presidential candidate also asked kind-hearted individuals or groups to donate or lend animals in addition to those the city government had ordered so far.
On Dec. 18, 2008, the Supreme Court issued a mandamus directing 13 government agencies to clean up, rehabilitate, and preserve Manila Bay, and restore and maintain its waters to SB level to make them fit for swimming, skin-diving, and other forms of contact recreation.
DENR Administrative Order No. 34 of 1990 defines coastal and marines’ waters under Class SB classification as areas regularly used by the public for bathing, swimming, and skin diving, etc.
The agencies in the Mandamus ruling are the DENR, the Departments of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Education (DepEd), Health (DOH), Agriculture (DA), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Budget and Management (DBM), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine National Police-Maritime Group (PNP-MG), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA).
DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu previously ordered facilities and establishments around Manila Bay to put up their own sewage treatment plants. He stressed that the establishments “cannot discharge their wastewater in the esteros.”
“Like in Singapore, its ‘Boat Quay and Clarke Quay’ had smelled disgusting odor before, but they were able to manage it and make the river good. We have here on a small scale, a river that stinks with foul odor. But when I was there the other night I was surprised. Simple adaptation to technology could have cleared up . . . a river, which is tributaries to Manila Bay, has been cleaned up,” he said.
Moreno paid tribute to 1,300 zoo construction workers who were treated as VIP guests during Manila Zoo’s soft opening, thanking their hard work and ingenuity in creating a facility that is “at par with the world’s best zoological and botanical gardens.”
“I’m offering its reopening first as a tribute to them (construction workers) because it’s more than two years, almost two years since they worked for it. I’m happy they had a job, the work didn’t stop, they have a job for two years . . .” he said.
“I want them to enjoy. I want them to share with their children … I want what my children will experience . . . I want their children to experience this momentous event as well,” Moreno said.
Opened in July, 1959, the zoo is located near Estero de San Antonio
Abad in Malate, Manila, which drains directly into Manila Bay.
The Manila Bay area covers eight provinces and 178 local government units in three regions of the country, namely: National Capital Region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.
Of the eight provinces, four are coastal (Bataan, Bulacan, Cavite and Pampanga) while four are non-coastal (Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Rizal, and Tarlac).
Manila Bay’s drainage area covers 1,994 square kilometers or 199,400 hectares while its coastline measures some 190 kilometers.
There are 17 principal river systems draining to Manila Bay — Angat River, Bocaue River, Maria River, Marilao River, Meycauayan, Meycauayan-Valenzuela River, Pasig River, Parañaque River, Imus River, Ylang-ylang River, Rio Grande, Cañas River, Obando River, Navotas-Malabon-Tinajeros-Tullahan River, Talisay River, Guagua River and Pampanga River.
The redeveloped facility will be a fulfillment of Moreno’s dream of competing with the world-famous Singapore Zoo, which has been a favorite attraction among local and foreign tourists.
Meanwhile, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has called on Domagoso to reconsider his earlier statement that the Philippines’ lone zoo elephant, Mali, may have a better chance of surviving in the renovated zoo instead of being released from captivity.
Earlier this week, Domagoso said Mali may have a hard time adapting to new environments due to her old age.