Posted on May 6, 2019
We are encouraged to see the Manila Bay cleanup, which has been long overdue. But so long as the effort focuses only on the beachfront and the bay itself, this much-awaited initiative may be all for nothing soon after the cleanup crew is gone.
For greater impact and longer-lasting benefit, what is needed is a comprehensive program that addresses not only Manila Bay itself, but also the Pasig River system, Laguna de Bay and its surrounding mountains. We need to address the sources of pollution and not merely pick them where they are deposited.
First, the government should also clean up the Pasig River. This river is the major body of water that flows to and from Manila Bay, along with the tide. We stress our support for the rehabilitation of part of the shoreline and the requirement for establishments along Roxas Boulevard to develop their respective sewerage treatment plants (STPs). But that should not only be replicated along other areas around Manila Bay, such as Southern Metro Manila and Cavite and other provinces, but also throughout the 27-kilometer stretch of Pasig River and its tributaries.
Pasig River has the unfortunate reputation of being the toilet bowl of Metro Manila. Some 65 percent of the pollution there is effluent from households, which should be serviced by a sewerage treatment infrastructure developed by the two water concessionaires. So far, they have not delivered. They should be made to do so.
The rest of the pollutants come from industrial and solid wastes, based on reports. And so if the river is the toilet bowl, then Manila Bay is the septic tank, because the Pasig empties enormous volumes of water into the bay.
Imagine the foregone revenues from tourism and recreational activities because Manila Bay and the Pasig River are unsafe, in fact, toxic in some parts. If tiny Boracay can account for a third of all tourism output, imagine how much more potential may be offered by Metro Manila and its environs.
Natural endowment
Much of that can also be said of Laguna de Bay, where swift action is also needed to preserve the rapidly diminishing qualities needed to sustain life in the greater metropolitan area and Calabarzon. For our foreign readers, Calabarzon is the acronym for Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon — all provinces near Metro Manila.
Like the Pasig River and Manila Bay, Laguna de Bay is in peril because of pollution and overdevelopment. That body of water is one of the biggest freshwater lakes in Southeast Asia, making it an important source of drinking water and freshwater fish for the capital region.
In fairness, there have been initiatives to develop parts of the lakeshore, but much more needs to be done. Also, the cleanup drive to manage the commercial fish pens in the lake needs to be sustained and enforced without letup.
Like Manila Bay and Pasig River, the lake has tremendous tourism and transportation potential. Imagine if a commuter can bypass EDSA and cut across by ferry from Metro Manila to Rizal and Laguna provinces.
Regretfully, the lake is heavily silted like the bay and the river. The average depth of the lake is only 2.8 meters. Worse, dredging was halted during the Aquino administration and the issues have not been resolved under the Duterte government.
Looking beyond dredging, we also wish to see a massive reforestation program to prevent more silt from the mostly denuded mountains around it from flowing further into the lake. That requires more tree-planting activities in the Sierra Mountain range that bounds the Laguna de Bay in the northeast. The same goes for the Caliraya volcanic plateau to the east of the lake, and the mountains of Laguna and Batangas to the south and the southeast.
We are not experts, though. But the bottom line is that the cleanup should go far beyond the Manila Bay shoreline.
Source: manilatimes.net
