A reminder on the problem of pollution in Manila Bay

Two decades after the Supreme Court ordered 13 government agencies led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to clean up Manila Bay, its waters remain unfit for human contact, filled with viruses and bacteria coming from the rivers and sewage outlets flowing into it from the cities and towns around, but mostly from the Pasig River.

Manila Bay was in the news again this weekend as former Manila Mayor, now Deputy Speaker and Buhay party-list Rep. LIto Atienza called on the government to act on a problem that has long hounded the bay.

In 2008, the Supreme Court, acting on a civil action filed by a group of Concerned Residents of Manila Bay, ordered the DENR, the Metro Manila Development Commission, and 11 other agencies to clean up the historic bay. They were given ten years to do it.

But the problem worsened as a succession of national administrations followed. President Duterte, after cleaning up Boracay in 2018, ordered Secretary Cimatu to clean up Manila Bay next and the secretary after an assessment of the huge problem said it would take more than 10 years to do it.