DENR steps up campaign to clean up Manila Bay

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Sunday bared a more “cohesive" plan to clean up Manila Bay, days after Environment Secretary Ramon Paje issued an order giving himself direct supervision over the office rehabilitating the bay. Paje last week issued an administrative order paving the way for himself to directly supervise the Manila Bay Coordinating Office (MBCO) so that efforts to clean up bay will be more focused. “The objective of this organizational reform is to ensure that appropriate focus will be given to the delivery of the DENR to clean up the Manila Bay," he said in a statement Sunday. Before that, the MBCO was part of the DENR’s River Basin Control Office (RBCO), which oversees the rehabilitation, and development of the country’s river basins. Paje also appointed former RBCO executive director Noel Gaerlan as the new MBCO head, directly reporting to the DENR chief. “It reflects a more cohesive collaboration among all partners involved, from both the national and local levels," he said, referring to the organizational reforms now in place. The DENR hade earlier set up nine monitoring sections in different areas around the bay to monitor its water quality. As of early last year, the bay’s pH, oil and grease levels passed the criteria for “Class SC" waters, making it fit for recreational activities such as boating, the DENR chief said. Paje likewise said that “strengthened" measures to clean up Manila Bay is in line with the “continuing mandamus," issued by the Supreme Court in December 2008, designating the department as the primary agency responsible for the rehabilitation of the bay. “We must continue to maximize our resources, human and otherwise, so that our implementation and monitoring activities are closer to the ground," he said. — With Andreo Calonzo/ VS, GMA News Online