MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang said Friday the government will clean up Manila Bay as ordered by the Supreme Court in a ruling hailed by environmentalists as nothing short of revolutionary in environmental protection.

"We can all look forward to the restoration of the apex of the epicenter of marine biodiversity on Earth,'' environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa, the main petitioner in the case, said in a phone interview.

Oposa said the ruling was not only landmark but also revolutionary' because it created a "new dimension on the environmental accountability of public officials.''

"It's truly revolutionary,'' he said.

In an en-banc unanimous decision, the high court ordered the Metropolitan Development Authority, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and six other agencies to undertake a coordinated cleanup, restoration and preservation of the bay.

This came nine years after Manila residents, led by Oposa, filed a case against the government agencies in June 1999, claiming that the bay's water quality had dipped below the standards of the environment code.

Malacañang officials said the government will comply with the high court's ruling.

"I suppose for the moment we would have to comply,'' Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in a phone-patch interview with reporters. "We are left without recourse but to follow the Supreme Court unless anyone contemplates to file a TRO.''

With the ruling, the government should begin the cleanup of the bay posthaste, said Oposa, president of the Law of Nature Foundation.

"The message to the government is that we should think seriously about environmental concern, not for romanticism, but because they deal with the very sources of life – land, air and water,'' he said.

Oposa said he doubted the government could reverse the unanimous decision.

"We appeal to the President, in the remaining months of her term, to show utmost political will in implementing the decision and follow the lead of the Supreme Court,'' he said.

With court's imprimatur, the government agencies would be able "to exercise the needed political will to clean up the bay,'' he added.

If only the Solid Waste Management Act, the sewage treatment and the clearing of esteros and riverbanks were implemented, "Manila Bay would be clean,'' Oposa said.

Domestic wastes and effluents from factories flow into the bay.