Manila Bay rehab set in January — Cimatu

After Boracay Island, it’s the turn of Manila Bay.

“I am determined to start the rehabilitation of Manila Bay immediately, possibly to start [in the] second week of January,” Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said on Monday during his department’s last flag ceremony for the year.

He added that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) would temporarily be reorganized, for the purpose of undertaking rehabilitation efforts, in order to “reduce the coliform to a level where we can swim again.”

He noted that the current levels of coliform bacteria of 330 million mpn/100 ml (most probable number per 100 milliliters) made Manila Bay a “magnified cesspool.”

Cimatu said he would also coordinate with DENR officials in cities surrounding the bay, including local government units concerned.

The Supreme Court tasked some government agencies, including the DENR, to clean up the bay in a landmark 2008 decision that granted the remedy of a continuing mandamus.