‘Battle of Manila Bay’ waged kilo by kilo
It’s an unusual order that requires strict compliance every week: Keep weighing scales handy and make sure to count and measure well.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año has directed local government officials to organize teams of volunteers to clean up coastal areas of Manila Bay and its inland tributaries on Sunday and every Saturday thereafter.
In a memorandum circular issued on Thursday, Año said he expected all the cities and towns as well as the 5,714 barangays in Metro Manila, Calabarzon and Central Luzon to participate in the rehabilitation of the polluted bay.
He said all local government units (LGUs) should submit separate postactivity reports to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources after every cleanup session.
The reports, he said, should include, among others, the volume of collected waste in kilograms, barangays covered, the length of the cleared areas in meters, a list of participants, photo documentation and the means for disposal of the collected garbage.
Two reports
A report must be submitted to the environment and natural resources office of each LGU every Tuesday and another to the DILG office every Thursday, the circular said in part.
“The collective effort and commitment of [local governments] and barangays within the Manila Bay Watershed Area would spell the difference in the rebirth and preservation of our Manila Bay,” Año said in a statement on Saturday.
The massive Manila Bay Rehabilitation Project, to be launched at Quirino Grandstand in Manila’s Rizal Park at 6 a.m. on Sunday, will be led by around 1,000 Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) volunteers armed with rakes, shovels and garbage containers.
Rallying the volunteers on Saturday, MMDA Chair Danilo Lim said the participants would hold a solidarity walk an hour later to the baywalk area between the Manila Yacht Club and the US Embassy.
Roxas Boulevard southbound from TM Kalaw to Quirino Avenue would be closed to traffic from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Sunday, MMDA Assistant Secretary Celine Pialago said. —REPORTS FROM JAYMEE GAMIL AND JODEE A. AGONCILLO
