DENR on Manila Bay rehab: Erring LGU officials will be charged

BAY LIVING. Communities of informal settlers in portions of Manila Bay, like this settlement at the border of Cavite province and Parañaque City, have been blamed for polluting the waters shared by Metro Manila and nearby provinces. —LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines – Appropriate charges will be filed against local elected government unit officials who violated environmental laws that resulted in the massive pollution in Manila Bay, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DENR) said on Friday.

DENR Undersecretary Benny Antiporda said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will be asked to act on the failure LGUs to comply with environmental laws.

“Meron at merong made-demanda. Kami po sa DENR, naghahanda na kami ng liham para kunin yung attention ng DILG na maaksyonan na itong nagbibingi-bingihan na ang local chief executives na ito,” Antiporda told Radyo Inquirer.

(Charges will eventually be filed.  We at the DENR will ask the DILG to act on LGU officials who refuse to act on the matter.)

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Thursday bared that 53 percent of the 178 LGUs in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon which are in the vicinity of Manila Bay  failed to hit the indicators for compliance with existing environmental laws.

READ: 95 LGUs in Manila Bay watershed area fail to comply with environmental laws
 

Antiporda then said LGU officials must still consider the Manila Bay rehabilitation amid the 2019 national elections.

“Wala po kaming pakialam sa election na yan, wala na rin po kaming iniisip na ganyang politika. Ang consideration po ay ang rehabilitation. Kung icoconsider nila yung election na yan ang masakit diyan e yung matalo sila at makasuhan pa sila,” he said.

(We don’t care about the elections. We are not into politics. We are focusing on rehabilitation. What the officials must consider is that they may lose in the elections and even face charges.) / gsg