Manila Bay ‘swimmable’ by December?

A mother and her children relax by the side of the bay at Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila, one of the areas targeted for clearing operations. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines–Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu on Friday invited Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. for a dip in Manila Bay by the end of December when the Bay’s waters would have been in swimmable state.

Cimatu made the remark during committee deliberations on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ proposed 2020 budget at the House of Representatives after Abante, a Manila representative, waxed nostalgic about how he spent his childhood swimming in the bay.—DJ YAP