‘COMPLY OR CLOSE DOWN’ Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu (center) issues warning to polluters of Manila Bay during a press conference in Quezon City with Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año. INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — The coliform levels in the waters of Manila Bay have “drastically decreased” a year after the rehabilitation efforts dubbed as the “Battle for Manila Bay” was launched, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Friday.
Citing data from the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMG), Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said that fecal coliform count in one part of the bay, the Padre Faura outfall, is now at 920,000 most probable number per 100 milliliter (mpn/100ml).
The number is a drastic decrease compared to last year’s record of 7.21 million mpn/100ml.
The coliform level at the Raja Soliman/Remedios drainage outfall, meanwhile, went down from 35 million mpn/100 ml to 11 million mpn/100 ml.
And the coliform at the Manila Yatch Club outfall is now at 54 million mpn/100ml, compared to last year’s pre-rehabilitation record of 110 million mpn/100ml.
Last year, the DENR kicked off the “Battle for Manila Bay” program, which aims to rehabilitate Manila Bay for the next three years to restore it to its former glory.
The government allocated P42.95 billion for the implementation of the program. Thirteen government agencies are also involved in the program, as tasked by the Supreme Court through a writ of mandamus issued in 2008.
The rehabilitation aims to bring down the coliform level in Manila Bay to the accepted level of 100 mpn/100 ml. Before undergoing rehabilitation, the bay was recorded to have a coliform level of 330 million mph/100 ml.
“There is reason to celebrate because a year after we launched the ‘Battle for Manila Bay,’ we have recorded significant improvements in the water quality from major drainage outfalls,” Cimatu said in a statement.