5 Pasay establishments shuttered

MANILA, Philippines — As part of the government’s ongoing Manila Bay rehabilitation efforts, five establishments in Pasay City have been shut down for discharging untreated wastewater into the Libertad Channel that flows into the bay.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) and Pasay City government on Monday served closure orders on Daraejung Korean Restaurant, Zhi-Brothers Restaurant, Song Do Won Restaurant, BHP1 Auto Works and Auto Detailing and Ocean Bay Restaurant.

The five establishments were at the HK Sun Plaza Home Depot-JK Construction Corp. on Roxas Boulevard that was shut down last year for similar violations.

“The authority finds prima facie evidence that the discarded untreated wastewater coming from the respondents’ establishments is of immediate threat to life, public health, safety or [the] welfare [of] animals or plant life,” LLDA general manager Jaime Medina said in his March 9 cease and desist order.

“In this time of COVID-19, we should also protect our waters and make sure that waters are clean and the waters going to it,” he added.

The five establishments violated section 27 of the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 and DENR Administrative Order No. 2005-10 or the implementing rules and regulations of the Clean Water Act and LLDA Rules and Regulations under Republic Act 4850, the law creating LLDA, officials said.

Pasay Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano, on the other hand, said in her closure order that the establishments had violated sections 6 and 13 of City Ordinance 5931, or the Sewage and Septage Management System of Pasay for their failure to comply with proper sewage disposal requirements, on top of the dumping of seepage, untreated wastewater and solid waste into drainages, canals, rivers and other natural and artificial waterways and open areas.

They also reportedly operated facilities that discharged regulated water pollutants without the required permits or after these had been revoked.