Fisherfolk raise concern over Manila Bay’s ‘discoloration’

GREENISH BAY The waters of Manila Bay near SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City turn into greenish color amid the enhanced community quarantine. —RICHARD A. REYES

Social media went abuzz the past few days after some parts of Manila Bay turned turquoise.

While some netizens claimed that “mother nature is healing” due to the restriction of movement in the densely populated Metro Manila, a fisherfolk group raised concerns over its sudden “discoloration.”

National fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) raised fear that pollutant materials may have been dumped into Manila Bay which could lead to fish kill, following its water’s discoloration that started earlier this month and continued to persist until the monthlong lockdown.

Pamalakaya has ruled out the possibility that it was caused by algal bloom, as the water was clear and did not show any indication of algae.

“The color of the water can be likened to a swimming pool that underwent chlorination, thus we can’t set aside a possibility that some establishments carried out tank cleansing and outrightly discharged the toxic cleansing chemicals into Manila Bay,” said Jerwin Baure, Pamalakaya resident fisheries expert, in a statement.

Hazardous effects

The progressive group added that dumping of chemicals to Manila Bay could lead to hazardous effects and ecological disturbance on marine life.

Pamalakaya urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to conduct an investigation into the abrupt change of color of Manila Bay.

“For a eutrophic and polluted body of water like Manila Bay, marine rehabilitation will take years, and won’t happen drastically over a period of a lockdown,” Baure said.

The government has set aside some P50 billion for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay. The DENR said the goal was to make the polluted body of water fit for swimming.

Environment Undersecretary Benjamin Antiporda said in a phone interview that they had already instructed a team from the DENR to investigate the matter, but noted that, with the ongoing quarantine, the agency might not immediately begin the probe. —WITH A REPORT FROM PATRICIA DENISE M. CHIU