Pamalakaya: Manila Bay rehab a failure

LESS DIRTY Although not yet fit for swimming, government efforts to rehabilitate Manila Bay appear to be paying off. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Militant fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday refuted the claim of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that the water quality of Manila Bay was “improving.” Last week, the DENR said that the government’s ongoing rehabilitation efforts in the bay “appeared to be paying off” with the “gradual decrease in fecal coliform level since January 2019.” But Pamalakaya called the DENR statement an attempt to “whitewash the failure of the rehabilitation by only looking at the surface level.” It noted that out of 30 ongoing reclamation projects in Manila Bay, 21 had received environmental compliance certificates from the DENR. —MARIEJO S. RAMOS