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SAYING that it is a place with proud historic past, the Supreme
Court (SC) has ordered the clean-up of Manila Bay to restore its old
glory and save it from becoming a dumping ground of human and
industrial wastes.
The High Tribunal, in a 36-page decision written
by Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., tasked 10 government agencies to
spearhead and coordinate for the cleanup, restoration and
preservation of the water quality of the bay.
“It is a place with a proud historic past,
once brimming with marine life and, for so many decades in the in
the past, a spot for different contact recreation activities, but
now [it is] a dirty and slowly dying expanse mainly because of the
abject official indifference of people and institutions,” the
Court said.
The case stemmed from the complaint filed by
concerned residents of Manila Bay before the Regional Trial Court in
Imus, Cavite against several government agencies, in an effort to
save the Manila Bay from becoming a dumping ground for wastes.
The 10 government agencies tasked by the High
Court to act on the degradation of Manila Bay are: Metropolitan
Manila Development Authority, Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine
National Police-Maritime Group and the departments of Environment
and Natural Resources, Education, Health, Agriculture, Public Works
and Highways, Budget and Management and Interior and Local
Government.
According to the Court, the number one cause of
pollution of the major river systems and the Manila Bay are the
shanties and other unauthorized structures which do not have septic
tanks along the the Pasig-Marikina-San Juan Rivers,
Tullahan-Tenejeros Rivers, the Meycauayan-Marilao-Obando Rivers in
Bulacan, the Talisay River in Bataan, the Imus River in Cavite, the
Laguna de Bay and other minor rivers and waterways, river banks and
esteros which discharge their waters into the major rivers and
eventually the Manila Bay.
“In light of the ongoing environmental
degradation, the Court wishes to emphasize the extreme necessity for
all concerned executive departments and agencies to immediately act
and discharge their respective official duties and obligations.
Indeed, time is of the essence; hence, there is a need to set
timetables for the performance and completion of the tasks, some of
them as defined for them by law and the nature of their respective
offices and mandates,” the Court said.
-- William B. Depasupil
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