MOST hotels around the Manila Bay area have expressed support for the cleanup of the historic bay straddling three of the country’s most progressive regions, but a few want the government to first look at the pollution from informal settlers before the hotels. Others want it to mitigate the impact on tourism numbers once hotels are shut down for alleged pollution.
“If there are violations from hotels, of course these need to be fixed,” said Arthur Lopez, president of the Philippine Hotel Owners Association. But he stressed, “the DOT [Department of Tourism] must plan and must assist in relocating displaced guests with minimal inconvenience to the latter.”
The DENR is implementing a one-strike policy against hotels found discharging untreated wastewater into Manila Bay. About 2,000 hotels are on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources inspection list, as well as 500 condominium developments. (See ,“DENR has 1-strike policy vs pollutive bay condos,” in the BusinessMirror, January 11, 2019.)
“I just hope those hotels with existing sewerage treatment plants will be exempted from any penalties and sanctions,” said one veteran hotelier managing a large chain of accommodations, but declined to be identified. “We install our STPs right at the planning stage, as it’s part of our corporate social duty responsibility to the environment. Installing them are not knee-jerk reactions. Those are buried in the earth, expensive and as huge as trailer trucks.”
He added, “Hopefully they will commend those compliant, unlike you-know-where [i.e., Boracay Island] wherein they applied the shotgun approach and they closed all the establishments‚ compliant as well as violators.
The problem is if they will change the parameters again. If so, we’ll need to upgrade our STPs to conform to new parameters.”
The Duterte administration closed Boracay for six months, from April 26 to October 26, 2018, affecting businesses that may have actually been compliant with environmental laws. The DENR also put out a series of confusing memorandum circulars on which establishments should have STPs. Along with this, some resorts had also complained that the DENR also had different sets of easement measurements.
The hotelier said, “for example, we already have an LLDA [Laguna Lake Development Autho-rity] Clearance as well as an ECC [environment compliance certificate]—and both are under the DENR. They’re already strict and comprehensive as it is.”
He emphasized, “Hopefully, they first attend to the major cause of the cesspool that is Manila Bay—the squatters.”
For its part, Conrad Manila said it supports the Philippine government’s campaign to preserve Manila Bay with a long-term plan to rehabilitate it from its current state.
“With our location at the Mall of Asia Complex which is proximate to Manila Bay, we are deeply committed to protecting this valuable body of water, as we always make a difference in the communities where we operate, particularly along environment protection. We share a strong partnership with our local community partners for sustained environment community projects: cleanup drive, proper waste segregation and management, water recycling and energy conservation,” it said in a news statement sent to the BusinessMirror.
An official of another hotel, who requested anonymity as the official was not authorized to speak on the matter, said: “As for President Duterte’s directive, I think it’s a good move, to help cleanup Manila Bay. Many hotels like us are championing sustainability and it’d be a shame if they didn’t have proper water treatment facilities to begin with. Our facilities are reviewed by a third party monthly, and samples are submitted to the DENR in compliance with the law. We also do our bit in coastal cleanups, having worked with government agencies, Philippine Coast Guard, among others.”
The hotel official added that the estab-lishment’s “wastewater is tested monthly by a third party, submitted to the DENR, and we’re compliant with the standards.”
According to a presentation by the DENR of its action plan to clean up Manila Bay during a Cabinet meeting last January 7, the Manila Bay area spans 1,994 square kilometers with a coastline of 190 km, comprising three regions—the National Capital Region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon. Sixteen river systems drain into the bay including the Angat River, Pasig River, Marikina River and the Rio Grande.
Cimatu’s warning
On Friday, Secretary Roy A. Cimatu inspected the bay area and said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will not hesitate to close any establishment found polluting the bay.
Prior to the scheduled commencement of the planned rehabilitation of the natural harbor on January 27, the DENR chief led the inspection of Estero de San Antonio de Abad, a waterway that directly drains into the Manila Bay through an outfall at the Manila Yacht Club.
Together with other officials of the DENR and partner agencies, he witnessed effluents coming from the pipes of some of the nearby establishments that actually flow into the estuary.
“We have to correct it,” Cimatu told reporters, while expressing disappointment at the sight of untreated discharges that validated reports on the disposal of their wastewater to the Manila Bay.
Estero de San Antonio de Abad, according to him, will be the “ground zero” for the Manila Bay rehabilitation.
The DENR found out that its fecal coliform level is at around 1.3 billion most probable number (MPN) for every 100 milliliters (ml).
Having the highest range of this group of harmful bacteria from human and animal feces, this 1.2-kilometer (km) polluted estuary is referred to as one of the “Billionaire’s Lanes,” or priority areas for the rehabilitation plan, in reference to the billions in bacteria.
The coliform level of the nearly 2,000 square-km Manila Bay, on the other hand, is at 330 million MPN/100 ml, or 3.3 million times above the standard safe level of 100 MPN/100 ml fit for swimming.
The DENR said it aims to lessen the coliform level to less than 270 MPN by December of this year. “We will be going upstream,” Cimatu bared of their next moves, following their inspection of some of the suspected erring establishments located at the mouth of the popular sunset viewing spot of the country’s capital.
He specifically pointed out to big estab-lishments that contribute to water degradation at the portion of Estero de San Antonio de Abad along Leveriza Street, which has about 200 million MPN/100 ml coliform level.
There are about 304 commercial estab-lishments and 38 hotels to be visited by the DENR and partner agencies as part of the rehab activities.
“We will check if they are connected to the sewer line or have a [sewage] treatment plant [or STP],” said the environment secretary. “Even the Maynilad and the Manila Water will also be subjected to our inspection.”
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza