Manila Bay, a region currently populated by around 30 million people from Cavite to Bataan, will require a budget of $1 billion a year for it to be sustainably managed, a Dutch expert working with Filipino counterparts in crafting the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan said.
A project being spearheaded by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) in partnership with the Netherlands, the master plan aims to ensure the sustainability of the pollution-challenged Manila Bay, one of the most important bodies of water in the Philippines.
Now the subject of massive rehabilitation, Manila Bay is covered by a continuing mandamus by the Supreme Court ordering 13 government agencies to clean up, rehabilitate and preserve the bay and maintain its waters to SB level to make them fit for swimming, skin diving, and other forms of contact recreation.
Along Roxas Boulevard in Manila, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has approved the dredging of garbage and silt from the bay.
Estero cleanup is also being done within the Manila Bay region, following the order of the Department of the Interior and Local Government directing barangay units to conduct cleanup operations in their respective jurisdictions.
Jaan Jap Brinkman, team leader for the Netherlands Study Team for the Manila Bay master plan, said the bay, which is projected to have one of the most populated urban centers in the world, needs to be managed. The BusinessMirror interviewed Brinkman at the sidelines of a policy forum organized by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) at the Philippine International Convention Center on Wednesday.
In the next 30 years, based on conservative population growth estimate, the population in areas around Manila Bay is estimated to reach 50 million, underscoring the need to sustainably manage one of the country’s most economically important urban areas.
In the next three months, Brinkman said the study team from the Philippine and Dutch sides would try to reach out to various stakeholders around Manila Bay to promote the concept of program co-ownership in developing and implementing its action programs.
The NAST policy forum, where Brinkman was among the resource persons, aimed to discuss the current status of Manila Bay, including the geological, physical, chemical and water quality, biodiversity, fisheries and aquaculture; learn about the development and management plans for the bay, and gather science-based recommendations relating to its sustainability.
An attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the NAST is mandated by Executive Order 818, Series of 1982, to serve as an adviser to the President of the Philippines and the Cabinet on policies concerning science and technology in the country.
According to Brinkman, Manila Bay management would entail huge investment that will take into consideration the various factors—such as water distribution, wastewater treatment, sewerage system and solid-waste management disposal.
By a conservative estimate, he said the population in the region in the next 30 years would reach 50 million people from various sectors—all of whom will demand space—with Manila Bay having multiple uses and functions.
“For the 50 million people that will be living around Manila Bay in the next 30 years, for solid-waste management, water and wastewater treatment, we are looking at an initial $1-billion annual budget,” Brinkman said.
This is a far cry from what the Duterte administration has initially allocated—P47 billion for a seven-year rehabilitation program.
Such a huge amount of money, he said, should be considered as a long-term investment to ensure the sustainability of Manila Bay.
He said master planners will come up with a zoning plan that will ensure inclusive growth vis à vis the multiple uses and purposes of the Manila Bay area—including ship navigation, seaports operation, fisheries, aquaculture and tourism.
Brinkman, who works for Deltares, an independent institute for applied research in the field of water and subsurface, said the study team is expected to complete the first draft of the master plan by October this year.
“Then we will have another year for reality check if the plan is good,” he said.
According to Brinkman, climate-change effects like sea-level rise, storm surges, flooding, even earthquake and external factors like economic crisis, will have to be taken into account in crafting the Manila Bay master plan.
The crafting of the master plan has a broad stakeholders’ participation and is being done in consultation with various national government agencies—such as the DENR, Philippine Reclamation Authority, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and Laguna Lake Development Authority.
Brinkman, who discussed the salient features of the master plan at the NAST forum, underscored the need to bring in various stakeholders in the crafting of a sustainable management plan, rather than simply coming up with a development plan, considering the many challenges that need to be addressed.
Since the government had already started the rehabilitation, the master planners, he said, will have to cope with the various activities and support the ongoing action programs in planning how to implement them, including the weekly cleanup, and garbage collection and disposal.
Kevin Gilbert M. Manzano, senior economic development specialist at Neda who gave an overview of the formulation of the master plan, said the target is to come up with a final report in May 2020.
“So far, all our deliverables have been delivered,” he said, citing the Strategic Plan component to come up with an Inception Report including Work and Financial Plan.
By March 2020, the study teams are expected to come up with an Action Plan and Investment Report that will be the basis for the development of the Updated Final Master Plan by May 2020.
By July 2020, the Final Action Plan and Investment Report will be submitted to the Office of the President.
Manila Bay area covers eight provinces and 178 local government units in three regions of the country, namely: National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon and Calabarzon.
Of the eight provinces, four are coastal (Bataan, Bulacan, Cavite and Pampanga); and four are non-coastal (Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Rizal and Tarlac). Its drainage area covers 1,994 km2, or 199,400 hectares. Its coastline measures some 190 kilometers.
On January 27, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu led the launching of “Battle for Manila Bay,” an ambitious program to rehabilitate Manila Bay and restore the water to its pristine state. The target is to make the water quality in Manila Bay “swimmable” and fit for recreation.
During the NAST forum, Jacob F. Meimban Jr., deputy executive director of the Manila Bay Coordinating Office of the DENR, discussed the environmental management in Manila Bay, while Eligio P. Fortajada, acting manager of the Project Management Office, NCR South of the PPA, discussed the port’s development plan in Manila Bay.
Atty. Joseph John M. Literal, assistant general manager for Reclamation and Regulation of the Philippine Reclamation Authority, briefed the participants on the pending land-reclamation project applications in Manila Bay.
Academician Cesar L. Villanoy, member of the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Division of the NAST, tackled Physical Oceanography of Manila Bay, while Dr. Gil S. Jacinto, a professor at the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines, Diliman, discussed the Chemical Oceanography of Manila Bay.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes