THE Duterte administration has allotted a whopping P47-billion budget for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay that may include as well the desilting of clogged esteros and clean-up of heavily polluted river tributaries and creeks connected to the historic bay once known for its pristine waters and spectacular sunsets.
The ambitious seven-year project, dubbed the “Battle for Manila Bay,” was launched on January 27, 2019, and has so far spent an initial P1.7 billion to bankroll the initial clean-up activities since it was unveiled in an event participated by more than 5,000 project supporters.
Several host projects were implemented since then by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), lead agency of the Manila Bay Task Force, documents obtained by the BusinessMirror showed.
For the implementation of the P1.7 billion worth of projects by the DENR-DPWH Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program, a memorandum of agreement was signed between DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu and DPWH Secretary Mark Villar last year. The projects include various clean-up activities and engineering interventions in Manila Bay and priority esteros in Metro Manila.
Budget and funding source
MEANWHILE, the current P47-billion seven-year rehabilitation program at the behest of the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program is firmly anchored on the 2008 Supreme Court continuing mandamus ordering 13 government agencies to rehabilitate Manila Bay.
In September last year, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced the release of P2.1 billion, sourced from the P13-billion contingency fund of the national government last year. The release of the fund was approved by President Duterte on September 13, 2019, through the issuance of seven Special Allotment Release Orders.
The P2.1-billion budget is on top of the P80-million budget allocation for the operational plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Management Strategy also last year.
The funding for the projects, such as the controversial P389-million beach “nourishment” project, which has an original project cost of P400 million, was downloaded to the DENR which, in turn, transferred most of the funds to the DPWH, the project’s implementer.
MAC Builders, one of DPWH’s biggest contractors, and its joint venture partners got the lion’s share in the DENR-DPWH undertaking, documents accessible from the DPWH’s official website revealed.
Focus: Manila Baywalk
MOST of the DPWH-DENR joint undertakings are so far concentrated in the National Capital Region, where water is found to be most polluted and the garbage problem at its worst.
There are two major components of the project. The first component is the Manila Bay clean-up, while the second component is the so-called application of technologies.
The beach nourishment project is listed under the Manila Bay Clean-up Activity. It was awarded to MAC Builders and DragonHart Construction Enterprise Inc. joint venture undertaking after having been declared as “bidder with the single calculated and responsive bid” last December 27, 2019.
Another component under the activity is the purchase and installation of containment devices and silt curtains with a budget allocation of P50 million, practically to address turbidity problems. For this, a contract worth P47,543,853.48 was awarded on January 2 this year to MAC Builders/DragonHart Construction Enterprises Inc. tandem, the same joint venture that won the beach nourishment project.
In the Manila Baywalk alone, another project component involves the dredging and disposal of solid waste, or sludge, using ocean-based methodologies, including the construction and extension of three drainage outfalls. It has an original project cost allocation of P510 million.
The project was included in the DPWH’s updated annual procurement plan for 2020 but with a procurement cost of P491,872,711.55. The contract was secured by MAC Builders and MSB Vitug Construction joint venture. It was awarded by the DPWH on December 27, 2019.
Under the second component described as application of technologies is the purchase and installation of a 2,500-meter trash boom which has a P100-million allocation. This was included in President Duterte’s 2020 mid-year report as having been completed, or accomplished.
The project was awarded to Agafer Construction and Trading and J.D. Panlaqui Construction and Trading joint venture at a contract cost of P96,505,714.
Priority estero projects
Completing the list of projects for application of technologies is the clearing, grubbing, desilting, removal and hauling of submerged garbage from priority esteros. It has an allocation of P640 million. The clearing of priority esteros of illegal structures and removing of garbage and other debris on the river beds aims to ensure the smooth flow of water and prevent flooding in low-lying areas in Metro Manila during heavy downpours.
The project is subdivided into several small projects. Some companies have already been issued notices of award and to proceed for small segments in priority esteros at project costs ranging between P4 million and P46 million.
As of September 2020, a total of 20 priority estero projects were completed while 19 are still ongoing.
Among those completed is a 900-meter section of the Estero de Tripa de Galina, a water body leading out to Manila Bay, with a contract cost of P46.5 million.
Parallel activities
The initiative for priority esteros by the DENR-DPWH duplicates public-private partnership initiatives of the DENR and various stakeholders under the ongoing Adopt-an-Estero/Water Body Program.
With the launching of the Battle for Manila Bay, the Adopt-an-Estero/Water Body Program is described as “a direct response to the continuing mandamus by the Supreme Court for agencies led by the DENR to clean up Manila Bay, particularly through esteros and waterways that empty into it,” the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) official website stated.
Since the Adopt-an-Estero/Water Body Program was launched in 2010, a total of 569 companies and groups have become DENR partners and 346 water bodies have been adopted and cleared of solid waste nationwide, the DENR-EMB reported.
Speaking during a webinar and online forum dubbed “People’s Environmental Impact Assessment: Dolomite Dumping in Manila Bay” on September 16, DENR-EMB Director William Cunado said the DENR-DPWH priority estero project is on top of the “Adopt-an-Estero/Water Body” program activities, which were implemented at no cost to the government as expenses are all shouldered by the DENR’s project partners.
“That [Adopt-an-Estero/Water Body] is a joint effort of the DENR with some companies who are volunteering their resources for some esteros to be adopted. We encourage our partners to adopt an estero to improve certain portions of the river. That is not only in Manila but throughout the country, especially in highly urbanized areas,” he explained.
To further boost ongoing river and estero cleanups, in November last year, DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has announced the hiring of 2,000 estero rangers to help local government units maintain the water bodies free of garbage.
At least 203 creeks and waterways traversing the 711 barangays will be serviced by the estero rangers, according to the DENR chief.
Good intention, bad timing
THE controversial P389-million beach nourishment project awarded to MAC Builders and DragonHart Construction Enterprises Inc. in December 2019 drew both admiration and flak from various quarters.
Of the P389 million, only P28 million was actually spent for crushed dolomite. The rest was used for engineering interventions to keep the sand intact.
Critics said the dumping of crushed dolomite, implemented in the middle of a global pandemic, is a waste of money. They said such a huge amount could have been spent on other more meaningful projects, like mangrove reforestation, to boost the natural protection of communities along Manila Bay.
They said the artificial white sand may soon be swept away by the strong current and waves in the event of a strong typhoon that triggers storm surges.
Various quarters also raised the wisdom of the project, notwithstanding its “good intentions” as they put forward environmental and health concerns. They also lamented the fact that no environmental impact study, or scientific research, was conducted before implementing the project.
Lastly, the fact that the project was implemented without the conduct of public consultations was criticized, considering that it is an environmentally critical project and done in an environmentally critical area.
‘Above board’
THE DENR, which was at the receiving end of the criticisms for pushing the beach nourishment project’s implementation, defended it as safe to human health and the environment and above board.
DENR Undersecretary for Local Government Units and Solid Waste Management Concerns Benny Antiporda also rejected insinuations of corruption in the Manila Bay cleanup efforts and laughed off alleged overpricing in the purchase of the crushed dolomite from Alcoy, Cebu, which was used to create the Boracay-like beach portion in Manila Baywalk area.
“The project is above board and there’s no corruption here. Since 2008, it is only under the Duterte administration that positive results came out of government efforts in Manila Bay,” Antiporda told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview.
Accomplishments of past administrations, he said, pale in comparison to what the Duterte administration had accomplished in such a short period, not to mention the on-and-off community quarantines put in place since March.
Before the DENR started carrying out the P1.7-billion portion of the Duterte administration’s ambitious “Battle for Manila Bay” the past year, other agencies covered by the SC’s 2008 mandamus had also spent billions for projects related to the High Court’s orders to keep the bay clean.
The DPWH spent a whopping total of P5.6 billion from 2009 to 2016 for numerous dredging/desilting projects for creeks and esteros; work on the Manila Bay seawall; riprapping and the retaining wall; and slope protection of esteros and creeks.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) spent roughly P170 million from 2008 to 2015 as its support for LGUs that ring the bay and were made liable by the mandamus for the cleanup.
The DENR itself, in the years between the issuance of the mandamus and the Duterte presidency, also spent P1.384 billion, with the largest disbursement in 2014 at P160 million.
Destabilization issue?
Antiporda said criticisms against the project, particularly the dumping of crushed dolomite, were done in “bad faith” and in various fora by groups critical of the Duterte administration.
This, he said, apparently aims to undermine the government’s accomplishments in rehabilitating Manila Bay.
“These NGOs behind the attacks should be investigated because we suspect that it is part of a destabilization effort against the current administration,” he said in an earlier interview.
On September 21, President Duterte lauded Cimatu for the accomplishment done so far in the rehabilitation of Manila Bay, which includes converting a portion of the Manila Baywalk into a Boracay-like beach. The rehabilitation effort also saw then infamous Baseco Beach being freed from filthy garbage. It is now frequented by residents who want to commune with nature and now has an ecological path walk made of bamboo at a mangrove reforestation project in the area.
To be sure, pursuing the SC’s mandate to clean up the bay will take years and billions in resources. The “white sand” brouhaha aside, it’s the ultimate restoration of the bay that will dictate whether this war will be won or not.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes
1 comment
Sand from crushed dolomite boulders is not good for beach nourishment.
It does not have a similar composition to the original natural sand. Besides,
nourishment is not a long-term solution for beach erosion. Doing a beach
nourishment next to a heavily polluted and contaminated water could also
do harm to the beach. This is not a good common environmental engineering
practice. Furthermore, cleaning up the Manila Bay and Pasig River is not
enough to save the bay. See the whole forest not just a few trees. Manila
Bay Watershed is huge area which also include Laguna Lake since its outflow
joins the Pasig River down to the Manila Bay. Cleaning up the Manila Bay
Watershed is very complicated and tough, but it can be done. It only needs
more time and patience with a good program and comprehensive plan.