By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror
NO permits, no accreditation.
This was the stern warning of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat to hotels and other accommodation establishments in the Manila Bay area on Tuesday, as environment and interior officials laid out the procedures to be undertaken in the water body’s rehabilitation.
“We will not give them [hotels] accreditation without DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] and DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government] compliance,” she told reporters at a press briefing, although she said her agency has “continually been consulting” with the establishments.
Asked whether hotels had already moved to address their possible environmental issues, she said, “We still have to meet with the Tourism Congress of the Philippines. We told them to wait for our advice. What we did in Boracay for all establishments, we will also do here [in the Manila Bay rehab].”
As this developed, Sen. Nancy Binay, chairman of the upper chamber’s Committee on Tourism, urged government authorities to carefully plan the rehabilitation of Manila Bay and involve all its stakeholders in the discussion, instead of immediately closing hotels and other tourism establishments.
“Learning from the Boracay experience, let’s take the Manila Bay rehabilitation challenge as an opportunity to plan it for the better. Isantabi na natin ’yung [Let’s do away with] knee-jerk reactions ng pagpapasara ng [like closing down] tourist establishments, which has painful impacts on jobs, businesses and the economy,” she told the BusinessMirror.
She added, “After Boracay, I believe we are on the journey to better environmental compliance. Stakeholders are now positively responding to a growing environmental awareness; business establishments are now more engaged in corrective measures; NGOs [nongovernment organizations] now have a strong green representation in all levels of governance; LGUs [local government units] are listening; media is spreading the green message; and, most important, environmental consciousness is back on the table.”
She thus stressed, “‘Wag na natin sayangin ang pagkakataong ito. [Let’s not waste this opportunity.] Let’s start on the right foot in rehabilitating Manila Bay and waterfronts. Listen better, and plan better to bring Manila Bay back to life.”
DENR officials have threatened to close down hotels, condominium units and other establishments found polluting Manila Bay. Fecal coliform levels in the water body, which spans three regions including the National Capital Region, has reached an average of 330 million most probable number (MPN) per 100 milliliters. (See, “DENR has 1-strike policy vs pollutive bay condos,” in the BusinessMirror, January 11, 2019.)
The agency aims to reduce this level to lower than 270 million MPN/100 milliliters by the end of the year, according to Undersecretary for Attached Agencies Sherwin S. Rigor during the press briefing, contrary to earlier pronouncements. “The secretary [Roy A. Cimatu] wants to reduce it to less than 270 million MPN. [This may be possible] as we will cut pollution at the source. The circulation of salt water also heals Manila Bay. As we will install wastewater-treatment facilities [at key points], the water that will be discharged will already be of SB quality,” he added.
SB quality is equivalent to the water in swimming pools, and thus swimmable. He noted that some parts of the bay “will be ready for swimming, but not the whole bay” by the end of the year.
Cimatu, meanwhile, said hotels and other establishments inspected “will be given a notice of violation first,” if they have been found discharging untreated wastewater into the bay, “then mag-uusap [both parties will discuss]. ‘You need to have a treatment plant. How many months are needed [to address the violations]?’ As in the Manila Zoo, they were surprised they needed a treatment plant. In the meantime they are not compliant, they are closed.”
As in the Boracay Island rehabilitation, establishments need to secure environmental clearances and permits from the DENR and the DILG again, to be able to reopen.
“[Violators] have to pay a penalty for polluting Manila Bay,” the DENR chief added, “from P20,000 to P200,000 per day. This is in the Clean Water Act, which we are implementing.”
Computation of the fine will begin from the time the establishment is tested and found to be polluting the bay.
While most hotels expressed support for the cleanup of the Manila Bay, underscoring they are required to install sewerage treatment plants on their properties before they are issued permits to operate by LGUs, they cautioned against the changing of parameters governing the STPs as what happened in Boracay. They also asked the DOT to draw up a plan to help tourists relocate in case the hotels they are staying in are suddenly closed, and wish the DENR attacks the major polluters of the bay, the informal settlers, instead of training their sights on tourist establishments. (See, “Most hotels back Manila Bay cleanup, but…” in the BusinessMirror, January 14, 2019.)