Manila Bay

When you think of Manila Bay, two contrasting images come to mind: the first is the
bays beautiful sunsets, and second is shores and waters littered with trash. Manila
Bay hosts the countrys most spectacular sunsets. The bays beauty is recounted in
songs, poems, and stories. Historic battles have been fought and won in this body of
water which once teemed with fish and other marine life. But the beauty and rich
biodiversity of the bay is a thing of the past. Manila Bay is now considered one of
the most polluted bays in the world. The bay is now known as a reeking cesspool of
sludge, human sewage, industrial waste and garbage. Manila Bay has become a
huge dumpsite for the whole of Metro Manila and the other coastal provinces from
the Bataan Peninsula down to Cavite, as well as for ships plying the route. Despite
its current state of ruin, the bay is still an important maritime resource, providing
food, livelihood, employment, recreation, to an estimated 23 million Filipinos.
Surprisingly, while marine habitats in the bay are severely degraded and polluted,
Manila Bay still contains life and gives life. Fisheries and aquaculture serve as major
sources of food and livelihood. Common species include hasa-hasa, bisugo,
bagaong, pusit, alimasag, and hipon suahe. In addition, mussel and oyster farming
are major economic activities, specifically along the coasts of Bataan, Cavite, and
parts of Metro Manila.
Pollution in Manila Bay
Pollution is the biggest problem in Manila Bay. Plastic pollution is the most visible
form. In August 2012 for example, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority
(MMDA) reported that they collected as much as 1,800 tons of trashmostly plastic
bags and wrappersthat was washed ashore on Roxas Boulevard by heavy rains.
This is consistent with waste audits conducted by Greenpeace and EcoWaste
Coalition in 2006 and 2010 which show that more than 70% of Manila Bay wastes
consist of plastic bags and packaging. In December 18, 2008, the Supreme Court on
issued a Writ of Continuing Mandamus directing 13 government agencies to clean
up, rehabilitate and preserve Manila Bay, and restore and maintain its waters to
make them fit for swimming, skin-diving, and other forms of contact recreation.
Two years after the 2011 deadline to clean up Manila Bay, the body of water
remains heavily polluted, with illegal dump sites still littering its shores. Greenpeace
is highlighting the situation in Manila Bay as representative of how the government
must strictly implement policies nationally to ensure that our oceans are protected.
We must reduce additional stresses on our marine ecosystems. We need to protect
the integrity of our marine resources against abuse, and invoke the mandate of the
state to provide a healthy and balanced ecology for its people.
ManilaEnvironmental
group
Greenpeace
today
welcomed
the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recent moves
to address water pollution in the Philippines but said that the government
agency must do more to save the countrys polluted water bodies.
Greenpeace said that the first step must be pollution disclosure, or
mandatory reporting by factories about the chemical waste produced by
their operations.
Designating Water Management Quality Areas (WMQA) to some of the countrys
rivers and waterways is a good move. But we need to see bigger steps in pollution
prevention if the DENR is serious in fulfilling its mandate to keep our waterways

clean, said Abi Aguilar, Toxics Campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia. We
urge DENR Secretary Ramon Paje to immediately eliminate chemicals already
identified as hazardous and implement pollution disclosure for companies that
dump their wastes and by-products in our bodies of water, she added.
Water pollution is one of the biggest problems affecting the Philippines. According to
the DENR, as many as 50 of the 421 rivers in the country are already considered
biologically dead. Biologically dead rivers no longer contain any oxygen and
cannot support any but the hardiest kinds of species.
This situation has prompted the government agency to identify eight rivers as Water
Quality Management Areas, in pursuant to the Clean Water Act of 2004-- an
important step in protecting river systems. Rivers under protection include the
Sinocalan-Dagupan river system in Pangasinan, the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando
river system and areas within the Laguna Lake Development Authoritys jurisdiction
in Luzon, the Tigum-Aganan watershed and the Iloilo-Batiano river system in the
Visayas, the Silway River and the Sarangani Bay in Mindanao, the San Juan River
system in Metro Manila, and most recently, the Taguibo River in Agusan del Norte.
Greenpeace believes that the fact that these rivers were declared as WQMAs means
that its present condition requires serious protection and management action by its
local government and stakeholders.
Greenpeace has long called for the establishment of a Pollution Release and
Transfer Register (PRTR) policy that would also give communities and other
stakeholders the right to access information about these pollutants. PRTR policies
have been instrumental in preventing pollution in countries like Japan, Australia and
Canada. Currently, the DENR has no complete data on what chemicals factories are
discharging into our rivers and lakes. Communities living around these bodies of
water suffer because they do not know what chemicals are present in their locality,
and how their water supply is slowly being contaminated.
Now is the time for Secretary Paje to identify and investigate the pollution hotspots
in our river systems. If a PRTR is in place, then industries/facilities would be more
careful with their discharges into our waterways. This is an important first step in
the elimination of hazardous chemicals in manufacturing operations and ensuring
public safety, Aguilar said.
In order to prevent toxic pollution in our water bodies, Greenpeace is demanding
that the DENR:

Expand the Priority Chemicals List (PCL) to include those that have already
been identified to potentially affect human health and the environment;

Speed up the elimination of priority hazardous chemicals with specific

timelines;

Immediately set up a PRTR so that the public can access data on pollution.

Greenpeace also calls on the communities to be vigilant about the operations of the
industries in their localities, to protect their own rivers, and to call on the
government for better policies for cleaner and safer water.
Plastic bags are the most common type of garbage found in Manila Bay, according
to a waste audit conducted by environmental groups on Thursday, July 3,
International Plastic Bag-Free Day.
The audit, organized by groups like EcoWaste Coalition, Greenpeace and Mother
Earth Foundation, collected 1,594 liters of garbage, 23.2% of which were found to
be plastic bags.
Plastics in general topped the list. Of the total, 61.9% of the waste were made of
plastic. Coming in second place as top pollutants were plastic wrappers which
comprised 18.8% of the collected trash. (READ: Up to 88% of ocean surfaces sullied
by plastic study)
The 3rd most common were miscellaneous discards like cigarette butts, clothes,
rags and sponges at 15.7%. Rubber garbage like discarded slippers came in 4th
place at 11.9% while biodegradable waste stood in 5th place at 9.7%.

The Manila Third Sewerage Project (MTSP) helped to meet the water, sanitation and
urbanization challenges identified in the governments Medium-Term Philippine
Development Plan of 2004-2010, in particular, the worsening water quality of Metro
Manila resulting from rapid population growth, urbanization and industrialization.
The project contributed to reducing the pollution of rivers and waterways caused by
untreated gdomestic and industrial waste. This situation had made urban
communities prone to diarrhea, cholera, skin diseases and other water-borne
diseases. The project also supported the goals of the 2004 Clean Water Act and the
2008 Supreme Court decision to clean up Manila Bay. The project was also aligned
with the Country Assistance Strategy of increasing access to safe drinking water
and sanitation services.
Solution
The project used an integrated and innovative approach to address sewerage and
sanitation issues that included the following:

 Introduced water treatment facilities within communities that sparked a revival of

urban renewal activities, leading to the cleanup of riverbanks, the improvement in
community facilities such as covered courts and parks as well as promotion of more
social interactions. The Olandes Sewage Treatment Plant received the 2010 Project
Innovation Honors Award from the International Water Association for excellence
and

innovation

in

its

social,

economic

and

sustainable

design.

Piloted the use of combined sewer and drainage systems in the Philippines.
Applied a decentralized approach to the delivery of sewerage services that
actively

promoted

community

consultation

and

involvement.

Built and expanded small treatment facilities in Metro Manila that were costeffective

and

addressed

the

issue

of

land

availability

constraints.

Expanded the practice of safe disposal of treated septage for use as fertilizer in
areas affected by volcanic eruptions to improve soil condition and crop yield.
Results
The project delivered improved sewerage and sanitation services with more and
better treatment plants, trucks for pumping out septage and safe disposal of treated
septage from the start of the project in 2005 up to 2012 for an estimated 3.3 million
residents

in

the

eastern

section

of

Metro

Manila.

The MTSP contributed to increased sewerage coverage from about 3 percent in

2003

to

30

percent

in

2012

for

the

same

target

beneficiaries.

Sewage Management: A total of 77,137 water connections with sewerage

treatment was provided from 2005 to 2012 for the same beneficiary communities.
Septage Management: An average increase of 50,000 septic tanks de-sludged per
year from 2008 to 2012 for a total of 262,012 septic tanks as of 2012 in the Manila
Water

Company,

Inc.

(MWCI)

service

area.

Increased Public Awareness: A total of 3,723,934 individuals were reached by the

projects

public

information

campaign

from

2005

to

2012.

Increased satisfaction of beneficiaries with sewerage and sanitation service

delivery from 2006 to 2012, based on the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage
System Public Assessment of Water Services of over 300 barangays or villages in
the eastern section of Metro Manila. In addition, there was widespread affirmation of
health

and

environmental

benefits

to

beneficiaries.

In particular, the installation of water connections translated to better hygiene and

made women and children more productive as they no longer had to spend time
gathering

water

from

outside

their

homes.

Improved soil condition and crop yield from using treated septage as fertilizer in
volcanic ash-affected areas, as indicated in MWCI studies.