Manila Bay waters several times 'filthier' than before —Rep. Atienza

The waters of Manila Bay are now “several times filthier” compared to 22 years ago, when concerned residents first launched a civil action that eventually led to a Supreme Court order forcing 13 agencies to clean up the inlet, Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza said Sunday.

“We checked court records. Water samples taken from Manila Bay way back in 1999 showed fecal coliform counts of 50,000 to 80,000 most probable number (MPN) per milliliter (ml),” Atienza said in a statement.

“In contrast, based on the most recent water samples taken from major outfalls along Roxas Boulevard, fecal coliform counts now range anywhere from 11 million to 54 million MPN per ml,” Atienza, who represents Buhay in Congress, he said.

Likewise, he pointed out that a very high fecal coliform count suggests the heavy presence of bacteria or viruses in the water that may cause diseases such as typhoid fever, viral and bacterial gastroenteritis and hepatitis A.

“This is really not surprising because up to now, of the 16.3 million water-served population in Metro Manila, only 15 percent or 2.4 million are connected to a sewerage system,” Atienza added.

Clearly, he said, "The bulk of Metro Manila’s household toilet waste continues to drain into waterways, including the Pasig River, that all empty out into the bay every day.”

He stressed that uncontrolled outflow of human sewage should be stopped to decontaminate Manila Bay.

Court records Atienza was referring to were based on the 1999 lawsuit filed by residents who claimed that the Metro Manila Development Authority and 12 other agencies, out of neglect, failed to protect and clean up the waters of Manila Bay.

The case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the residents in 2008 and issued a continuing mandamus that required the agencies to rehabilitate the waters of the bay.

Further,  Atienza said that in a separate case, the Supreme Court in 2019 penalized Metro Manila’s two private water concessionaires and the Metropolitan Waterworks Sewerage System with P1.84 billion in combined fines due to their failure to connect households to a sewerage system and their lack of wastewater treatment facilities.

Until they fully comply with the provisions of Clean Water Act, the three parties will have to pay a daily fine of P322,102 that escalates by 10 percent in two years, plus legal interest of six percent per annum.

The tribunal upheld the penalty imposed by Atienza when he was Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources in 2009, the statement added. —LBG, GMA News