Duterte orders transfer of PRRC chairmanship to DENR

President Rodrigo Duterte has made changes to the organizational structure of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC).

Under Executive Order 90 signed by Duterte on August 28, the chairmanship of the PRRC now belongs to the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) or his duly authorized representative.

The order amended the Estrada era-EO 54 which designated the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) as chairperson and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as co-chairman.

The new EO provides that the DBM Secretary will still sit in the PRRC as member. The Secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development has also been added as a member.

The DENR is the head of the Manila Bay Task Force which Duterte directed to craft measures using engineering and technological interventions to improve the water quality of the bay, including sustained and targeted reduction in the coliform level in all major river systems and tributaries within the Manila Bay region.

The PRRC was established in 1999 to ensure that the waterway is rehabilitated to its historically pristine condition conducive to transport, recreation and tourism.

The 27-kilometer Pasig River connects the Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay. The river traverses the cities of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Taguig and the municipalities of Pateros (Metro Manila) and Taytay in Rizal. —Virgil Lopez/KBK, GMA News