10 El Nido establishments slapped with cease and desist order for polluting Bascuit Bay

Ten hotels and restaurants in the El Nido, Palawan, were slapped with cease and desist orders for allegedly polluting Bacuit Bay.

According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which issued the orders, the hotels were found to be discharging wastewater that are greatly exceeding the allowable government standards "without any consideration of its impact and effect to the receiving body of water," in this case, Bacuit Bay.

The hotels and restaurants were allegedly in violation of Republic Act 9275 or The Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004.

The law states that "[d]isapproved applications or suspended or revoked wastewater discharge permits shall not grant any right or privilege to the applicant or former permit holder to discharge its waste water into any body(ies) of water and /or land. Any discharge shall be a ground for the immediate issuance of a cease and desist order."

The DENR said the result of the laboratory analysis on the wastewater taken from the establishments went beyond the DENR General Effluent Standards for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD).

BOD is a measure of the quantity of oxygen used by microorganisms when decomposing organic materials present in water. It provides an index on how discharged wastewater affects its receiving environment.

A high BOD indicates high amount of organic matter present in the water sample.

The affected establishments were placed under close DENR watch to ensure their compliance with the order.

"Until these erring establishments have shaped up, we have  no other choice but to enforce the law and stop them from polluting El Nido," said Henry Adornado, regional executive director of DENR MIMAROPA. —KBK, GMA News