SC orders government to implement Manila Bay cleanup

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the government to start implementing the cleanup of Manila Bay.

The SC ordered the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and other concerned agencies to submit on June 30 the concrete and strategic steps to implement the Court’s December 2008 order to rehabilitate Manila Bay so that it would be fit for swimming, skin-diving and other forms of recreation.

Voting 11-4, the Court also gave the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) until Dec. 31, 2015 to demolish illegal structures and dwellings along riverbanks and waterways connected to the bay.

“On or before June 30, 2011, the MMDA shall submit its plan for the removal of said informal settlers and the demolition of the aforesaid houses, structures, constructions and encroachments, as well as the completion dates for said activities, which shall be fully implemented not later than Dec. 31, 2015,” the Court said.

The SC also gave the Department of Public Works and Highways and the local government units (LGUs) in Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, and Bataan until Dec. 31, 2011 to clear the riverbanks of Manila Bay of illegal settlers.

The SC clarified that its order is not an encroachment on the powers and functions of the executive branch.

It explained that such view “is misplaced” since the implementation of its Dec. 18, 2008 ruling “is but an integral part of the adjudicative function of the Court.”

“It is clear that the final judgment includes not only what appears upon its face to have been so adjudged but also those matters ‘actually and necessarily included therein or necessary thereto.’ Certainly, any activity that is needed to fully implement a final judgment is necessarily encompassed by said judgment,” stated the ruling penned by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr.

The Court directed the MMDA, local government units and other concerned government agencies to undertake joint efforts to clean up the waters of Manila Bay.

Aside from the MMDA, the other government agencies tasked to implement the cleanup are the DENR, DPWH, Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, Department of Budget and Management, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine National Police-Maritime Group and Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The DENR was primarily directed to fully implement its Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy for the rehabilitation and conservation of Manila Bay the soonest possible time.

As for the MMDA, DPWH, DILG, affected LGUs, PNP-MG, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), the SC ordered these government agencies to dismantle and remove all shanties and illegal structures put up along the Pasig-Marikina-San Juan rivers, the Parañaque-Zapote, Las Piñas rivers, the Navotas-Malabon-Tullahan-Tenejeros rivers, and connecting waterways in Metro Manila.

The Court also gave the go-signal for the demolition of illegal structures along the Meycauayan-Marilao-Obando rivers, the Talisay River, the Imus River, Laguna de Bay, and other connecting rivers, and esteros that discharge wastewater into the bay should also be undertaken, according to the SC.

The DILG is also enjoined to direct all LGUs in Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan to inspect all factories, commercial establishments, and private homes along the banks of the major river systems in their respective areas of jurisdiction.

The SC said sanctions should be imposed against factories that will refuse to comply with existing laws requiring the installation of wastewater treatment facilities or hygienic septic tanks.

The Court also mandated the MMDA to apprehend and file necessary criminal charges against violators of penal provisions and other existing laws on pollution.

The concerned agencies were also tasked to submit a quarterly progressive report of the activities undertaken in connection with the ruling.

The SC had likewise approved the creation of an advisory committee that would verify compliance reports of various government agencies tasked to undertake joint efforts to clean up the waters of Manila Bay.

The Court has appointed Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. as chairman of the advisory committee with SC spokesman and administrator Jose Midas Marquez as vice-chair.

Other members of the committee are former DENR secretary Dr. Elisea Gozun, former DENR undersecretary and Dean Antonio G.M. La Viña of the Ateneo School of Government, and former director of the UP Marine Science Institute Dr. Gil Jacinto.