President’s Corner

Dear Colleagues in RCM,

Last Thursday, July 30, 2020, IPP Jackie Rodriguez and I were invited to the Inaugural and Blessing of the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Danilo Lim. This solar powered 2-million liter capacity treatment plant is now fully operational in front of the Manila Yacht Club (MYC) and connects three major drainage outflows between the US Embassy and the MYC.

We owe much to our former Manila Rotarian Atty. Tony Oposa and Past Director Atty. Beda Fajardo for filing a case in 1998 against the Republic of the Philippines to take full responsibility for cleaning Manila Bay and bringing it to its past glory. In 1999, I was asked by Tony to host a lunch at MYC because there would be a hearing concerning Manila Bay. We showed the Judge that MYC is a victim of injustice because the outflow of waste coming from the city was directly entering the club. Ten years later, in 2008, they won in the Supreme Court - a first in the Philippines and the world on Environment. Since then, nothing has happened.

During my Commodorship on November 17, 2018, I called Tony to say that I would like to take the cudgels in making it our advocacy to revive the clean up. I appealed to my newspaper friends led by Bobit Avila of Philippine Star and DeeDee Siytangco of Manila Bulletin to write about the Supreme Court Mandamus of 2008, ordering the 13 National Government Agencies to comply with the clean up of Manila Bay.

MYC was the second yacht club in Asia and in 1935, it was the first airport hosting the Pan American China Clipper, a 40-seater seaplane traveling to San Francisco. The yacht club was a reflection of the progressive economic status of our country. However, Manila Bay started to become a garbage dump ever since the 1960’s. By 1990, the water quality started to deteriorate and in the year 2000 onwards, it became worse with the pungent smell becoming unacceptable. Eventually, many foreign yacht owners abroad avoided Manila because of the deterioration of the water quality due to the sewage outflow directly entering MYC. All the waste of informal settlers, residents, restaurants, Manila Zoo, Malls, Ospital ng Maynila, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other buildings were entering MYC.

Unexpectedly, my prayers were answered on December 15, 2018 when Secretary Roy Cimatu was on television taking the challenge to start the clean up of Manila Bay. By January 11, 2019, the first strategic meeting was held at MYC. This was my first meeting with the Secretary. The following day, I invited him together with four television networks to cruise around Manila Bay in order to check the outflows coming out of the city to the Bay. We also had a marine contingent following us, taking samples of the sewage outflow for testing at the DENR laboratory.

On January 17, 2019, then President-Elect/Director Jackie Rodriguez and I joined the DENR Strategic Planning involving 13 government agencies and Mayors of Metro Manila, including the Department of Tourism and the Corregidor Foundation. On January 27, 2019, the launching of the Battle of Manila Bay for the Clean Up was witnessed by 6,000 government employees and the private sectors were represented by the Manila Yacht Club, the Rotary Club of Manila, Manila InterAirline Club, Network of Independent Travel Agencies, Tourism Educators and Movers, Atty. Tony Oposa and Atty. Beda Fajardo. The walk started at the Quirino Grandstand and ended at MYC. The dredging started immediately from the US Embassy and MYC. A total of 27,000 metric tons of sewage and plastics were hauled within 11 months with the cooperation of DENR, MMDA, and DPWH. The coliform level was 1,100,000,000 in 2018. Today, it is at 700 and the pungent smell is gone. The target is to achieve a coliform level below 100 to allow swimming and for fish to thrive.

In order to not overburden the Sewage Treatment Plant, the Mayor of Manila, Isko Moreno, promised to install STPs in Manila Zoo and Ospital ng Maynila. Other establishments would also have to comply with the order. In addition, the President earmarked 43 Billion Pesos for the relocation of informal settlers in areas of waterways to permanently prevent waste, including human waste, to be disposed to the Bay.

The above is a brief summary. Today, we are supporting the Clean Up that would take 6 years in the making because Manila Bay is connected with Metro Manila, Cavite, Zambales, Laguna, Pampanga, and Bulacan. By urging Rotary Clubs to help support the Clean Up, we have started meetings with the Rotary Club of Metro Cebu and the Rotary Club of Cebu. Our program is to encourage Rotary Clubs in the country to conduct seminars on waste management in every barangay with the support of DENR and DILG. We can reduce waste through segregation and compost. We shall adopt the training program for barangays with the DENR and Atty. Tony Oposa, who is now a well-renowned environmentalist.

This month, we have invited Secretary Roy Cimatu to share more updates on the Clean Up of Manila Bay, Clean Up of Boracay, and the Corona Virus status in Cebu. Secretary Roy Cimatu is always relied upon by the President who has supported him all the way to get things fixed ASAP! Thank you so much Secretary Roy for your amazing swift no nonsense action. Maraming Salamat.

We Rotarians are Catalysts of Change and we strive for a better Philippines through education and networking with local and national government agencies.