PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has issued an administrative order creating a task force that will expedite the rehabilitation and restoration of the coastal and marine ecosystem of the Manila Bay.
Administrative Order (AO) 16 mandates the task force to ensure the "complete rehabilitation, restoration and conservation of the Manila Bay."
The task force will be chaired by Environment Secretary and vice chaired by Local Government and Tourism secretaries.
Members are secretaries of Public Works, Health, and Agriculture; housing czar; Metro Manila Development Authority chair; Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission executive director; Local Water Utilities Administration administrator; Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System administrator.
Other members include Philippine National Police-Maritime Group director; Philippine Coast Guard commandant; Philippine Ports Authority general manager; and representatives from Manila Water Company Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Incorporated.
The task force is mandated to ensure that public and private establishments within the vicinity of Manila Bay would immediately construct or connect sewage lines.
It Is also tasked to prepare and commence the implementation of a comprehensive plan for massive relocation of informal settler families, especially in priority areas of Metro Manila along the Manila Bay.
The comprehensive plan should include the identification of suitable relocation sites; strategies for economic and social integration of the informal settler families in the area; and long-term solutions to address ongoing migration into the Manila Bay.
AO 16 further directs the task force to undertake remedial measures using engineering and technological interventions like sustained and targeted reduction in the coliform level in all major river systems and tributaries within the Manila Bay region to improve its water quality.
The task force should also prepare a comprehensive plan for expediting the local sanitation program of local government units (LGUs) within the Manila Bay by 2026.
It should also fast-track compliance with the writ of continuing mandamus issued by the Supreme Court, including full implementation of the Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy (OPMBCS).
The task force should also facilitate a massive information, education, and communication drive to get public support for the Manila Bay clean-up, rehabilitation and restoration efforts, as well as the preservation of the ecosystem in the Manila Bay region.
It should also improve resource management of the Manila Bay and create models of inter-LGus cooperation in ecosystem management, with special focus on the Laguna Lake and Pasig River.
The task force is required to submit a quarterly report on the implementation of AO 16 to the Office of the Executive Secretary.
All heads of government departments, bureaus, and offices, including government-owned or -controlled corporations and state universities and colleges, are enjoined to extend full support to the task force.
AO 16 also delegates all city and municipality mayors in Metro Manila as well as governors and mayors of Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, and Cavite to implement environmental laws within their respective jurisdictions.
The funding for the AO's implementation would be taken from the existing appropriations of the member-agencies of the task force and other sources that will be identified by the Budget department.
Duterte signed AO 16 on February 19, but a copy of the the document was released by MalacaƱang on Thursday, February 21. (SunStar Philippines)