Pollution of Manila Bay costs around P4 billion yearly, and there’s been little progress in attempts to stop its degradation, according to an environmental expert.

"If one looks at the reduced access of use of Manila Bay, the overfishing, the pollution in coastal areas, which means that tourism and recreational use is limited, you’re actually losing P4 billion a year as a consequence of degradation." Stephen Adrian Ross, chief technical officer of the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) said Friday.

In 2001, national and local government agencies, and non-government organizations signed a Manila Bay Declaration. And with the help of PEMSEA, a long-term management program—the Manila Bay Environmental Management Project—was put in place for Manila Bay.

In an interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak, Ross lamented that not much progress has been achieved in reversing environmental degradation of Manila Bay.

"We’ve been at it now for five years talking with the Manila Bay project, how to address this strategically, but we haven’t had any success," he said. "What PEMSEA is trying to do in Manila Bay is to make people realize how much is being lost."

Lack of political will

Ross said the problem can’t be due to lack of resources. The regions linked to Manila Bay contribute around 52% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2005, according to the PEMSEA.

The regions of Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, and Central Luzon, which have links to Manila Bay, are the three biggest regions in terms of population.

"I don’t think you could say that you don’t have sewage treatment plants in Metro Manila because you don’t have access to resources. Twenty-five million people could generate quite a bigger revenue to build sewage treatment plants," he said.

Ross said 60 percent of pollution entering Manila Bay comes through the Pasig river. Another 10-15% is through Pampanga river, and the balance is along the coastal areas, which come from direct discharges from other tributaries.

In the case of Manila Bay, Ross said there’s a lack of political will in turning things around.

Former Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, the new executive director of PEMSEA, told reporters Friday that unlike other coastal areas like Bataan Bay, Manila Bay does not have a common provincial government.

Manila Bay also has a "small donut-like hole" 15 kilometers off the coast which is "not administered by anyone" and "doesn’t belong to any local government," Lotilla said. This zone is where overfishing often occurs.

Xiamen case

In contrast, the case of Yuandang Lagoon in Xiamen, China shows what political will and a modest amount of resources can do to reverse environmental degradation.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Yuandang Lagoon was a "wretched area" within Xiamen City. It was "grossly polluted by sewage and industrial wastewaters, a virtual wasteland," the PEMSEA said.

After realizing the losses due to environmental degradation, the local officials of Xiamen turned things through three main steps:

• Construction of sewage treatment facilities;
• Relocation of industry;
• Dredging and reclamation of land.

In a span of less than two decades, the PEMSEA said "Yuandong Lagoon is now the social, cultural and environmental showpiece of Xiamen, attracting national and international recognition as an environmental city."

Ross said Xiamen invested $37 million in sewage treatment plants, and it has seen a return of $9 for every $1 invested in the clean up. At least 70 companies have invested in Yuandong Lagoon area of Xiamen due to the good environment.

Ross said the centralized political system in China helps get things done faster than in a decentralized system.

50 years

"It’s a little different in the Philippines where you’ve got different levels of government, many NGOs, community groups all have to buy into it and start seeing changes," he said.

Lotilla said previous administrations have tried to address the pollution of Pasig River by relocating informal settlers, and the effort is continuing.

Lotilla said the Philippines can reverse the environmental degradation of Manila Bay in 50 years. He said it should be done in stages, and people must see tangible results.

Ross said various sectors are "organizing themselves into a council to address these issues" that have been identified in the Manila Bay Area Environmental Atlas launched in November 2007 with the support of PEMSEA.

"It is a long-term process, the strategy is to identify specific rivers or tributaries that we can focus on and then we’ll show results and benefits," he said.

Lotilla said if only just one part of Manila Bay can be restored into a white sand beach, people will be able to see the benefits.

"You can just imagine the tremendous improvement in terms of land values and quality of life in these areas," he said.

Manila Bay is one of the demonstration sites of PEMSEA’s advocacy for integrated coastal management. Eight demonstration sites have been established covering 917 kilometers of coastline and over 15,000 kilometers of land and sea areas. Nineteen local government units have started to replicate ICM programs.

Lotilla said PEMSEA and its partners hope to cover 20% of the country’s coastlines under ICM by 2015. PEMSEA is a project of the Global Environmental Facility through the United Nations Development Program. (abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak)

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