(Eagle News) – More than half of local government units within the Manila Bay watershed area have failed to comply with environmental laws, according to an assessment made by the Department of Interior and Local Government.
The DILG said that 95 LGUs or 53 percent of the 178 LGUs within the Manila Bay watershed area failed to hit the indicators gauging their compliance to existing environmental laws.
Sixteen of these LGUs with the worst problems will be “prioritized” by the department, according to a DILG statement.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año did not name these 16 worst performing LGUs in terms of environmental compliance, but he said that the department would push all the LGUs inside the Manila Bay watershed area to do its work in rehabilitating the bay.
“Based on our assessment, we still have a lot of work to do, and we intend to start with these 16 LGUs as we go along assisting all of 178. We will help them, hindi namin sila pababayaan,” says Año.
The DILG based its study on the 2018 Regional Inter-Agency Committee table assessments and on-site inspections.
Of the 95 LGUs that failed the assessment, only two are from Metro Manila.
The most number came from Central Luzon (56) and from Calabarzon (37).
“Maraming pagkukulang na nagdulot ng dekadang problema sa Manila Bay. But we are not here to point fingers anymore, we, through the directive of the President, are here to bring back the Bay to its former glory and we need all LGUs to do their part,” Año said.
-DILG ready to file cases vs erring LGUs –
But Año warned that his department is ready to file cases before the Ombudsman against the heads of LGUs who would not cooperate with the national government’s efforts to rehabilitate Manila Bay.
“We can also file cases against them with the Ombudsman or recommend disciplinary action to the President, if warranted. So we challenge all LGUs to shape up. We need them to fight and win the Battle for Manila Bay,” he says.
The results of the LGU Compliance Assessment were released to the LGUs during the local government executives’ forum on the rehabilitation of Manila Bay held recently.
The assessment aims to assess LGU compliance to existing environmental laws and policies; identify necessary assistance needed by LGUs; and demand accountability from LGUs based on their actions/inactions based on their mandates.
The DILG said that based on this assessment, the department can extend more help to LGUs needing support such as the “provision of capacity development, workshops, coaching and mentoring, among others to ensure that the LGUs are fully capable of exercising their mandates.”
“Kung ang problema ng LGU ay ang creation of drainage master plan para mas maging maayos ang kanilang liquid waste management, we can hold capacity development programs para sa kanila, this assistance, ibibigay ng Kagarawan para sa kanila,” Año said.
He said that his department is also mulling the creation of the DILG Manila Bay Rehabilitation Task Force which will be composed of task groups such as Law Enforcement and Security Task Group, Barangay Clean-up and Enforcement Task Group, Informal Settler Families Relocation Task Group, LGU Supervision and Capacity Development Task Group, and Inspection and Permit Issuance Task Group.
