GENERAL TRIAS CITY, Cavite -- Around 33 village leaders here have pledged to sustain the Manila Bay rehabilitation program as they continued on Saturday their cleanup drive on esteros, rivers and streams that flow into said body of water.
City Mayor Antonio Ferrer said their continuous clean-up campaign and awareness drive are in compliance with President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to restore and rehabilitate the much-polluted Manila Bay which stretches from Ternate to Bacoor City.
Ferrer said Cavite’s 23 city and town mayors have each scheduled their cleanup through their respective City and Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO/MENRO) in compliance with the orders of Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu and Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año for all LGUs to take part in the massive Manila Bay rehabilitation program.
The project has three phases -- the massive cleanup of esteros, rivers and streams connecting to the Bay area; resettlement of informal settlers and removal of illegal structures; and massive information dissemination.
This city’s village chiefs led the cleaning of the Malabon Grande River from Javalera, Biclatan, Manggahan, San Francisco, Buenavista, Pasong Kawayan, Tapia, Pinagtipunan, Prinza, GenTri Proper, Dulong Bayan, Bacao and the Ilang Ilang River which crosses Barangay San Antonio in nearby Noveleta town.
Also, scores of barangay volunteers retrieved piles of garbage and plastics from the rivers such as Ilang-Ilang River in Noveleta, Tanza River which connects Barangay San Juan and Tejero in this city from Barangay Biwas in Tanza town.
Meanwhile, Noveleta town Mayor Dino Reyes Chua and other officials joined hundreds of volunteers in Saturday’s cleanup drive along Ilang-Ilang River up to Barangay San Rafael and the Long Beach which stretches from Barangay San Rafael III to San Rafael IV.
In Bacoor City, the CENRO headed by Rolly Bocalan continued their clearing and cleaning operations at the informal settlement in Barangay Zapote and the coastal villages. (Dennis Abrina/PNA)
