Malate estero rehab set

MANILA, Philippines — Mayor Isko Moreno and Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu yesterday inspected the polluted Estero de San Antonio Abad in Malate, Manila and are set to meet to discuss the waterway’s rehabilitation.

The estero is a priority area in the cleanup drive as it drains directly to the Manila Bay.

Moreno and Cimatu are scheduled to meet this week to plan the creek’s cleanup.

Cimatu said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will demolish fences along the creek to allow the garbage to be collected.

While 70 families used to live near the creek, only 20 remain and are being urged to transfer to the relocation site in Tala, Caloocan City.

 Cimatu noted a drop in the fecal coliform level in the estuary since the cleanup - from 1.3 billion most probable number per 100 milliliters to just 10 million.

Cimatu vowed that the national government will build a walkway at the estero to open the waterway to pedestrians.

Moreno said the city government will cooperate with the national in relocating families to be displaced by the cleanup. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab