Cleaning up Manila Bay

It will be three years since December 18, 2008 when a Supreme Court decision, marked as G.R. Nos.171947-48, was passed and it may be timely to visit it now because it has something to do with the Christmas season.

The decision ordered several government agencies led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources “to clean up, rehabilitate, and preserve Manila Bay, and restore and maintain its waters to SB level (Class B sea waters per Water Classification Tables under DENR Administrative Order No. 34 [1990]) to make them fit for swimming, skin-diving, and other forms of contact recreation.”

Those ordered had earlier petitioned that their responsibility in cleaning up Manila Bay concerned only specific pollution incidents. The Court countered that “the pollution of the Manila Bay is of such magnitude and scope that it is well-nigh impossible to draw the line between a specific and a general pollution incident.”

And such impossibility extends to pinpointing with reasonable certainty who the polluters are . . . . In this situation, the water pollution incidents are so numerous and involve nameless and faceless polluters that they can validly be categorized as beyond the specific pollution incident level.”

Considering how materialistic Christmas is celebrated, I can just imagine now how many more nameless and faceless polluters would be generating so much waste which would find their way eventually to the Manila Bay.

Thus, the Court, stressed “the extreme necessity for all concerned executive departments and agencies to immediately act and discharge their respective official duties and obligations. . . . with the help and cooperation of all civic-minded individuals, (to) put their minds to these tasks and take responsibility.”

A non-government organization, Bangon Kalikasan Ecology Centers, in coordination with the Provincial Office in Bulacan of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, seeks to reduce those “nameless and faceless polluters” by appealing to specific communities, their mayors, municipal councils, barangay officials and the civic-minded volunteers in the person of mother leaders, barangay health workers, members of “Lingkod Lingap sa Nayon,” and “Lingkod Populasyon sa Nayon,” the schools, the church, and business establishments, to lead the movement in preventing the dumping of waste. The organization demonstrates how each individual, home, and establishment can manage waste ecologically through sorting and segregation at source, re-use, composting, and recycling.

“We have shown that it works, waste can be prevented, and we can do away with the dumpsite,” said Bangon Kalikasan Ecology Center president, Joey Papa. “The whole municipality of Calumpit and Barangay Tuktukan in Guiguinto, Bulacan, offer two very good examples for Marilao and the rest of Guiguinto, where we are working now, to emulate.”

This Christmas, we could help prevent waste by focusing more on the spiritual message of the season.

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Dusit Thani Manila is gathering families from all walks of life to participate in its project dubbed “Family Tree.” Through this project the hotel endeavors to give this season a new and deeper meaning. The hotel is also inviting all in-house and dining guests as well as Facebook fans to cast their votes for “liking” the best Christmas tree, where cash prizes will be donated to the top three winning entries’ chosen charity. Voting is from Nov. 15 to Dec. 25, this year.

One of the popular entries is the Villar family’s Christmas tree aptly called “Water Hyacinth With 3 Sails, 2011.” The tree was designed by Anthony Nazareno and his sister Rita depicting three sails (resembling a ship’s sails catching wind in mid-motion) to represent the three Villar children. The tree is made out of water hyacinth, meticulously hand-woven by the artisans S. C. Vizcarra.

The Villar family, with strong familial roots, has been staunch supporters of the cleaning of Philippine waterways. They have encouraged the use of water hyacinth as raw materials to generate livelihood opportunities. And, through the Villar Foundation, they are supporting a new livelihood project that will set up a handmade paper factory using recycled paper and water lily stalks as raw materials.

To be sure, on Dec. 13, the Villar family will gather around their tree — but it will be the patriarch, Manny, opening gifts with his family watching by, because that is his birthday. Happy birthday, Manny.

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One of the guidelines the United Arab Emirates founder, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, adopted is the appreciation of foreign expatriates’ contribution to the country’s physical development. As of mid-2011, the total population of the country had reached around 8.25 million, with only around 11.5 percent of those being Emirati citizens. It is estimated that there are 400,000 Filipinos working in the country’s service sector. Many of the nationals, including university graduates, find it difficult to secure suitable employment, particularly in the private sector. To address this issue, Sheikh Khalifa, UAE president, has issued instructions that further attention is to be paid to the need to promote “Emiratisation” — the employment of UAE citizens in all sectors of the economy. The process does not affect foreign workers already in the country, but will limit the number of  applicants in the near future. We met many Filipinos in our six-day sojourn in Abu Dhabi and Dubai last week. It was like everywhere we turned there were Filipinos, working as chefs, bartenders, waiters and waitresses, sales persons, security guards and construction workers. At the Yas Viceroy Hotel in Abu Dhabi, one of the charming Pinay food servers is Shella Pelonio, who finished the commerce course at the Bukidnon State College. At the Women’s Union exhibition hall we met Jun Palencia, a fashion designer from New York, Quezon City, who is chief designer at the Hotoon Haute Couture Textiles. Jun said designers are respected in the city; he earns about P70,000 a month, but he would still like to return to the Philippines. In the exhibition hall, we met saleswomen employed by garments manufacturers, among them Rosalie Fernandez, Quezon City; Anna Lou Urquiza of Surigao del Sur; Cristina Cerilla of Louisiana, Quezon; Edna Tuazon and Sally M. Manalo, Laguna; Hermie B. Guerra, Bulacan; and Arlene Caballero, Davao City. At the Abu Dhabi mall we had chats with sales girls Evangeline Aglima of Taguig, and Jean Sinuto of Zamboanga. I am mentioning their names upon their request. I’ll add a couple more names in a later column.

These OFWs enjoy better pay than at home, are happy together when they hold parties, but wish they were back home. They’re the fortunate ones; other workers are not so, doing jobs not as domestic help specified in their contracts (as raising chickens in the farms), and being treated not so nicely by employers and their children.

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