Cimatu orders water concessionaires to work together in cleaning up Boracay’s waters

Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has ordered Boracay’s two water concessionaires to work together in cleaning up the wastewater being discharged into the sea and help solve the “cesspool” problem.

This, even as he ordered an investigation on what caused a spike in coliform levels in Bulabog beach, days after reporting in a Cabinet meeting that a “significantly decreasing trend” of colifom occurrence has been observed in the same area.

“That was a bright spot in our efforts. We were able to decrease it to 2,000 [most probable number per 100 milliliters] after a trend of millions over the past two years. And then here comes the shocking report that it has again reached two million,” Cimatu recounted during the meeting with the water concessionaires. 

This, he said, prompted him to order intensified actions against establishments illegally connected to the drainage system.

In separate meetings with the Boracay Island Water Company (BIWC) and the Boracay Tubi Systems Inc. (BTSI), Cimatu instructed both companies to improve connections to the sewer and drainage lines.

“This task is crucial to improving Boracay’s water quality, and is instrumental for us to recommend the reopening of the island,” he said.

His marching orders to the two concessionaires: “Any kind of water that is being discharged into the sea should be treated first.”

“We should not have reached this stage where we need to have Boracay closed if we had [worked together] sooner. We have to clean the drainage system now. We also have to make people responsible for the discharge, whether they are connected or not, because this is what is causing the problem,” he stressed.

He assured both companies of the support from the DENR and the Department of Public Works and Highways, which was represented during the meetings, and promised to sign the necessary permits or clearances.

            “The bottom line of the closure is because of the ‘cesspool’ problem. Our goal is to have Boracay known as having one of the cleanest waters in the world,” he stressed.

            The DENR secretary met with the companies on Tuesday after a visit to the BWIC’s treatment facilities, where he was accompanied by Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores and other DENR officials.  

He said he was pleased to observe clearer discharge water during a visit to the BWIC’s treatment facilities, and discussed other possible actions to fast track the cleanup of wastewater being discharged into the sea.

The BWIC agreed to set up interceptors that would trap any water from the drainage system and treat the water first before being discharged into the sea.

As for BTSI, Cimatu tasked the company to clean up the water around its facility in Sitio Lugotan in Barangay Manoc-Manoc and revive the mangrove forest in the area.

He also lauded BTSI’s proposal to sponsor a water quality management area where stakeholders themselves would monitor the quality of a water body and initiate efforts to maintain its cleanliness.

                 BTSI President James Molina expressed all-out support to the government’s effort to  transform Boracay “from cesspool to successful”. ###

DENR press releases and other news/feature articles are posted at the DENR website: www.denr.gov.ph. For queries/comments, write: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cimatu to new BMB chief: Bring puka shells back to Boracay

The lead agency tasked to conserve the country’s rich biological diversity has a new chief and Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu wants her to immediately get on board government efforts to rehabilitate the pollution-challenged Boracay Island.

 Crisanta Marlene Rodriguez officially took the helm at the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) from Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim, who is transferring to the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity as its new executive director. BMB is a staff bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

 During the recent turnover ceremony, Cimatu gave Rodriguez marching orders to take an active role in bringing back to its pristine state the island first known for the rare puka shells.

 “We have a mission in Boracay. My challenge to you now is to bring back the puka shells. The Filipino people from the whole country will be watching you,” Cimatu told Rodriguez.

 “We should show to the Filipino people that we would finish what we have started,” said Cimatu, who was earlier tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte to clean up Boracay which he described as a “cesspool” due to environmental damage.

 Cimatu has just announced the establishment of a 750-hectare critical habitat for threatened species within the world-famous resort island. The undertaking is part of the grand plan to restore Boracay’s pristine waters, lush green forests and wetlands.

 In response, Rodriguez said she was ready to take on the challenge. “The Boracay issue is only the tip of the iceberg, and though the task remains to be Sisyphean, it is one task that we will continue to undertake simply because it is what needs to be done,” she said.

 “Public opinion and perception of our work prepared us. But forge on, we must, for though it may be bloody, we shall remain unbowed,” she added.

 Prior to becoming BMB head, Rodriguez served as director of DENR’s Region 5 office. A forester by profession after graduating from Bicol State University, she also served as a Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer.

 Meanwhile, Cimatu commended Lim for her hard work and dedication in the more than two decades she spent at the DENR, 15 years of which as head of the BMB, formerly the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau.

 During her service, Lim earned accolades for her excellent work in government service and natural sciences.

Lim, in return, thanked Cimatu “for inspiring the BMB to become the best in just eleven months.”

 “It is under Secretary Cimatu’s watch that we can unleash the true value of our protected areas, for helping facilitate the passage of the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act or E-NIPAS, and for the successful hosting of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species,” Lim said. ###

DENR press releases and other news/feature articles are posted at the DENR website: www.denr.gov.ph. For queries/comments, write: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

14 establishments asked to leave Puerto Galera easement zone

Moving on with its cleanup of major tourist destinations in the region, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources MIMAROPA on Friday served 14 establishments with notices to vacate and to remove voluntarily the structures they have built on easement zones in Sabang and White Beach, two popular beaches in Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro.

DENR MIMRAROPA Assistant Regional Director and Task Force Galera Chair Dr Vicente Tuddao, Jr.  personally served the notices to Tina's Sunset Cottages, Restaurant & Dive Center, Ocean Dream Lodge, Paradise Dive Zone Resort, Corp., Pink & Black Lodging House, Montani Beach Resort, Sabang Inn, Sabang Divers, Mangosteen Restaurant , Dive Dojo, Mermaid Resort Charletan, Inc., Modem Development Company Inc., Captn Gregg, Eddie's Place Bar & Restautant, Marginor Diner & Snack, and I Dive at Casa Mia.

Except for Marginor Diner & Snack and I Dive at Casa Mia which are in Barangay San Isidro, the rest are in Barangay Sabang.

 The establishments were given 30 days to comply.

“We hope they will be responsible enough to remove the structures they have built on easement zones within that period.  The sooner we can start the rehabilitation of Sabang and White Beach, the better,” Tuddao said.

Apart from clearing up the three-meter easement zone, Task Force Galera also inspected establishments for compliance to environmental regulations such as securing discharge permit, environmental compliance certificate, permit to operate, hazardous waste registration, compliance to solid waste segregation, and having a Pollution Control Officer.

The absence of proper wastewater disposal facility, aggravated by overcrowding of structures along the beaches, is seen as a major source of coliform contamination of Sabang and White Beach. Water quality tests in five sampling stations in Puerto Galera from 2009 to 2017 show high fecal coliform levels.

DENR MIMAROPA Regional Director Natividad Bernardino said notices of violations shall also be served in the coming days to establishments found violating environmental rules.

Bernardino said she hopes people appreciates what DENR is doing is for the long-term good of everyone. “Who would want to visit Puerto Galera in the future if its beaches has become too dirty and hazardous to swim in?” she asks.

Bernardino adds that DENR is trying to rehabilitate Puerto Galera not only for tourism but also for scientific researches.

In 1977, Puerto Galera was declared Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO , an international recognition that it is a model of sustainable development which provides “living observatories.” In 2014, however, UNESCO almost strip Puerto Galera of this recognition after it concluded that the town did not meet the criteria. It was only in July 2017 that the status was affirmed after the local government submitted an Integrated Management Plan. ###

DENR press releases and other news/feature articles are posted at the DENR website: www.denr.gov.ph. For queries/comments, write: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.