By JOB REALUBIT
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said that of the country’s
421 major rivers and 20 river basins, 50 are almost totally degraded while the
rest are affected by partial degradation due to man’s neglect to protect them.
The Environment chief bared the sad state of the country’s
bodies waters during a forum on Philippine rivers at the DENR office in Diliman,
Quezon City where he enjoined everybody and as well as the different sectors of
society to work together in cleaning up all rivers, lakes, streams and all areas
where water freely flows.
"Naiintindihan natin na ang tubig ay isang yaman at buhay,
ngunit marami sa ating mga kababayan ay hindi ganun ang pananaw hanggang sa
ngayon. Para bagang napakabagal ang pagtanggap ng mga Pilipino sa
pangangailangan sa pagprotekta at paglilinis ng ating mga ilog," Atienza said.
"We have to work together and do something in order to
benefit from our bodies of water to attract development that is sustainable for
our economy and our future," Atienza added.
During the forum, the DENR and the ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc.-Bantay
Kalikasan (AFI/BK), represented by its managing director Regina Paz L. Lopez,
signed a memorandum of understanding for the rehabilitation and development of
all river basins nationwide starting with the Metro Manila River Basin.
The Metro Manila river basin includes Manila Bay, Laguna Lake
and Pasig River.
The DENR chief said the project will not only concentrate on
the restoration of Pasig River but also on the restoration of both Laguna de Bay
and Manila Bay because the waters coming from the two bays flow into the Pasig
River.
"We have really to attend to the restoration of these three
branches of waters to full health and make them fully beneficial to all of us
because development can be sustained and economic gains attained if our bodies
of water are finally restored to its pure, clear and pristine original water,"
Atienza said.
Under the MOU, DENR and AFI/BK vowed to work together to
undertake activities aimed at improving the water quality of the river basin to
the Class "C" level.
Atienza said Class "C" water quality can be used as fishery
water for the propagation and growth of fish and other aquatic resources, as
recreational water class II for boating, among others, and as industrial water
supply class I for manufacturing processes after treatment.
The DENR and AFI/BK also agreed to work together to clear and
protect the river basins’ easements or embankments, to resettle all informal
dwellers in the area, to implement ecological urban planning and to improve the
water navigation in the area.
The DENR and AFI/BK, under the agreement, also vowed to
coordinate with other concerned agencies in an effort to reduce and abate
pollution in all the rivers utilizing community participation, to appropriate
available technologies and to improve enforcement and monitoring.
Atienza also said that DENR and AFI/BK will implement a strong tri-media
advocacy program in order to stress the importance of clean water as a resource
and ecological management of wastewater.
