P’que forms Task Force Manila Bay; Clean Manila Bay soon?

In compliance to the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (R.A. 9003); Supreme Court Mandamus G.R. 171947-48; and pertinent DILG directives, the City Government of Parañaque under the administration of Mayor Florencio Bernabe, Jr. formed the Parañaque City Task Force for Manila Bay Clean-up, Preservation and Rehabilitation.
 
     R.A. 9003 mandates all LGUs to adopt a systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid waste management program while the Supreme Court writ directs city and municipal governments to clean-up, rehabilitate and preserve the rivers and all tributaries in their territorial jurisdictions that eventually discharge water into Manila Bay.
 
     In the recent task force orientation/meeting coordinated by the DILG Parañaque Office, priorities were set, among them the inspection of factories, commercial establishments and private homes along the Parañaque River and waterways in the city based on the rationale that the waste water and solid waste these firms and households generate despoil our river system, pollute our seas and destroy marine life and at the same time, pose health hazards to the community and citizenry.
 
     As initial measure, the City Planning Office prepared a consolidated list and General information System map of factories, commercial establishments and private homes as provided by the Assessor’s Office, Business Permits and Licensing Office, Urban Mission Areas Development Office and the Electronic  Data Processing Office which will be used by the inspection team.
 
     Also, the City Environment and Natural Resources/Solid Waste and Environmental Sanitation Office (CENRO/SWAESO) started a complementary program where survey forms are mailed to factories, commercial establishments and private homes to study their waste characteristics.  The study intends to find out the quantity  and composition of waste generated in each sector.  The first batch of survey forms have already been sent to restaurants and the data collected will be used for the City’s Solid Waste Management 10-Year Plan.
 
     In a related development, officials and employees of the Parañaque LGU and various barangay government units (BGU), joined by residents participated in the Parañaque River Clean-up which has been slated for Saturday, July 23, 2011 and every two weeks thereafter as part of the synchronized clean-up drive of all major and minor river systems, waterways and creeks all over Metro Manila and Regions III and IV-A as ordered by the Dept. of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
 
     Meanwhile, the one week massive clean-up drive in Barangay Tambo, this city under the Lingap sa Barangay-Parañaque Ko, Love Ko! Program unfolded on Friday, July 22, 2011. The combined teams of MMDA, P’que LGU and BGU personnel pruned/trimmed roadside trees; hauled construction debris and spoils; bundled aerial cables; removed road and sidewalk obstructions, illegally placed posters and tarpaulins; de-clogged drainages and waterways; mowed grass;  and conducted (anti-dengue) misting operations in public schools in the said barangay. For its awareness campaign, the group distributed fliers on dengue prevention and disaster preparedness, as well as the government’s anti-littering campaign and anti-smoking ban.