DENR workers to do daily Bay cleanup
Credit to Author: Eireene Jairee Gomez| Date: Sun, 05 Jan 2020 16:11:49 +0000
Officials and employees of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will conduct daily cleanup activities at Manila’s Baywalk area and Baseco beach as part of the rehabilitation of Manila Bay.
“I want DENR personnel to be out there, cleaning daily and those with desk jobs to experience how it is to work in the field,” Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu told department workers during his traditional “New Year’s Call” at the DENR Central Office in Quezon City last Friday.
Cimatu’s directive was addressed particularly to those holding office at the DENR’s central and regional offices within the Manila Bay region, including bureaus and attached agencies.
Cimatu said he wanted department personnel to become “more visible” in the bay’s rehabilitation this year.
“For the year 2020, I am confident that we will again prove to the Filipino people that indeed there is a department that takes care of their environment and natural resources,” he said.
In line with Cimatu’s order, DENR Undersecretary for Priority Programs and Field Operations-Luzon and Manila Bay Task Force Ground Commander Juan Miguel Cuna issued a memorandum assigning teams for the clean-up effort.
Under the memorandum, 150 DENR workers will be deployed to the Baywalk and Baseco beach every day, except on January 9, when the annual procession of the Black Nazarene will be held.
Assistant Secretaries Ricardo Calderon and Corazon Davis will lead employees from the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) and Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) in the cleanup drive scheduled on January 6.
FMB and BMB workers are also assigned to clean the area on January 7. They will be supervised by Assistant Directors Armida Andres and Edna Nuestro.
Meanwhile, on January 8, Cuna and Assistant Secretary Gilbert Gonzales will supervise the groups from FMB and the National Water Resources Board (NWRB).
Employees from the DENR Central Office and the Land Management Bureau will do the cleanup on January 10, with Assistant Secretary Joselin Marcus Fragada and NWRB Executive Director Sevillo David Jr. as supervising officials.
Cimatu has also directed the DENR-National Capital Region and its four field offices to plan for the succeeding weeks of the cleanup.
In his New Year’s call, Cimatu said he was banking on the “bottomless support” from all DENR officials and employees as they begin a more challenging year in terms of restoring Manila Bay.
Cimatu said much has been achieved since the Manila Bay rehabilitation kicked off in January last year, but more needs to be done to make the bay fit again for swimming and other forms of recreation.