MARILAO, Bulacan – Local government officials from Bulacan and Metro Manila joined hands on Friday and signed a declaration of commitment for the restoration of the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS).
This came two years after the MMORS was included in the list of 30 dirtiest places in the world by New York-based Blacksmith Institute, and more than a year after Environment Secretary Lito Atienza placed the said river system under Water Quality Management Area (WQMA).
Aimed at restoring and rehabilitating the heavily polluted river system, the MMORS declaration was signed by local officials from Bulacan led by Gov. Joselito Mendoza; and from the cities of Valenzuela and Caloocan, and by Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change.
The signing of declaration was preceded by massive clean up drive on the Marilao River. This was marked by the participation of volunteers from the cities of Valenzuela and Caloocan who were earlier blamed for dumping garbage on the river upstream and a public consultation on climate change which was presided by Legarda.
Officials said that the new declaration is parallel to Atienza’s WQMA, but noted their impatience over Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) inaction on WQMA despite pledges of financial support from the provincial government of Bulacan and other non-governmental organizations (NGO).
“This is LGU initiated and we hope it will work this time,” Mendoza said.
He said that DENR’s inaction over the creation of WQMA led them to come up with the new initiative.
Mendoza said that rehabilitation of the MMORS cannot wait for the DENR’s moves. He added that they conducted a number of consultative meetings on WQMA but DENR decision makers failed to come.
With regards to pollution on MMORS, he said that water quality has improved based on recent tests conducted by Blacksmith Institute.
“Mas maganda na ang water quality ngayon. Sabi ng Blacksmith bumaba na yung heavy metal traces sa tubig. Yung solid waste na lang ang problema natin,” Mendoza said.
In the past, Marilao Mayor Epifanio Guillermo along with Mendoza blamed city government of Caloocan and Valenzuela for failure to implement solid waste management.
They said that residents of the cities of Caloocan and Valenzuela living on the upstream of the river dumped their garbage on the river that led to the clogging of Prenza Dam here which was described last April by Atienza as a “dumpsite” and not a river.
For her part, Legarda recognized the initiatives of the LGUs saying rehabilitation of the MMORS requires concerted effort.
She said that it is clear that MMORS has become the catch basin of garbage.
“Garbage dumped to the Marilao River has not only contributed to its pollution but also on the flooding during the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy,” Legarda said and stressed the need to preserve the environment.
This came two years after the MMORS was included in the list of 30 dirtiest places in the world by New York-based Blacksmith Institute, and more than a year after Environment Secretary Lito Atienza placed the said river system under Water Quality Management Area (WQMA).
Aimed at restoring and rehabilitating the heavily polluted river system, the MMORS declaration was signed by local officials from Bulacan led by Gov. Joselito Mendoza; and from the cities of Valenzuela and Caloocan, and by Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change.
The signing of declaration was preceded by massive clean up drive on the Marilao River. This was marked by the participation of volunteers from the cities of Valenzuela and Caloocan who were earlier blamed for dumping garbage on the river upstream and a public consultation on climate change which was presided by Legarda.
Officials said that the new declaration is parallel to Atienza’s WQMA, but noted their impatience over Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) inaction on WQMA despite pledges of financial support from the provincial government of Bulacan and other non-governmental organizations (NGO).
“This is LGU initiated and we hope it will work this time,” Mendoza said.
He said that DENR’s inaction over the creation of WQMA led them to come up with the new initiative.
Mendoza said that rehabilitation of the MMORS cannot wait for the DENR’s moves. He added that they conducted a number of consultative meetings on WQMA but DENR decision makers failed to come.
With regards to pollution on MMORS, he said that water quality has improved based on recent tests conducted by Blacksmith Institute.
“Mas maganda na ang water quality ngayon. Sabi ng Blacksmith bumaba na yung heavy metal traces sa tubig. Yung solid waste na lang ang problema natin,” Mendoza said.
In the past, Marilao Mayor Epifanio Guillermo along with Mendoza blamed city government of Caloocan and Valenzuela for failure to implement solid waste management.
They said that residents of the cities of Caloocan and Valenzuela living on the upstream of the river dumped their garbage on the river that led to the clogging of Prenza Dam here which was described last April by Atienza as a “dumpsite” and not a river.
For her part, Legarda recognized the initiatives of the LGUs saying rehabilitation of the MMORS requires concerted effort.
She said that it is clear that MMORS has become the catch basin of garbage.
“Garbage dumped to the Marilao River has not only contributed to its pollution but also on the flooding during the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy,” Legarda said and stressed the need to preserve the environment.
