Blame Maynilad, Manila Water that Manila Bay is a 'gigantic septic tank' - Atienza
Published Jan 27, 2019 01:10 pm
By Ellson Quismorio
BUHAY Party-List Rep. Lito Atienza is calling for appropriate action from water utilities Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. even as he called the famous Manila Bay a "gigantic septic tank."
Buhay Partylist Rep. Lito Atienza
(Russell Palma / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) “Up to now, everybody is in denial of the fact that pretty much all of Metro Manila’s raw and untreated domestic wastewater, mainly fecal sewage, still gets flushed down the toilet that is Manila Bay,” Atienza, a three-term former mayor of the city, said on Sunday. The congressman made the bold statement on the day the government officially launched the campaign to rehabilitate Manila Bay. According to him, the "Battle for Manila Bay" is lost unless the two water concessionaires are compelled to address the matter. “If the administration is really determined to clean up and renew the bay once and for all, then Malacañang should move to compel the two private water concessionaires in Metro Manila to deliver the sewage treatment facilities that they were supposed to build and operate a long time ago,” said Atienza, who is also a former Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources. “President Rodrigo Duterte is in an excellent position to use his executive powers to coerce compliance – so that both Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. will finally provide adequate sewage treatment plants,” he stressed. Both water suppliers are supposed to collect and then decontaminate Metro Manila’s raw sewage, according to the Senior Deputy Minority Leader. “But the problem is, after raking in billions of pesos in sanitation fees from water consumers over the years, both firms have managed to put up only small sewage treatment plants, mainly for show – so they can make it appear they are complaint,” Atienza said. Sewage treatment is the process of filtering and purifying municipal wastewater generated by households plus commercial and industrial establishments. It involves the use of physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove contaminants so that the treated water or effluent can be safely recycled or released back into the environment.
Buhay Partylist Rep. Lito Atienza(Russell Palma / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) “Up to now, everybody is in denial of the fact that pretty much all of Metro Manila’s raw and untreated domestic wastewater, mainly fecal sewage, still gets flushed down the toilet that is Manila Bay,” Atienza, a three-term former mayor of the city, said on Sunday. The congressman made the bold statement on the day the government officially launched the campaign to rehabilitate Manila Bay. According to him, the "Battle for Manila Bay" is lost unless the two water concessionaires are compelled to address the matter. “If the administration is really determined to clean up and renew the bay once and for all, then Malacañang should move to compel the two private water concessionaires in Metro Manila to deliver the sewage treatment facilities that they were supposed to build and operate a long time ago,” said Atienza, who is also a former Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources. “President Rodrigo Duterte is in an excellent position to use his executive powers to coerce compliance – so that both Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. will finally provide adequate sewage treatment plants,” he stressed. Both water suppliers are supposed to collect and then decontaminate Metro Manila’s raw sewage, according to the Senior Deputy Minority Leader. “But the problem is, after raking in billions of pesos in sanitation fees from water consumers over the years, both firms have managed to put up only small sewage treatment plants, mainly for show – so they can make it appear they are complaint,” Atienza said. Sewage treatment is the process of filtering and purifying municipal wastewater generated by households plus commercial and industrial establishments. It involves the use of physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove contaminants so that the treated water or effluent can be safely recycled or released back into the environment.