Saving Manila Bay

During my brief visits in Manila (having taken up residence in Gingoog City, Mis. Or. for sometime now), I saw the amazing transformation of the filthy Manila Bay shoreline into something clean and trash-free, its water seemingly swimmable and fresh-looking. The government and private efforts to clean up the once eulogized bay as having the most beautiful sunset, have indeed yielded healthy results.

The rehabilitation work continues. Rehabilitating Manila Bay has been, and continues to be, according to Manila Yacht Club (MYC) Commodore Robert Lim Joseph, a formidable task. To date, Joseph said, the waste collectors have amassed 27,000 tons of garbage. “They will collect around 30,000 tons more from October to December,” said Joseph. “This is 60 years of accumulated waste.”

There is a big kink that needs to be ironed out to make the bay truly the bay of dreams.

That is lack of enthusiastic cooperation. Joseph and Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza are urging the two water concessionaires – Maynilad and Manila Water – to do their part in rehabilitating Manila Bay by complying with Republic Act 9275 or the Clean Water Act of 2004.

The bay’s rehabilitation kicked off last January, after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) accepted the challenge to rehabilitate and restore the bay’s coastal and marine ecosystems.

“Since we raised this issue with the help of media from Nov. 17 to Dec. 14 last year, DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu reacted that he would take up the challenge,” said Commodore Joseph during the Save Manila Bay project lunch-conference two months earlier, on Sept. 6, at the MYC.

Atienza and Joseph discussed strategies and issues on the project during the conference. They claimed the water concessionaires should address the problem by providing sewage facilities.

“DENR cannot solve this issue without the water companies speeding up the construction of the sewage treatment plant,” said Joseph.

“We need to divert all the sewage going into the bay,” Atienza explained. “Otherwise, there’s no way we can save Manila Bay.”

According to Atienza the sewage from establishments and residences on the boulevard must be diverted to the sewerage treatment plant. He explained the water concessionaires collect an environmental fee from the consumers.

“Every month, when you pay your water bill, 20 percent of that is supposedly for the cleaning of our wastewater.”

If this was done, then the water going to Manila Bay should have been clear water and without stench.

“They’ve been collecting what they used to call sewage fee – now environmental fee, since 1997. It’s been 22 years!” Atienza exclaimed.

Joseph said Atienza, former DENR secretary, made a call to the two water concessionaires to comply with the Clean Water Act. Last month, the Supreme Court (SC) held the water firms accountable and fined them almost P1 billion each. The SC’s ruling imposed a daily fine of P322,102 until they comply with the ruling.

The efforts of Manila Yacht Club, Bobby Joseph, the environmentalists, the DENR, and Secretary Cimatu will go nowhere unless the two water companies do their part and expedite the provision of sewerage services for its customers, said Atienza.

Joseph emphasized that the Save Manila Bay project is not only about water. “It’s about our culture, our history, even our fisherfolk too. In our history, we have had a lot of battles here.”

Atienza also recalled that Manila Bay used to pride itself as the most beautiful bay in the world. “The architect of Manila was Daniel Burnham, an American architect who designed Chicago and Washington. The US government commissioned him to come here and design the development of Manila Bay and the city of Manila. When Daniel Burnham saw the shoreline of Manila Bay, with white sand and clear water, he said: ‘I have just witnessed the most beautiful shoreline in the world!’”

“What have we done?” Atienza turned emotional. “We destroyed it! People don’t know how to take care of their economic gain. The good thing now is that people are doing something about it.”

* * * Two outstanding Filipino short films were honored last Sunday at the third annual Viddsee Julee Awards Philippines, an annual industry pick award celebrating best short films from the Philippines.

“Santa Nena!” won the gold award for its creator, Tim Rone Villanueva. The film is a satire about a patron saint statue that springs to life, and is commanded by God to bear the Messiah with Manuel, a heartbroken boy. The film, made while Tim was a student at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, received numerous accolades, including honorable mention for Best Students’ short film at the California International Film Festival X Davis Chinese Film Festival, 20-18, and Best Short Film (Student Category) at the CineFilipino Film Festival the same year.

Tim said, “In making this film, I wanted to tell the story of my hometown in Kawit, about God, religion and faith. Santa Nena! is about human desires, and how it leads to chaos and how it has its own cunning ways to know our weakest spots.”

The jury cited “Santa Nena!” as a socio-religious satire that “hits us with the power of a freight train controlled by John Waters. With a kaleidoscopic and very biting point of view, (it) hits all the right marks in spoofing telenovelas and religiosity with the hormone-fueled zaniness of teen sex comedies to paint a hilarious, at times cringe-worthy, provocative take on cultural constraints.”

The silver award went to Phyllis Grae Grande’s “If Not (Kun ‘Di Man”), a film revolving around two blind street singers whose partnership goes beyond music.

Lynn Anna Maria Lim received a special mention for “The Sound of Silence,” a drama about a sex slave who tries to escape her captor. The story was inspired by historical heroines Gabriela Silang, Melchora Aquino and Josefa Llanes Escoda.

An Audience Choice Award went to “The Pieces of Gone Dreams” by Cyrus Kim Balasabas following a public voting period from Sept. 2-12.

The winners were picked from among ten films submitted to the Viddsee Juree Awards Philippines. The jury consisted of Anderson Le, artistic director for the Hawaii International Film Festival; Baby Ruth Villarama, established Filipino producer and film director, and Lucky Kuswandi, one of Indonesia’s most exciting young directors.

Villanueva received a film production grant worth P160,000, and Grande, P80,000. Both received a glittering array of prizes.

Luigene Yanoria, Viddsee’ community manager says, “This year’s entries showcase what Filipino filmmakers are capable of in making films that resonate with audiences in new and surprising ways. It was encouraging to see a diverse range of filmmakers – many of them who are still new to the industry – approach their subjects with a deep sense of care, maturity, and attention to craft.”

Viddsee Juree Awards (‘Juree’) is an annual industry pick award celebrating best short films from Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. In each edition, the countries’ brightest talents and storytellers submit their films to a panel of international judges who will then handpick the winning entries.

Viddsee is also a leading video entertainment platform for short premium content. With over 1 billion views powered by data insights and a trusted community, storytellers are empowered by enabling the creation of films and amplifying stories to targeted audiences.

The annual Juree Awards initiative debuted in Indonesia in 2016, and expanded to include the Philippines in 2017, and Singapore in 2018.

The public can watch all nominated and other out-of-competition films for free on