95 towns, cities broke environment laws – DILG

A total of 95 towns and cities within the Manila Bay watershed area have not complied with environmental laws, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said yesterday.

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said the number comprises 53 percent of the 178 local government units (LGUs) from Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), according to the assessments and on-site inspections by their regional-interagency committee in 2018.

Of the 95 LGUs, 56 are from Central Luzon followed by 37 from Calabarzon and two in the National Capital Region. Año did not reply when asked which two LGUs in Metro Manila are noncompliant.

The LGUs, Año said, failed to hit the indicators gauging their compliance with existing environmental laws, with 16 having the worst problems.

“Based on our assessment, we still have a lot of work to do, and we intend to start with these 16 LGUs as we go along assisting all of 178. We will help them,” he said in a statement.

While they are not in the habit of pointing fingers on who are responsible for the environmental woes at Manila Bay, Año warned local chief executives to shape up or they will not hesitate to file administrative complaints against them before the Office of the Ombudsman or even straight to President Duterte.

Año says that depending on the assessment, the DILG can extend the provision of capacity development, workshops, coaching and mentoring, among others, to ensure that the LGUs are fully capable of exercising their mandates.

He underscored the need for the DILG continue with its stringent monitoring of LGUs for the cleanup and rehabilitation of the Manila Bay is sustained.

Año also urged LGUs to pass ordinances that will ensure that commercial establishments without environmental compliance certificates will not be allowed to operate.