MANILA - Concerned residents of Manila on Monday urged the Supreme Court to hold in contempt of court the heads of various government agencies who have yet to comply with its order to immediately undertake the clean-up of Manila Bay.

In an 11-page urgent motion, the group through lawyer Antonio Oposa, Jr. noted that since the High Tribunal issued its decision on December 18, 2008, the government agencies concerned except the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) have not submitted their respective reports in compliance with the Court’s order.

“To show to the world, and to all sundry, that the Honorable Court is truly committed, it must wield, if necessary, its powers of enforcement by citing the heads of these non-compliant government agencies in contempt of court. Their failure, refusal, or neglect to file the required reports despite the lapse of unreasonably long period of time is totally unacceptable,” Oposa said.

Among the heads of the government agencies that Oposa is seeking to be cited in contempt are Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Department of Health (DOH)  Francisco Duque,  Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) head Jojo Allado and the heads of the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Ports Authority and Philippine National Police-Maritime Police.

The said agencies are also tasked to each submit a quarterly progressive report of the activities undertaken in connection with the ruling.

In an interview, Oposa said the motion is an offshoot of a landmark case he filed 10 years ago and which he won last December 2008.

In its December 2008 ruling, the Supreme Court tasked the DENR, being the primary government agency responsible for the protection of environment, to fully implement its Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy for the rehabilitation and conservation of the Manila Bay the soonest possible time.

"It has been more than 200 days since the court decision and to their credit only two government agencies have submitted their reports to the court. These are the MMDA and DENR. The rest have simply ignored it or neglected to do it because they ar probably too busy campaigning," Oposa told ANC.

Oposa, who is a recipient of the 2009 Ramon Magsaysay Award, said he is filing the motion before the 2010 elections since many of the agencies concerned will probably have new leadership by next year.

"The point I am trying to drive at is that to the people who are in power, in the next few months they are going to be gone. Many will be running for office or they will be changed. I say, while you guys are stll in power, do something naman. After all, we pay your salaries," he said.

DOH defends record

Health Secretary Francisco Duque, meanwhile, said his department has complied with the Supreme Court order and filed his report with the DENR. "We did send our quarterly report as ordered by the Supreme Court. We submitted it to the chair of the task force, which is the DENR and the DENR's duty is to report what the agencies are doing. We submitted it May 5 after finishing it April 17," he said in a separate interview.

He said among the DOH's actions was a February 2009 memo ordering regional health officers to monitor compliance of large corporations with government sanitation code requirements.  He said the DOH also met sanitation officials and septic tank dislodging operators in Metro Manila last March to discuss collection, handling, treatment and disposal of domestic sludge.

He said the DENR had already submitted the consolidated report to the Supreme Court. "The public health threat of a very dirty Manila Bay is so compelling. With or without the Supreme Court decision, we have been doing our job of being vanguards of the public health," he said.

Earlier, DENR Secretary Lito Atienza said it may take more than 10 years to fully restore the Manila Bay.

Aside from sanitation, the Supreme Court order also required government agencies to dismantle  and remove all shanties and illegal structures put up along the Pasig-Marikina-San Juan rivers, the Paranaque-Zapoter, Las Pinas rivers, the Navotas-Malabon-Tullahan-Tenejeros rivers, and connecting waterways in Metro Manila.

The destruction of illegal structures along the Meycauayan-Marilao-Obando rivers, the Talisay River, the Imus River, the Laguna de Bay, and other rivers, connecting, waterways and esteros that discharge wastewater into the Manila Bay should also be undertaken, according to the SC.

The DILG is also enjoined to direct all LGUs in Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan to inspect all factories, commercial establishments, and private homes along the banks of the major river systems in their respective areas of jurisdiction.

The SC said sanctions should be imposed against factories that will refuse to comply with existing laws requiring the installation of wastewater treatment facilities or hygienic septic tanks.

The Court also mandated the MMDA to apprehend and file necessary criminal charges against violators of penal provisions and other existing laws on pollution.

“The importance of the Manila Bay as a sea resource, playground, and as a historical landmark cannot be over-emphasized. It is not yet too late in the day to restore the Manila Bay to its former splendor and bring back the plants and sea life that once thrived in its blue waters,” the Court said.

Pending motions

In an interview, SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez noted that under the principles of the procedure, the Court’s decision had already become final and executory since the said government agencies did not file a motion for reconsideration of the decision ordering them to conduct joint efforts to clean-up the waters of Manila Bay so that it would be fit for swimming, skin-diving and other forms of recreation.

But, Marquez acknowledged that there are other pending motions in relation to the Court’s decision penned by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco which have yet to be resolved by the Court.

One of these motions was filed by the Pambansang Lakas ng mga Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and Anakpawis Partylist and several urban poor groups.

They insisted that the structures they have put up in Manila Bay were not the source of pollution or contamination of its waters but the source of their livelihood.

 The groups asked the SC to issue a cease and desist order preventing the DENR from dismantling their houses and destroying their fish-pens in the Manila Bay.
         
The petitioners assailed the demolition of their structures by MMDA personnel without prior notice.

They further noted that the SC decision made pronouncements only as to the authority of the MMDA to conduct clearing operations along the waterways but failed to tackle the safeguards and procedures clearly laid down under Section 28 of R.A. 7279 or    An Act To Provide For A Comprehensive and Continuing Urban Development.

Oposa noted that the motions and requests for clarification of some groups on the SC ruling  are irrelevant considering that they are not original parties to the proceedings of the case and the issues they raised have nothing to do with the issues resolved in the main case.

He stressed that their motions for intervention and clarification should not stop the running of the period for the finality of the decision.

On the other hand, Marquez said Velasco will discuss the issue before the en banc to determine whether there is a need to issue a clarification.

Marquez has been appointed as vice-chair of the advisory committee created by the Court to receive, review and validate the reports submitted by the government agencies on their compliance with the decision of the SC.

Velasco acts as the chairperson of the committee with former DENR Secretary Elisea Gozun, former DENR Undersecretary and current Dean of the Ateneo School Government Antonio G.M. La Viña, and the former Director of the UP-Marine Science Institute Dr. Gil Jacinto as members.