Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has lauded the efforts of the Dynamic Art Group for organizing an art exhibit in support of the ongoing rehabilitation of the highly polluted Manila Bay.

The exhibit, which ran from June 18 to July 27 at The Gallery of Solaire Resort and Casino in Parañaque City, features paintings of the historic bay during its glory days or long before the government decided to place it on rehabilitation due to serious environmental degradation.

“Through this exhibit, we are reminded about the glory of Manila Bay back during the days so that we may focus on the goal of sustaining the same thing for the next generations,” Cimatu said.

The paintings were created by artists Vic Bachoco, Esther Garcia, Maxi Ramos, Jun Rocha, August Santiago, Fernando Sena, Fritz Silorio, Bing Siochi, Ely Tablizo, and Myk Velasco.

DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and LGU Concerns Benny D. Antiporda, who delivered a speech during the opening of the exhibit, emphasized that cleaning Manila Bay also aims to clean the culture of the Filipino people.

“It is the next generation who will suffer with what we are doing, and that, we will not permit,” Antiporda said.

He added: “When we started this project, people thought we were crazy, and yet we succeeded [with Boracay]. And now, Boracay is too small of a project compared with Manila Bay. Now, if we will succeed here in Manila Bay, Manila Bay will be too small of a project if we clean up the whole country.”

Paintings that are displayed in the exhibit include the Manila Bay Yacht Club with the famous Manila Bay sunset and a portrait of Secretary Cimatu.

The Manila Bay rehabilitation was launched in January this year pursuant to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s directive.

In 2008, the Supreme Court issued a writ of continuing mandamus ordering the DENR and 12 other agencies to restore the waters of Manila Bay to Class SB level.

Class SB level classifies coastal and marine waters as safe for regular use by the public for activities such as bathing, swimming and skin diving. #

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Published: 17 July 2019

Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has urged informal settler families (ISFs) living along waterways to do their share in the Manila Bay rehabilitation by availing themselves of the government’s relocation program.

Cimatu said the relocation of ISFs would hasten ongoing efforts to rehabilitate polluted creeks and other waterways that drain into the historic bay, which the government wants to become “swimmable” by December this year.

The environment chief made the appeal when he and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso inspected last weekend an area along Estero de San Antonio Abad in Malate that used to be occupied by 50 ISFs.

The area has been cleared of illegal structures after 50 ISFs agreed to transfer to a relocation site administered by the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Caloocan City’s Tala district, leaving behind 20 ISFs residing along one of Manila’s filthiest esteros.

“We would like to appeal to the remaining 20 families to comply with the requirements of the NHA, so that we can already move them to their new location, to a better place. Hindi ritosaibabaw ng estero,” Cimatu said.

Cimatu noted the significant improvement in Estero de San Antonio Abad since majority of the 71 ISFs living along the creek have left and their houses demolished by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

He revealed that the fecal coliform level in the estero has “dramatically gone down.”

“Napakataas ng coliform level nitodatinaabotsa 1.3 billion [most probable number per 100 milliliters], perongayonumabotnalangsamga 10 million [mpn/100ml],” he said.

However, Cimatu said the cleanup efforts will continue until the coliform bacteria count reaches acceptable level.

“Priority natinangesteronaitonamalinisandahilito ay direktanapumupuntasa Manila Bay,” he pointed out.

The former military chief said the fences surrounding the creek will be removed to comply with the three-meter easement rule and allow more spaces for garbage trucks and people who would take part in the cleanup operations.

The DENR, he added, will continue to coordinate with the Manila city government for the rehabilitation of the Malate creek and other esteros leading to the Manila Bay. #

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Published: 16 July 2019

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is holding a national conference on the use of wildlife forensics as a tool to combat animal trafficking and other wildlife crimes.

The conference, which is being held in Mandaue City from July 16 to 18, brings together government personnel involved in the enforcement of wildlife laws to keep them abreast with the latest on wildlife forensics.

Wildlife forensics is the use of technology and science to support the investigation and prosecution of a wildlife crime.

It can be used to accurately identify suspected wildlife specimens, including illegal products such as pangolin scales or ground turtle meat in powder form.

According to DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, the three-day conference aims to review the training design on wildlife forensics and criminal investigation for use in wildlife enforcement.

“The use of wildlife forensics is now being considered globally as an invaluable tool to combat illegal wildlife trafficking,” Cimatu pointed out.

The resource persons include experts from the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), Partnership for Biodiversity Conservation, and Project Wildlife.

DENR Assistant Secretary for Staff Bureaus and concurrent BMB Director Ricardo Calderon said his bureau has been working with the University of the Philippines-Institute of Biology on the application of wildlife forensics in the country.

He said the university has a program that established a reference collection of DNA barcodes of Philippine biodiversity.

“When a wildlife sample arrives in the laboratory, the biologists can compare the DNA sequence and determine its conservation category,” Calderon said.

Calderon also noted an ongoing effort to strengthen the wildlife forensics capability of the country’s law enforcers.

Joining the conference are representatives from DENR field operations offices, Forest Management Bureau, PCSD, and DENR regional offices.

Other participants include delegates from BFAR, Philippine National Police-Maritime Group and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Bureau of Customs, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine Coast Guard, Department of Justice-National Prosecution Service, Office of the Special Envoy on Transnational Crime, School for Investigation and Detective Development, Philippine Center on Transnational Crime, and the International Criminal Police Organization-Manila Bureau.#

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Published: 16 July 2019

Nagsagawa ng national conference para sa wildlife forensics ang Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) na may layong malabanan ang animal trafficking at iba pang wildlife crimes.

Ginanap ang conference sa Mandaue City noong Hulyo 16-18 kung saan nag sama-sama ang mga kawani ng pamahalaan na bahagi sa pagpapatupad ng wildlife laws.

Ang wildlife forensics ay tumutukoy sa paggamit ng technology at science para sa imbestigasyon at pag-uusig ng wildlife crime.

Ito ay magagamit upang maging tama ang pagtukoy sa pinaghihinalaang wildlife specimens kabilang na dito ang iligal na produkto tulad ng pangolin scales at pinulbos na ground turtle meat.

Ayon kay DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, ang tatlong araw na conference ay may layon na suriin ang training design ng wildlife forensics at criminal investigation para sa wildlife enforcement.

“The use of wildlife forensics is now being considered globally as an invaluable tool to combat illegal wildlife trafficking,” pagdidiin pa ni Cimatu.

Kabilang sa mga naging tagapagsalita ay ang mga eksperto mula sa Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), Partnership for Biodiversity Conservation at Project Wildlife.

Sinabi naman ni DENR Assistant Secretary for Staff Bureaus at BMB Director Ricardo Calderon, na kasalukuyang nakikipag-ugnayan ang kanyang tanggapan sa University of the Philippines-Institute of Biology para mapag-aralan ang aplikasyon ng wildlife forensics sa bansa.

Aniya, may DNA barcodes ng Philippine biodiversity ang naturang unibersidad na siyang magiging batayan sa pagtukoy ang pag-iingat nito.

“When a wildlife sample arrives in the laboratory, the biologists can compare the DNA sequence and determine its conservation category,” saad pa ni Calderon.

Kasalukuyan ding pinalalakas ang kakayahan ng mga tagapag-patupad ng batas or law enforcers sa wildlife forensics.

Kabilang sa mga dumalo sa conference ay ang mga kinatawan ng DENR field operations offices, Forest Management Bureau, PCSD at DENR regional offices.

Dumalo rin sa conference ang mga delegado mula sa BFAR, Philippine National Police-Maritime Group, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Bureau of Customs, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine Coast Guard, Department of Justice-National Prosecution Service, Office of the Special Envoy on Transnational Crime, School for Investigation and Detective Development, Philippine Center on Transnational Crime at International Criminal Police Organization-Manila Bureau. ###

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Published: 16 July 2019

Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has called on experts and researchers in the Asia-Pacific region to work together in coming up with research-based solutions that would reduce the negative impact of invasive alien species (IAS) to biodiversity and the environment in general.

“I stand firm in promoting convergence of our research and development (R&D) efforts for a sustainable region-wide management of (IAS),” Cimatu said as he welcomed the delegates to the international conference on IAS management that took place in Manila from July 9 to 11.

“Let us continue with our pursuit for research-driven strategies and policies to effectively manage and conserve biodiversity for the good of humankind,” he added.

The three-day event called “IAS Conference 2019” has brought together IAS experts, researchers, dialogue partners, environment managers and other stakeholders from the Asia-Pacific region.

In his keynote speech read by DENR OIC Assistant Secretary for Staff Bureaus and concurrent Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) Director Ricardo Calderon, Cimatu underscored the need for a collective effort to tackle IAS that has been “invading and destroying nature’s ecological balance.”

“These IAS pose serious environmental concerns and are among the major threats to biodiversity,” Cimatu pointed out. “They cover a wide gamut of ecosystems from the terrestrial to aquatic environments, irreversibly impacting on biodiversity, agriculture, as well as food and water security.”

IAS are plants, animals, pathogens and other organisms that are non-native to an ecosystem, and which may cause economic or environmental harm or adversely affect human health.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature defines IAS as species whose introduction and spread from their place of origin threaten biological diversity. They are the second biggest cause of biodiversity loss all over the world, next only to habitat destruction.

Except for Antartica and the glaciated Greenland, the IAS affected 17 percent of the global land area which are highly predisposed to their infestation.

These environmental villains are found in many countries in Asia and the Pacific, including the Philippines, assailing the region’s key terrestrial, wetland, coastal, marine and estuarine ecosystems.

In agriculture, the IAS broadly applies to any non-indigenous weeds, pest, insects and other disease-causing agents that disrupt crop and livestock, among others.

In the freshwater environment, one common invasive species is the carp that originated from Europe but has insidiously multiplied and is now found in almost all parts of the globe. This alien invader is classified as the most invasive in the world, damaging marine life.

Among the most infamous IAS in the Philippines are the American bullfrog and the golden apple snail or golden kuhol, which have displaced indigenous species in natural habitats.

The IAS conference was organized by the DENR’s Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) and funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

According to ERDB Director Sofio Quintana, the conference served as an avenue to the technical experts to verify the list of IAS, including their potential threats and impacts.

The eradication of IAS, he said, was in line with “Target 9 of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity.”

Aside from the Philippines, other Asia-Pacific nations that presented their research papers during the conference were India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, United States and Vietnam.

The Philippines was represented by experts from the DENR-BMB, University of the Philippines-Los Baños, ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, and Food and Agriculture Organization-Philippines, among others. #

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Published: 12 July 2019