PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Water quality in Bacuit Bay, El Nido in northern Palawan has improved from 2013 to 2017 despite the influx of tourists.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau’s office (DENR-EMB) in the Mimaropa region, in a statement issued Thursday, said the recent water quality monitoring result shows that “the overall fecal coliform of the four monitoring stations passed the DENR standard of 100 most probable number (MPN) per 100 milliliters”.
The statement, received by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday, was signed by EMB-Mimaropa officer-in-charge, Director Maria Socorro Abu.
Although, it did not say when the monitoring tests were conducted, Abu’s statement said the improvement could be attributed to a project of the local government of El Nido called the “Water Supply, Sewerage and Sewage Treatment Plant”.
“This could be attributed to the desludging of the septic tanks of commercial establishments, where the sludge deposits were collected and treated in the Water Supply, Sewerage, and Sewage Treatment Plant,” the statement read.
EMB-Mimaropa said the project was undertaken by the municipal government to address the problem of untreated waste water discharges in commercial establishments.
In the past few years, EMB-Mimaropa has been monitoring the water quality in the beaches in El Nido.
A study it conducted in 2013 revealed that the beach water in the tourist town contained a high level of fecal coliform, an indicator of water quality and a type of bacteria which, when ingested, may lead to serious health problems.
In 2014, then-presidential adviser for environmental protection to then president Benigno Aquino III, Neric Acosta said water pollution due to improper sewage management in El Nido was threatening its marine ecosystem and its chance as a growing tourism destination in Palawan.
Acosta said this was because water samples tested from the town showed that its beaches were contaminated with coliform from human and animal wastes.
He said the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) was 3,000 percent higher than what the Clean Water Act allows.
Acosta is the principal author in Congress of the Clean Water Act.
The regional EMB stated that Phase 1 of the El Nido treatment facility in Sitio Batbat, Barangay Villa Libertad had been in operation since 2014, servicing the barangays of Buena Suerte, Maligaya, Masagana, and Corong-Corong.
Phase 2 will kick off this year to service barangay Villa Libertad and Pasadena, while Phase 3 will start in 2023 and will cater to barangays Baratuan and Bucana.
“EMB-Mimaropa, through Regional Director Maria Socorro Abu, assures its continuous efforts in keeping Bacuit Bay and the water quality of El Nido to its intended beneficial use,” it said.
The action to create a task force to clean up El Nido strengthens efforts to improve the environmental compliance of commercial establishments to support the Clean Water Act as one of the priority programs of Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, said EMB-Mimaropa.
It also abides by the campaign of President Rodrigo R. Duterte to improve the water quality of beaches throughout the Philippines.
To date, EMB-Mimaropa said that 303 commercial establishments in five barangays in El Nido had been monitored and inspected from Feb. 22 to March 2.
Of the total number, “the special task force was able to inspect roughly 99 percent of the total number of establishments in the municipality”.
“Notices of violation will be issued to establishments found to be non-compliant with different environmental laws,” the statement added. (Celeste Anna Formoso/PNA)
