The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has conferred the national Manila BAYani awards on three cities and two municipalities for their strong commitment and contribution to the efforts to rehabilitate the Manila Bay watershed area even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año identified the following as the national awardees of the 2020 Manila BAYani Awards and Incentives (MBAI) program:
City category:
First place: City of Biñan, Laguna
Second place: City of Balanga, Bataan
Third place: Navotas City
Municipality category:
First place: Kalayaan, Laguna
Second place: Baliwag, Bulacan
“Congratulations to our national awardees!” Año said. “We are inspired by your continuous commitment to comply with environmental laws that support the rehabilitation of the Manila Bay and the objectives of the Manila Bay Clean-up Rehabilitation and Preservation Program (MBCRPP). Ipagpatuloy n’yo ang inyong pakikiisa at pakikipagtulungan sa rehabilitasyon ng Manila Bay.”
Spearheaded by the DILG through the MBCRPP, the MBAI aims to recognize local government units (LGUs) that have shown exemplary performance in the implementation of their mandates and responsibilities under environmental laws relative to Manila Bay rehabilitation. It enjoins LGUs to develop their creativity in coming up with innovative strategies for environmental management.
Año said the five national awardees emerged as top performers among 187 LGUs within the Manila Bay watershed area after rigid assessment and validation of the following areas: liquid waste management, solid waste management, informal settlers families management, and information education and communication and institutional arrangements.
“Hindi matatawaran ang pagtugon at pakikiisa ng mga LGU na ito sa ating hangaring muling buhayin ang Manila Bay sa pamamagitan ng MBCRPP. Ang ating paggagawad sa kanila ay isang pasasalamat at isang patunay na kinikilala natin ang kanilang mga pagsisikap,” he said.
Año shared that assessing the 187 LGUs around the Manila Bay area for the MBAI was a challenge due to the restrictions placed to curtail public transmission of COVID-19 yet “the DILG, both regional and national, has been creative to ensure that stringent evaluation is executed.”
“Sa kabila ng mga hamon na kinakaharap ng ating bansa, nais namin sa DILG na huwag mawala sa radar ng mga LGU ang rehabilitation ng Manila Bay kaya patuloy kami sa effort na ito,” he said.
The DILG chief said that first-time winner City of Biñan received P1.5-million for topping the City category, while the three-time finalist City of Balanga and Navotas City received P750,000 and P500,000, respectively.
The town of Kalayaan in Laguna likewise received P1.5-million for topping the Municipality category and P750,000 for three-time winner Baliwag, Bulacan, which came in second.
Año also added that prior to the selection of national winners, regional qualifiers were also chosen through the Regional Inter-Agency Committee Assessment (RIAC) giving P300,000, P200,000, and, P100,000 for the top three ranked LGUs in Regions 3 and 4A and the National Capital Region (NCR).
Per the mandamus issued by the Supreme Court (SC) on December 18, 2008, the DILG, DENR and 11 other national agencies were mandated to rehabilitate and preserve the Manila Bay to make it fit for swimming, skin diving, and other forms of contact recreation in its waters.
The DILG was specifically mandated by the high court to supervise the LGUs in Regions III, IV-A, and the NCR that are within the vicinity of the Manila Bay watershed to conduct programs and activities for the rehabilitation, as well as information and education campaigns to inform and get the public involved. (DILG) – jlo
