Manila Bay Coordinating Office

The recognized management of the Manila Bay region by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) started in year 2000 as Manila Bay Environmental Management Project (MBEMP), a special project under the GEF-UNDP-IMO Regional Programme, “Building Partnerships in the Environmental Management of the Seas for East Asia” or PEMSEA. Under this Programme, Manila Bay is one of the 4 identified pollution hotspots (the other 3 as Bohai Sea in China, Gulf of Thailand and the Malacca Straits in Malaysia) where Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) shall be employed as management approaches.

The Project which terminated in 2006 produced the following :

1. Demarcation of the working area to cover the watersheds and major rivers that drain into the Manila Bay

2. Sets of plans that are a useful reference to date. These are :

1. Manila Bay Coastal Strategy (MBCS) – This is the first document produced and a product of multi-level consultation. It embodies the people’s knowledge, perceptions and aspirations of Manila Bay. They identified the values of Manila Bay, the threats and risks faced by Manila Bay from human activities, their desired actions and strategies to bring it back to its beneficial use to man’s livelihood and country pride. This document was the subject of a special event called, the Manila Bay Declaration in October, 2001, where influential stakeholders gathered to sign and pledge support to its realization.

2. Refined Risk Assessment of Manila Bay (RRA) – This is the first scientific document and collaborative output of scientific community and national government agencies. This confirmed the risks and threats to Manila Bay identified by stakeholders in the MBCS. This reports the quality of waters of Manila Bay exceeding government standards and the possible risks to human health. Resources such as the fisheries, mangroves and mudflats have been found to have declined both in quality and quantity generally due to unsustainable harvesting of these and development for other uses.

3. Advocacy and Communication Plan (AdComP) for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy – A collaborative output of the various stakeholders, AdComP identifies and characterizes the primary, secondary and tertiary audiences of Manila Bay so that appropriate message and channel is employed to harness the desired behavior towards Manila Bay. This is a good guide in conducting communication and advocacy works with indicative cost of activities.

4. Manila Bay Integrated Environmental Monitoring Program (IEMP) – An inter-agency output that prescribes a system of monitoring resources and priority parameters for water quality. It aims to provide updated information on the prevailing condition of Manila Bay for decision making. It comes with a 5- year action plan defining the roles and responsibilities among concerned agencies which was adopted thru MOU during the 6th PCC meeting on November 13, 2006.

5.Manila Bay Oil Spill Contingency Plan (OSCP) – Developed to strengthen the coordination of relevant agencies for a timely and effective response in the event of oil spill. PCG is the lead agency for its development and this was adopted for implementation by concerned agencies thru MOU signed during the 6th PCC meeting in November 13, 2006.

6. Initial Valuation of Selected Uses and Habitats and Damage Assessment of Manila Bay – This is the result of the valuation of a key coastal resources (e.g., mangroves, mudflats, coral reefs) and uses of the bay ( e.g., fisheries and aqua culture, tourism, ports and shipping). From this evaluation, the selected resources is valued at PhP 8.3 B(2005). However, we stand to lose PhP 3.9 B (2005) for the damages to ecosystems (e.g, loss of mangroves, economy and human health ) due to water pollution, red tide and salt water intrusion.

7. Manila Bay Area Environmental Atlas – A collection of geographic maps or charts which features: Natural resources of Manila Bay, Economic activities , Risk and challenges facing the Manila Bay area.

8. Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy (OPMBCS) – A product of multi-level consultations, this transforms the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy into action plans and programs with measurable targets, timeframe, budgetary requirements and responsible institutions. This became the blueprint for all mandamus agencies in their specific tasks to clean Manila Bay.

9. Establishment of an institutional mechanism through the organization of the Project Coordinating Committee (PCC) chaired by DENR and a Project Management Office housed at DENR to act as PCC Secretariat;

10. Assistance in the installation of a sustainability mechanism for the project initiatives by mainstreaming concerns on Manila Bay to the DENR structure and transforming the PCC to Manila Bay Coordinating Committee and,

11. Gelled the meaningful collaboration among the different agencies through the PCC and Technical Working Groups (TWGs) in the exchange of data and information.

The Coordinating Office for Manila Bay at takeover from Secretary Horacio C. Ramos is under the direct supervision of the Executive Director of River Basin Control Office (RBCO) since 2007. This is pursuant to DAO 2007–28, Institutionalizing the Manila Bay Environmental Management Project within the DENR through the Implementation of the Operational Plan for Coastal Strategy (OPMBCS)..

The Manila Bay Coordinating Committee (MBCC) chaired by DENR continued to function as the overseer for the implementation of the OPMBCS. There is a Site Coordinating Committee (SCC) for the three (3) Regions covered by Manila Bay. This is composed of the local counterparts of the national government agencies in the MBCC as well as the private sector, academe and NGOs. Similar to the MBCC, the SCC is chaired by the Regional Executive Director.

The PMO counterpart at these Regions is the Site Management Office (SMO) under the Office of the Regional Executive Director who is both the Manila Bay Site Manager and Chair of the SCC.

The New Manila Bay Coordinating Office

Such development led to the issuance of the DENR Administrative Order No. 2011-01, dated January 17, 2011, strengthening the Manila Bay Coordinating Office (MBCO) by placing it directly under the Office of the Secretary (OSEC). The MBCO is tasked to facilitate the efficient and effective implementation of the Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy (OPMBCS), including the rationalization of the OPMBCS priority actions and reporting systems. This is also in line with the Aide Memoire of the Seventh Implementation Review of the World Bank’s National Program Support for Environment and Natural Resources Management Project in November 2010 given the importance of the task at hand.

Operational Plan of the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy is a product of concerted effort of the following mandamus and cooperating agencies and technical working groups, in close collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through the Manila Bay Coordinating Office (MBCO);