Acting Environment Secretary Jim O. Sampulna lauded the men and women from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-National Capital Region (DENR-NCR), Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), and the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) for the successful conduct of the month-long Saturation Drive and Intensive Compliance Monitoring in Metro Manila.
“Without these hardworking field personnel deployed to ensure that all environmental laws are being implemented, our Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program will not move forward,” Sampulna said following the closing ceremony for the activity held at the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) Amphitheater on April 7, 2022.
DENR officials, led by Undersecretary for Field Operations-Luzon, Visayas and Environment Atty. Juan T. Miguel Cuna, awarded certificates of appreciation to 314 field personnel from the DENR-NCR’s four Metropolitan Environmental Offices, 16 EMB regional offices, and LLDA.
The month-long activity aimed to ensure that establishments in Metro Manila are complying with the existing environmental laws.
It is also a replication of the activity conducted in Boracay in line with the rehabilitation efforts of the island.
Through compliance monitoring, the environmental inspectors were able to assess not only the effectiveness of the DENR as enforcers, but the relevance of the existing policies to changing conditions.
The activity also enabled the DENR to know the extent business establishments are able to follow environmental regulations.
Likewise, it allowed the agency to make the corrections to improve environmental compliance, especially in air and water quality monitoring laws.
Meanwhile, DENR-NCR Regional Executive Director Jacqueline Caancan said that the team has “just barely scratched the surface.”
“We hope that our intensified expansive compliance monitoring activities with the help of the other regional offices will improve the water quality in Manila Bay and its tributaries,” she said.
Caancan also appealed for more stakeholder participation through a “whole-of-government approach to give the management a more comprehensive picture on the ground.”
Since the launch of this activity, 3,053 establishments in Metro Manila were inspected for their compliance with the environmental laws. ###
