Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu hosted a Manila Bay stakeholders’ conference to discuss the terms of reference for the proper and responsible (finally) implementation of the 2008 Supreme Court order for the cleanup, rehabilitation and restoration of the 1984-square kilometer bay area with a 140-kilometer coastline extending all the way from Batangas in the south to Bataan in the north. Considered the country’s “heartland,” the area is our administrative capital, hosts our major industrial, commercial and service enterprises and is home to over half of our growing population. It is the country’s “face” to the world, the mirror of our soul and standing as a nation. Inevitably, how the Manila Bay area looks like, smells and moves is how the outside world will judge us.

De la Cruz, J. (2019, January 16). Manila Bay watch. Manila Standard, pp. A4, A5.