Three local government units of Bataan were cited for being determined as 2019 Regional Manila BAYani Awardees.
According to DILG Bataan, the awardees were Balanga City for being the Top Performer City Category; Dinalupihan-1st Runner-up; and Hermosa- 2nd runner-up.
The Manila BAYani Awards and Incentives (MBAI) aims to recognize LGUs that have shown exemplary performance on the implementation of their mandates and responsibilities under environmental laws and policies that support the rehabilitation of Manila Bay.
Manila Bay’s rehabilitation kicked off last January 2019 after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) accepted the challenge to rehabilitate and restore the bay’s coastal and marine ecosystems.
The Manila Bay area covers eight provinces and 178 local government units in three regions of the country, namely: National Capital Region (NCR), Region III, and Region IV-A.
Of the eight provinces, four are coastal (Bataan, Bulacan, Cavite and Pampanga); four are non-coastal (Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Rizal and Tarlac).
Its drainage area covers 1,994 km2, or 199,400 hectares. Its coastline measures some 190 kilometers.
There are 17 principal river systems draining to Manila Bay, namely: Angat River, Bocaue River, Maria River, Marilao River,Meycauayan,Meycauayan-Valenzuela River, Pasig River, Parañaque River,Imus River, Ylang-ylang River, Rio Grande, Cañas River, Obando River, Navotas-Malabon-Tinajeros-Tullahan River, Talisay River, Guagua River and Pampanga River.