MARIVELES, Bataan – Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Rey Cimatu is scheduled to declare today three areas in this municipality as “swimmable areas.”
Don Guevarra, information office chief of Central Luzon, said the activity is part of the agency’s Manila Bay Cleanup and Rehabilitation Project.
He added that DENR chief will personally swim along with other DENR officials at the Aguawan Beach in Brgy. Sisiman here.
Aside from Aguawan Beach other areas will also br declared as swimmable areas namely: Sitio Babuyan in Barangay Mt. View; and Sitio Boracay in Brgy. Lucanin. Recently, amid an ongoing cleanup, both health and environment officials on advised Filipinos to still avoid swimming in the Manila Bay.
The Department of Health (DOH) warned the public not to dip in the bay waters until they are “deemed safe for recreational swimming.”
The Manila Bay is one of the many locations in the Philippines that is being rehabilitated by President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
In April 2018, the world-famous Boracay island was closed off to tourists for six months for the cleanup.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources earlier confirmed the government allotted P47 billion to fund Manila Bay’s Rehabilitation Project.