Dubbed “Sagip Manila Bay,” the desilting of the bay will be done 16 hours a day, six days a week and will utilize 50 men and a total of 28 equipment, according to DPWH Secretary Mark Villar.

The DPWH aims to get 50 to 100 truckloads of dirt and garbage per day from the bay, particularly 150 meters from its shoreline.

The equipment fleet for the desilting of Manila Bay consists of “amphibious excavators, dumping scows, dump trucks, debris segregator, street sweepers, and vacuum sewer jet cleaners.”

“This event marks the full-blast dredging within this critical section of Manila Bay. Our Bureau of Equipment, Regional and District Engineering Offices in Metro Manila have deployed a total of 28 equipment, and 50 personnel to operate 16 hours a day, 6 days a week,” Villar said.
-Removing Manila Bay’s garbage-

“Excavation will be the major mechanism for the removal of the accumulated pollutants in Manila Bay. Through our hardworking crew and equipment fleet, we aim to desilt within 150 meters from the shoreline of Manila Bay,” he explained.

Villar said an estimated 225,000 cubic meters of silt will be removed across the approximately 1.5-kilometer stretch of Manila Bay from Manila Yacht Club breakwater to US Embassy.

DPWH BOE Director Toribio Noel Ilao said implementation of desilting activities in Manila Bay will be divided into five (5) sectors, each ranging from 200 to 300-meter long, until the entire 1.5-kilometer is finished.

“Each sector will be desilted approximately within 90 to 120 days,” a DPWH release said.

-Clean-up of Manila Bay tributaries-

It explained that aside from dredging activities in Manila Bay, the DPWH, through DPWH National Capital Region and its District Engineering Offices and in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Metro Manila Development Authority, and the Philippine Coast Guard, will also conduct clean-up and declogging of tributaries and drainage canals in Manila City using the department’s vacuum sewer jet cleaners.
“We are working harmoniously with the DENR, the MMDA, other mandamus agencies and local government units for a holistic approach in cleaning Manila Bay. These tributaries or esteros and drainage pipes need to be cleaned and unclogged, as trash from these areas will eventually make their way to Manila Bay,” DPWH Secretary Villar said.

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Manila Bay clean-up and rehabilitation last January, after the successful rehabilitation of the Boracay island last year.

He warned polluting establishments around the bay area that he will have them closed if they will not comply with the country’s environmental laws.